Big City realty reality moves come to Prince Rupert

The plans to turn the apartment buildings at Roosevelt Heights into strata residences have caught the notice of a few people around town. While a sign of a change of direction in the Prince Rupert marketplace, there are concerns being voiced about the impact on the seniors and those living there now who may not be in the market for a condo or unable to afford them.

The decision to turn the living space into individual units for sale is indicative of something relatively new to Prince Rupert, but rather common in the larger markets of the interior, Vancouver Island or the lower mainland.

The issue came up for debate at city council, with Councillors Thorkelson and Bedard expressing the most concern over the plans and the desire for Seal Cove Properties to make a reasonable relocation plan for the current tenants, something that City Staff advised them possibly wasn’t legal, nor binding.

It makes for an interesting bit of business for council for the months to come, with the rental market featuring a number of buildings in dis-repair, BC Housing eliminating a number of their units and a high vacancy rate around the city, and they will have to weigh the pros and cons of the stratification requests quite heavily. Not to mention to be quick to identify any possible conflict of interests on the issue in their own personal investments. In this instance, they have decided to give the issue a rather quick passage, much to the concern of two of the six on council.

If the city grows as expected over the next few years, more of these requests will come up for debate, the template seems to have been set in place now. Should there be a rental squeeze in the years to come, a lot of fingers will be tracing back to the second week of December as the point where the housing landscape first started to change in Prince Rupert. It could also see the city find itself having the same heated arguments over housing that currently rage in Vancouver and Victoria.

The Daily News featured the current debate on the front page of Thursday’s paper.

FEARS RAISED ABOUT PLANS TO SELL OFF RENTAL HOMES
Some tenants are worried after city OK’s stratification of Roosevelt Heights
By James Vassallo
The Daily News
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Pages one and two

The owner of four apartment blocks on Summit Avenue has been given the go-ahead by the city to convert them into individual units for sale. Seal Cove Properties was given the approval to stratify Roosevelt Heights after a public hearing a Monday’s council meeting.

“I talked to a number of people in the apartment up there, and they just can’t afford to buy,” said Ron Murray, who came to voice concerns about the move. “There are 14 seniors living there, some of them have lived there for many years, and they’ve been looking at other places but this place is well looked after, it’s well managed.

“I drove out to the far east side of town and those buildings look like they were imported from some poor country in Africa they’re so run down.”

Along with a lack of quality affordable housing in the city, Murray was concerned that strata fees would greatly exacerbate the cost for residents if they were to purchase units or sublet from new owners.

The issue was taken up by both Councillors Joy Thorkelson and Kathy Bedard who crafted an amendment to the proposed stratification that would have seen Seal Cove Properties required to provide a realistic relocation plan for residents once the company attempted to sell the condos.
“I’m very concerned that we do have long-term tenants… and they may not be able to afford the stratification process,” said Coun. Kathy Bedard. This amendment must pass in order for me to support the (stratification).

However, City Administrator Gord Howie reported that he was not sure if such a condition was legal, and suggested that if councilors wanted to add the condition, they should deny the application until a legal opinion was sought. Unwilling to do so, Councillors Nelson Kinney, Tony Briglio, Ken Cote and Sheila Gordon-Payne rejected the relocation plan amendment despite the pair’s concern. In response, Bedard and Thorkelson put forward a motion to table the proposal until the company was actually ready to offer the apartments for sale. While Seal Cove Properties has one year to convert the apartment buildings into 45 individual units, they can sell them at any point. That resolution was also defeated by the other four councilors.

“This is an alternate housing system that’s coming to town,” said Briglio. “We have to consider that this may be a really viable alternative for other folks that are coming into town or for those folks that are living here right now.

“And in terms of anything else that you would want in a relocation plan…you’re not going to get a private entrepreneur to build you another facility to move into. They’ve given notice right now.”

The councilors who approved the stratification also noted the city’s large vacancy rate – more than 36 per cent for this type of three-bedroom rental unit- may be improved by the move.

“I think that some of the rental buildings in town are a reflection of high vacancy rates and that owner’s don’t have the ability to put money back into the buildings,” said Coun. Gordon-Payne. “I think by changing the market a little and (decreasing) vacancy rates that we might see more activity in upkeep in town.

Company owner Dan McLean explained that they simply didn’t know when the units would go up for sale or what they would cost, but that residents would be given the first opportunity to buy a unit at fair market price when they decided to sell.