The Canadian Press is reporting that "City council has voted to seize control of two derelict hotels in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside after a lawyer for the property owners warned the municipality it is exposing itself to the risk of litigation by expropriating them for $1 each. Mayor Kennedy Stewart described council's unanimous decision on Wednesday to take over the Balmoral and Regent hotels as a historic vote. The expropriation 'is a clear message that we are not afraid to use every tool at our disposal to create new affordable homes,' he said in a statement."
Every tool at our disposal, including theft. Interesting. The Balmoral is a toilet. So is the Regent. I'm all for turning them into social housing. However, stealing them presents a double standard. Obviously the buildings themselves are worthless and have to be destroyed but the property has a huge value. Compare this with how the City bought the Drake hotel from the Hells Angels and paid them $2 million more than it was worth. Organized crime exploiting the disadvantaged.
They may have the idea of just renovating the rooms and creating mass housing which will turn into a Judge Dredd-esque nightmare dwelling ...
ReplyDeleteThat would be a disaster. Those buildings need to be demolished and new buildings built in their place.
DeleteDemolition is probably best in the technical sense....still leaving the issue of theft of the property in the larger sense though. "We're taking your shit", LOL. Welcome to socialism, what you thought was your property has been taken by the government, "for the greater good". Slippery slope, hope everyone has their crampons handy....
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