Rental housing complex in South Vancouver may soon be torn down to make way for condos
Posted February 24, 2015 10:08 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Tenants say it’s another sign Vancouver’s affordability and sense of community is being driven out by condo developers, as a housing complex in South Vancouver is likely to fall victim to a wrecking ball very soon.
It’s part of new housing and commercial projects building up around the corner of Marine Drive and Cambie Street.
Jillian Skeet lives at Marine Gardens, a 70-unit rental townhouse complex, and heads up its residents association. She tells us it’s been a home to families and seniors for about 40 years.
She’s convinced city council will approve new condo towers on the site at a hearing this evening, “which is most unfortunate because it’s the loss of scarce affordable housing in Vancouver. And beyond that, it’s the loss of a community that has a value that I don’t think is being appreciated by this council.”
Skeet says for many people facing the possibility of eviction, they may not be able to find a place in Vancouver proper that’s been their home for so long.
“The whole situation is incredibly stressful. We have people in the complex who are on disability pensions or fixed incomes for whom this is just debilitating.”
With so many new developments in the area, Skeet believes it’s part of a larger development of affordability in Marpole, which she says is one of Vancouver’s few remaining neighbourhoods with reasonable rents.
Skeet admits, though, that the city has provided a fair compensation package for those who may be displaced.
