Landlord claims renovations too disruptive to allow occupancy
Bruce Constantineau
Sun
Alanda Bellucci holds the recent eviction notices that she received from her landlords for her apartment at Chelsea Place (background) in New Westminster. Photograph by : Ward Perrin, Vancouver Sun
The new owners of a New Westminster apartment building have given tenants a unique Christmas gift — one month of free rent and eviction notices telling them to get out by Dec. 31.
“They just blindsided us,” said tenant Alanda Bellucci. “A week before [the eviction notices], they announced themselves as the new owners and said they looked forward to providing us with a clean and safe building.”
Toronto-based TransGlobe Property Management bought the 35-year-old building at 525 Eleventh Street on Oct. 19 and sent eviction notices to tenants eight days later, with a sweetener that no rent has to be paid for the month of December. The company plans major renovations to the nine-storey, 73-unit concrete structure.
The New Westminster property was one of 13 B.C. apartment buildings acquired by TransGlobe in four separate deals on Oct. 19 worth a total of about $70 million.
TransGlobe marketing director Brenda Hajdu said no other evictions have taken place or are planned at any other company apartments in B.C. She said the interior and exterior repairs required at the New Westminster building are too disruptive to allow tenants to remain.
“The renovations are going to be so extensive that the units will not be livable,” Hajdu said in an interview. “This is out of the norm for us. We would never evict anyone if we didn’t have to.”
Bellucci said many tenants, some who have lived in the building for 30 years, are very upset now and considering a rent boycott.
“It’s getting ugly — not a nice situation to be living in,” she said.
Bellucci said she will try to move into a co-op now because that will provide more “secure” accommodation.
“The temporary manager suggested I look for another one of [TransGlobe’s] buildings and I just laughed and said: ‘What fool would rent from TransGlobe?’ with the thought in the back of my mind that I could be evicted any day.”
Dan Hillborn, who has lived in the apartment building for 13 years, agrees with the new owners that major renovations are required.
“This building has deteriorated a lot over the years and the previous owners did nothing,” he said. “Fire alarms have acted up, there have been water leaks and you can even see cracks in parts of the building.”
Hillborn pays $580 a month for a one-bedroom apartment and has only had one minor rental increase in 13 years.
“I’ll roll with this and find something else,” he said. “It’s the Christmas move that’s a real pain.”
Hajdu wasn’t sure how much rents might increase after the renovations are complete but insisted TransGlobe has no plan to make building rents expensive and unaffordable.
“We’re not looking to do condo conversions or anything like that,” she said. “Our strategy is operate quality, affordable mid-market rentals. There’s a big need for it, especially in the Vancouver market.
“We take under-managed properties and invest substantial capital in them so they become better homes for our tenants. The happier the tenant is, the longer they will stay with us.”
TransGlobe entered the B.C. real estate market in the summer of 2005 when it bought 18 Greater Vancouver apartments containing about 900 rental units. It has since purchased major apartment buildings in Victoria and now owns more than 2,000 units in B.C.
TransGlobe also paid $85 million last year to buy the Riverport Sports and Entertainment complex in Richmond and spent $15 million early this year to buy an eight-storey Vancouver office building at 570 Dunsmuir Street.
© The Vancouver Sun 2006
