Only 47 landlords planning to provide accommodation for 2010 Games applied

Kim Pemberton
Sun

With only months to go before Vancouver hosts the 2010 Winter Olympics, the number of homeowners willing to rent out their properties is reaching an all-time high, but the vast majority are not doing it legally.

Vancouver, Whistler and West Vancouver have enacted bylaws to allow temporary rental accommodation in private homes, but so far only 47 homeowners have applied for a licence in Vancouver, 21 in Whistler and four in West Vancouver. The licence fee in Vancouver is $106, in Whistler it is $300 and in West Vancouver the cost is $150.

In Vancouver, failure to get a licence could result in a maximum penalty of $2,000, but Celine Mauboules, housing policy planner with the city, says the city would enforce the bylaw only if there was a specific complaint.

“We wouldn’t start there [with the fine]. We’d send a letter, ‘this has come to our attention,’ and ask that they apply. If that doesn’t work we’d send an inspector to do further investigation, or do an injunction to prevent them from renting.”

She adds that ultimately homeowners could be at risk of possible legal ramifications if they are unable to complete their rental agreements with visitors.

Tourism, Culture and the Arts Minister Kevin Krueger says he was surprised to learn from a reporter that the number of homeowners applying for a business licence was so low.

“It’s a new wrinkle to work on,” Krueger said. “Maybe it’s time to do some regional advertising.

“People should be complying with the bylaw. They may not be aware, so we’ll be talking to the city and make sure there isn’t that disconnect.”

Krueger said the goal is to ensure the expected 350,000 visitors actively involved in the Games will have accommodation and, while athletes, coaches and others in the “Olympic Family” have had their accommodation needs met, the goal now is to increase the inventory of housing for spectators.

“A lot of the traditional accommodations [are] booked. Vancouver city council did a very progressive move in creating a bylaw that allows for temporary accommodations. It’s added a lot of potential inventory to the market,” Krueger said.

He said there are 1,949 private apartments or houses that have a total of 5,062 rooms listed with one Olympic website, www.rent2010.net, along with 2,100 hotel, motel and bed and breakfast rooms for some periods during the Games, 885 cruise-ship staterooms and 388 RV campsites.

Breakaway Vacations and EMR Vacation Rentals, housing rental agencies featured on the official Tourism Vancouver destination planning site for the Games, have contracted with hundreds of homeowners to rent their homes during the Games and their contracts specifically state they must comply with local bylaws.

Breakaway Vacations has promised its Vancouver clients it will take on the responsibility of obtaining the necessary licences from the city, but is waiting to apply until the bookings are confirmed and paid.

“Once we have a rental that is going to go through, then our company will be purchasing the licence on their behalf,” Breakaway Vacations spokesman Brad Hama said. “We have the forms on hand. We just want to make sure we have the payments in, then we’ll take care of [the licence requirement].”

The company now has 63 Olympic properties on its website and says demand from homeowners who want to rent out space is so high that more are being turned away than are being taken on.

“Right now we’re just taking on full units or suites. Quite a few people are wanting to rent out a bedroom,” Hama said.

He said the number of homeowners coming forward has doubled since summer. “The majority have put it off and left it to the last minute, but are seeing the publicity of the Olympics and seeing the opportunity.”

Hama said the going rate for a one-bedroom downtown condo is $500 a night.

Brenda Matthews plans to rent out her condo in downtown Vancouver and stay with her daughter, primarily to avoid traffic congestion and security concerns during the Games. She is renting her home out for a two-week period, for the discounted price of $350 per night because the renters are staying for the duration.

“I know I have to have a licence and they [Breakaway Vacations] discussed that with me. That was another bonus [with going with a rental agency], not having to deal with that,” she said.

Breakaway Vacations charges a set-up fee of $150 to $300, depending on the size of the home, plus 27.5 per cent of the rent collected. The price includes the collection of the GST and hotel sales tax, pre-screening visitors, handing over the keys and doing the cleanup.

