BillionsAndBillionsVille
Yes, indeed.
It would appear that the greedheads have succeeded in gouging even more money out of our collective Lotuslandian back in return for yet another half measure.
Joanne Lee-Young and Lori Culbert have the story in the VSun.
Here is their lede:
Two business tycoons waged a little-known and vicious battle in and out of B.C. court over six empty Yaletown lots, assessed at a pittance because for three decades they have been designated for affordable housing.
The high-stakes feud quietly escalated in B.C. courtrooms over several years, pulling in heirs, related companies and executives from the two sides. It dragged some reputations through the mud and, at times, left Vancouver city officials hanging in the middle.
For 30 years, the lots on the north shore of False Creek have lain dormant. But last month, the city announced a deal with Concord Pacific to build 650 affordable units on three of the properties while allowing the developer to build market housing on the other three. The city will not say how much money it will receive in the deal or why it will not proceed with the original vision — promised in 1988 when Concord bought the Expo 86 grounds — to create a mixed-income community with low-rent homes on all six lots...
It's a solid piece that I hope leads to even more solid editorializing to fill in the backstories that matter.
But.
There was one passage where I would have liked a little more detail, which was the following:
...Some observers, such as former city planner Larry Beasley, argue the plan is a good one for the city. “Now, there will be prime sites in the very core of the city for low-income and middle-income residents,” said Beasley.
Today, he said, there is more acceptance of affordable housing projects with greater density, making it possible to build the same number of promised units on just three lots rather than six.
Beasley was involved in assessing the six sites to see which ones would be better suited to take on more density for affordable housing and which ones might be, for example, too close to other buildings...
What else did I want to know?
Well...
Given that he was involved in the 'assessing', I, for one, would sure like to know if the good Mr. Beasley was speaking purely for himself here or if he was speaking in some capacity for one of the players.
I don't ask this in an effort to cast aspersions - it's just that knowing would help me, a lowly reader, decide what I think of the deal.
Maybe.
OK?
_______
Hey!....'Hell Fall' by Hell Fall is now officially over for me...So, expect, maybe, some more regular pixel punching 'round here in the coming weeks...I'll explain later.
Update: Sam Cooper has more, on a potential 'agenda' re: those linked to CoV who like the deal, on his twittmachine feed.
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3 comments:
You'd almost think that the developer cabal had had enough pounds of flesh, but no, greed, as we know, knows no measure. Do we see workers' barracks and poor houses on the horizon? If I were a biblical person, i would say that our wickedness quotient (both active and passive) has reached cataclysm proportions and we're ready for another flood, but hey, our greedy gaggle are busy arranging for just that as it is, amongst other nastiness. Welcome back. You were missed.
Welcome back as well. Amazing stuff in Vancouver going on. I rarely go there, but did recently for 3 days, and stayed downtown. Could hardly believe the amount of homeless people there.
I don`t have the answers, but hope there is one.
the greed, the greed in deed. there will never be enough money for the developers. Our country, our land are just a means to an end for them. They aren't from here, in some cases. In other cases they have projects in other countries, its just where ever they can make the money. Of course we do need to know how deep into this are our politicians..
The first mistake was selling the land. The second mistake was permitting the developers to have the people here, the taxpayers, pay for the remediation. Then the local politicians didn't play hard ball to ensure there was affordable housing for those who work in the city and provide services to the city. We ought to have banned sales in foreign countries and we ought to have banned foreign ownership. One condo per family perhaps, but that would have been after locals had first wack at it and prices ought to have been controlled. How very uncapatlaist of me, but really, now people have to go to Langley to find a house or further.
Some are calling for a inquiry such as the one in Quebec to see how the money was laundered. Well I'd like an investigation into how we lost our province to foreign ownership.
In my opinion, there was some very funny business going on. First that little land trade and then the 6 lots involved in this. These players don't care about this city, but the people who need to live here do. Right now cops, medial professionals, teachers, coast guard, tradespeople, none of them can afford to live in the City. What happens when there is an emergency. It will take at least an hour for many to get into the city, if the roads are functional. A few bridges down and no one will be coming. They aren't even smart enough to keep the essential workers in the city.
As time goes by, there will be less and people living here and Vancouver will become a ghost town. You can actually find parking on Hamilton St in Yale town these days. What happened to all the cute shops? Who was the idiot who removed the parking? You don't even see a lot of people walking around. You drive down main streets and see empty shops and few people around. You go to Langley and there are traffic jams on Saturday. then they have to commute to other parts of Greater Vancouver. Robertson, the B.C. Lieberals all need to be investigated along with a lot of others.
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