A 100-per-cent rental complex with 338 units, which will replace a 40-year-old condo building in city centre, got the go-ahead from Richmond city council on Monday.
But the proposal didn’t pass without opposition.
Three city councillors – Carol Day, Michael Wolfe and Harold Steves – argued two mature trees should be saved by building a taller building and thereby reducing the footprint of the complex.
Day called the complex, Ascott Wynde on Garden City Road south of Westminster Highway, the “heartbreak hotel.”
The condo complex has fallen into disrepair and four years ago the strata council decided to wind it up and sell it to a developer.
Thirteen owners voted against the windup. Some went to court during the windup process and tried to argue the buildings and strata shouldn’t be shut down, claiming the process had been undemocratic and they weren’t getting fair compensation.
But the judge disagreed with them and allowed the windup.
Coun. Carol Day told the planning committee last week she was in court with the owners opposed to the windup.
At that time, she suggested the application be sent back to staff “to challenge how this went down.”
At Monday's council meeting, she once again said the development should consist of a taller building with a smaller footprint, allowing the retention of more trees – which included a mature cedar and a mature Douglas fir - and have lower rents for the affordable housing units in the new development.
Sixty-six of the units out of the total of 338 will be for moderate income earners with fixed rents.
However, building a taller building would mean higher costs because of the type of construction needed, whereas the six-storey buildings being proposed was doable, Wayne Craig, director of development, explained to city council.
If the building were taller than six storeys, it would have to be built using mass timber or concrete, which would drive up the cost, he added.
Coun. Linda McPhail, who voted for the project, said the proposal fills in a “critical gap” for the “missing middle,” that is, moderate income earners.
“Many moderate income households struggle to find suitable and affordable housing,” she said, adding it could provide rental housing for people who work in Richmond.
80/20 rule opposed by Richmond city council
In 2018, the rules to wind up a strata corporation were changed allowing 80 per cent of the owners to make this decision instead of the 100 per cent as was previously needed.
At that time, Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie wrote to the province on behalf of city council expressing their opposition to the new rules.
Even the city’s general manager of development, Joe Erceg, said he doesn’t like the 80-per-cent rule, but, as he told the planning committee, it’s “out of your hands.”
As a safety precaution, however, a strata windup goes through BC Supreme Court where anyone who opposes the process can make their concerns known to a judge, explained Paul Roberts who was the lawyer for Ascott Wynde strata windup.
According to the city staff report, the development application for the former Ascott Wynde strata is from a numbered company, BC1165225, whose directors are Yechuan Wu and Hongda Wu. Court documents show the property was sold to Everbright Properties after the strata windup.