EMR Vacation Rentals has already made about 300 Olympic bookings and has another 400 properties listed, most of them in Vancouver, guest services manager Blake MacKenzie said.

EMR is restricting its new listings to homeowners in downtown Vancouver and on the west side, but as bookings increase, will consider other areas.

MacKenzie said the company informs everyone who lists with it that they must comply with city bylaws.

“The problem is, the city put this out there after the fact. They should have said this two years ago,” MacKenzie said.

“There are thousands of people listing out there. I know one company has 1,400 listings…. The city needs to get the message out. I haven’t seen any advertising by them.”

MacKenzie said EMR agents advise condo clients they must ensure they are not breaking any strata rules by renting during the Games.

“We’ve seen a marked increase as we get closer to the Games of people wanting to rent and people wanting accommodation. We’ve doubled the bookings since the summer.”

MacKenzie said the demand is primarily for downtown Vancouver, with North Shore properties the toughest to rent out during the Games because clients are concerned about taking too many buses to get into the city.

MacKenzie said homeowners from as far away as Hope, Chilliwack, Vancouver Island, the Okanagan and Lynden, Wash. have contacted the agency wanting to list. The agency takes a 25-per-cent commission and a $250 listing fee for a full-service rental, which includes vetting the guests, tax collection, housekeeping and handing over the keys. It is keeping homeowners from cities such as Burnaby and New Westminster on a reserve list and will list them if the demand is there.

Krueger believes that day will soon come.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

west on the village walk: Development ‘brings affordability back to first-time home buyers’

LAURA STONE
Province

It took Carole Whitton exactly two-and-a-half weeks from the time she toured the West on the Village Walk condominiums in Cloverdale, to the day she moved in.

Blame the maple shaker kitchen cabinets.

“The kitchen was gorgeous,” Whitton recalled on moving day, as she ushered in boxes with husband Peter and grown son Cooper, who will be sharing the one-bedroom apartment when his parents are away at their country home. There was also the matter of the flat-top stove, and what Whitton perceived as a generous cooking space for a condo. “It’s just head and shoulders above where we were living,” she said about her former abode, a nearby townhouse. “It’s the little things that are just so much better.”

Grooved closet doors and stainless steel appliances rounded out the list of details that impressed Whitton.

The West development has so far sold 42 of its 60 units — 17 of them pre-sale. The reason for the quick sales, said Royal LePage realtor Jamie Schreder, appears to be a combination of increased consumer demand and low interest rates of under four per cent.

“It brings affordability back to first-time homebuyers,” said Schreder.

The most expensive of West’s remaining 18 condos is $257,000, and starting price is $197,900 — a pittance in homeowner terms. The priciest corner units in the four-storey building, all of which sold first, were $339,000.

The suites range from 673 to 1,051 square feet. There’s also a 1,200-square-foot amenities room, with sofas, a card table, and a full kitchen.

Another perk for buyers is a built-in wireless modem from Telus and a free year of Internet and cable. And with electric fireplaces, granite countertops and nine-foot ceilings, the condos at West on the Village Walk also represent a rarity in Cloverdale.

“It’s one of the first new buildings in Cloverdale for probably the last 20 years,” said Rob Wall, developer and president of Wallmark Homes.

But it won’t be the last. The City of Surrey recently approved a $15-million overhaul of the Cloverdale Fairgrounds, including a new recreation centre, and a mall is scheduled to be built in the near future.

“Cloverdale is a city in re-development, definitely,” said Wall. But they’re still trying to keep the quaint, community feel, he said, as evidenced by the development’s brick exterior and ornate woodwork.

The condo residents come from a variety of backgrounds, said Schreder. Young, old, singles and couples: they’ve all bought into West on the Village Walk, including a set of grandparents on one floor, and their grandsons on another.

The little things, it turns out, are appreciated by everyone.

“The hallways are very nice,” said Cooper, pointing to the swirling chocolate brown rug, as he helped his mother move in. “They even have wagon-wheel chandeliers.”

THE FACTS

What: West on the Village Walk, 60 Condominiums

Where: 17712 57A Avenue, Cloverdale.

Developer: Wallmark Homes

Builder: Wallmark Homes

Sizes: One to two bedrooms, from 673 sq. ft.

Prices: Starting at $197,900

Open: Presentation centre and show home open at 17712 57A Avenue., 12 to 5 p.m., except Friday.

More info: www.liveatwest.ca

© Copyright (c) The Province

 

Report an indicator economy is ‘largely moving sideways,’ economist says

Derrick Penner
Sun

The most recent figures on investment in non-residential construction for the third-quarter of 2009 cloud the picture of recovery in British Columbia’s construction sector, showing a sharp decline from both the previous quarter and from a year ago.

That non-residential investment report from Statistics Canada follows from the more hopeful figures in the latest labour force survey, which recorded a slight increase in hiring after construction job losses in the tens-of-thousands, and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.’s latest report, which showed a modest increase in single-family housing construction.

However, the non-residential construction report was one indicator cited by Central 1 Credit Union economist David Hobden in his characterization of B.C. as “an economy largely moving sideways as it struggles to emerge from the latest recession.”

Statistics Canada, on Friday, reported that spending in B.C. on things like office buildings, shopping centres, schools and factories dropped 6.3 per cent to $1.22 billion in the third quarter, compared to the second quarter.

In dollar terms, that was the third steepest drop in spending on non-residential investment across the country, behind Alberta and Ontario.

Hobden, in Central 1’s weekly briefing released Friday, said the third quarter of 2009 was the third straight quarterly decline in B.C., and he expects spending on non-residential buildings to tumble 20 per cent this year.

Part of the decline will be due to less construction, but falling construction costs will also contribute to the drop.

Hobden said commercial vacancy rates are rising, with the result commercial rents are generally declining.

Manley McLachlan, president of the B.C. Construction Association, said the third-quarter drop in non-residential spending was no surprise and reflects the “ongoing impact of the issues we’ve been dealing with for the past year.”

“I guess it’s always the comparative,” McLachlan said. “B.C. enjoyed six years or more of tremendous ramp-up of [construction] investments, so declines, as they occur, come across as fairly dramatic.”

Commercial construction — office buildings and shopping centres — showed the biggest decline in B.C., falling to $785 million in the third quarter, which is 11 per cent off from the second quarter and 13 per cent from the same quarter a year ago.

McLachlan said he expects commercial construction will not recover until residential construction levels increase, which would in turn spark demand for new retail and commercial services.

He holds out more hope for institutional construction, which, in the third quarter, showed a 3.3-per-cent increase to $350 million compared with the previous quarter.

However, McLachlan noted that the construction sector is still waiting for more of an impact from promised government infrastructure spending, which hasn’t rolled out as quickly as people expected.

Keith Sashaw, president of the Vancouver Regional Construction Association, said institutional and government spending is expected to be the main source of growth in the sector for the coming months. He also took hope from higher levels of industrial construction for two consecutive quarters and rising building-permit applications in recent months.

“While there may be some continued volatility ahead, there are signs the worst of the recession for the construction industry may be behind us,” Sashaw said.

Nationally, Statistics Canada said investment in non-residential construction declined four per cent in the third quarter to $10.4 billion compared with the second quarter, the third consecutive quarterly decline.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Residential up, retail down, Century will insert almost 100 households in district renewal

Christina Symons
Sun

CENTURY

Project location: Fraser at East 30th, Vancouver

Project size: Phase 1, 96 residences, 4-storey building

Residences size: 1 bed, 630 sq. ft. – 695 sq. ft.; 1 bed + den, 661 sq. ft. – 811 sq. ft.; 2 bed + den, 826 sq. ft. – 880 sq. ft.; 2 bed corner, 811 sq. ft. – 871 sq. ft.

Prices: $299,900 – $394,900

Developer: Ledingham McAllister

Architect: Raymond Letkeman Architects

Interiors: i3 design

Sales centre: 4305 Fraser, at East 27th

Hours: noon – 6 p.m., Sat – Thur

Telephone: 604-873-4204

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: ledmac.com/century

– – –

In true street style, neighbourhoods come and go, but you can always count on the classics to make a fashionable comeback. Vintage urban enclaves are reinvented or simply rediscovered by an evolving populace on the move, circling the blocks of any urban centre, hungry for the next it address.

The smart buyer discovers it as early as possible, sifting the city’s wheat from the chaff and breaking bread on the new corner before the masses flock to do the same and jack up the prices.

Just over a century ago, the mid-section of Fraser Street was a bustling microcosm of Vancouver, when a Ledingham McAllister predecessor company, then a small excavation company, began operating out of George W. Ledingham’s backyard.

Right off the block, the company rose in stature, responsible for some of Vancouver’s landmark infrastructure, namely Vancouver International Airport, Granville Street Bridge and construction of the downtown Hudson’s Bay store.

The neighbourhood on Fraser prospered for decades and then naturally lost a little lustre as Vancouver’s emphasis shifted west, to the water and downtown.

The company, on the other hand, just kept flourishing.

Fast forward to the corner of Fraser Street and East 30th Avenue today. Here, you’ll find a fresh attraction, a sophisticated residential block under construction, fittingly called Century and brought to Vancouver by Ledingham McAllister — LedMac — now a development company.

The team at LedMac scouted this particular corner four years ago and found an address it couldn’t resist.

Vice-president Manuela Mirecki explains the thinking this way: “It’s a very original neighbourhood on the cusp of resurgence.”

Already quaint and cosmopolitan, it’s a row of blocks strangely (but not for long) lacking in corner coffee shops and the usual slate of branded urban niceties, but sound at the root and enriched by ethnic restaurants and food shops.

“This is a culturally and ethnically diverse community,” Mirecki adds, “attractive to young professionals moving up, to first-time homebuyers, those downsizing and young families.”

What they’re offering here is rare, Mirecki believes: affordable residency in a real neighbourhood.

Century sales manager Lily Liu concurs.

“What really seems to connect people is a shared value structure,” notes Liu. “People who are looking for a true neighbourhood in every sense.”

The polite four-storey building that constitutes phase one of Century runs a full block on Fraser with three storeys designated residential and much needed basic and boutique retail on the ground floor.

No-frills, a Loblaw-based super grocery, will anchor the development, along with Shoppers Drug Mart. Specialty retail and coffee shops, plus office space, complete the block.

Outside, generous overhangs, brick, wood and metal details will add add drama to the elegant, yet traditional expression. Interiors will exude classic old-world elegance executed in a contemporary fashion. The one-bedroom to two-bedroom plus den configurations feature open-concept layouts and balconies for outdoor entertaining.

For a modest-height building, the views are expansive. Set on the natural south Vancouver rise, residences boast sweet downtown and mountain vantages.

But for all its attributes, launching a pre-sale timed as the market was just settling into a new pace was a bold move for LedMac. Century is the company’s first pre-sale launch in 14 months.

By all accounts, the company nailed it.

“People may have thought we were nuts pre-selling this,” says Mirecki. “But we’ve proven them wrong.”

Just a few weeks into sales, more than half the homes have been sold.

For Mirecki, it’s not about a flashy campaign or evidence of rebound investing, just good old-fashioned real estate values in action.

“The days of treating Vancouver real estate like the stock market may be over,” Mirecki notes. “But people are always looking for homes in neighbourhoods with genuine qualities.”

Mirecki clearly has more than a professional interest in the overall concept of this particular development.

“Century is very much a reflection of my personal taste, not just in terms of design sensibility, but also in neighbourhood,” Mirecki notes.

“Our core values as a company are also very much reflected in this project,” Mirecki adds. “For something to resonate so closely to our company is quite extraordinary.”

From the lobby, with its impressive tile work, to the inviting kitchen featuring penny-round tile, every detail has been executed thoughtfully, right down to the Euro-style kitchen sink.

Purchasers have two choices: the crisp traditional black ‘n’ white motif shaker kitchen of the presentation centre, or streamlined flat panel cabinetry and a contemporary colour scheme.

Granite countertops, a fleet of black Whirlpool appliances (with an upgrade available to stainless) and Kohler fixtures complete the scene. Fine detailing continues in the master bath with marble inset tile work accentuating the bath surround.

The overall offering is chic and impressive and has generated a great deal of support from locals, who are justifiably passionate about this particular stretch of Fraser.

“Many people have stopped by just to thank us for what we are adding to the community,” notes Mirecki. “As a developer with both a passion and a heart, this is very gratifying.”

One person singing the praises of LedMac and Century is James Sutton, music director and announcer at The Peak radio. Sutton was the lucky winner of a prized Vespa scooter in the draw for those who pre-registered their interest in Century.

He later purchased a unit with wife Holly Dorie. It’s the first home they will own in Vancouver.

“This area is a great investment,” notes Sutton, who figures that property values will increase as soon as a critical mass of amenities appears to serve the neighbourhood.

The couple did nearly a year’s worth of homework; they perused at least at least a dozen other possibilities and researched the developer via friends who’d bought LedMac properties in Burnaby and Richmond.

With a finish 18 months from now, the timeline fits the couple’s goal to set roots in Vancouver and be closer to friends living in the nearby Main Street community.

Poised between yesterday and tomorrow, Century may be setting the pulse for prosperous things to come.

UNIQUE SHOPS, POLISH CENTRE LOCATED NEAR CENTURY

Fraser Street south of King Edward is a central cornucopia of discoveries.

As any typically famished and caffeine-riddled Vancouverite might, it’s tempting to size up this otherwise sweet enclave of Fraser Street, not by what it offers, but by what we expect: a branded double-shot cappuccino — now.

With nary a Starbucks or Blenz on either horizon, the impulse to flee is fierce. But fortunately, there’s a rather charming little bakery over yonder, announcing itself not by neon, but by an impressive 10 a.m. lineup of municipal workers, mugs in hand.

Turns out the modest European Breads Bakery (4324 Fraser St.) has a cult following. Not only will they make you a killer coffee, Americano-style, they offer a selection of tantalizing poppy seed, apple and cheese pastries, healthy muffins and savoury treats, too.

Hungrier? Grab a bag of traditional homemade perogies to boil up at home.

And be sure to pick up a loaf or two of organic sourdough bread (try the Russian Black) before you go. Vancouver Magazine included said bread on its “101 Things to Taste Before You Die” list in 2008. You’ll soon understand why.

The bakery is just one of many delightful surprises you can find along this six-block stretch of Fraser Street. Located in the literal heart of the city, residents enjoy close proximity to downtown and an easy 20-minute transit commute to the University of B.C. and convenient access to Marine Drive, the airport and beyond.

This community straddles several neighbourhoods by its centrality: Kensington Cedar Cottage (east of Fraser), Mountain View (referring to the natural rise and tranquil green space that constitute historic Mountain View Cemetery, due south) and Riley Park-Little Mountain, not to mention the super cool Main Street neighbourhood exactly six blocks west.

Zgoda, the Polish Friendship Society and Community Centre, anchors the community just north of King Ed, offering a variety of warm community events and gatherings, from dances to a Polish harvest festival.

Across the street, Bodhi Choi Heung Restaurant (3902 Fraser) draws Buddhists and hippies from across the city for its delectable faux meat dishes.

Where’s the beef? At Bee Kim Heng Beef & Pork Jerky (4194 Fraser St.), obviously.

Heading south again, past eclectic boutiques, vintage/thrift stores, antique peddlers and hairdressers, you’ll pass by a multitude of ethnic produce and grocery shops.

Don’t be shy – ask questions of the friendly shopkeepers if you don’t know what you’re looking at. Those amazing hot pink eggs at Baclaran Market (4223 Fraser St.), for example? They’re stunning, salted and ready to eat. Delish.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun