Boutique condo development may uproot tenants from century-old Vancouver house

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      Brianne Miller likes where she lives in Vancouver.

      “The house is 105 years old,” she says. “It’s a really beautiful character home.”

      Miller rents one of the six units at the South Granville property on West 11th Avenue between Burrard and Pine streets.

      As she recalled in a phone interview Wednesday (October 19) with the Georgia Straight, things changed when the home was sold more than a year ago.

      According to the marine biologist and eco-entrepreneur, the new owner tried to evict them but failed when residents went to the Residential Tenancy Branch.

      Recently, they learned that the City of Vancouver has granted a permit to redevelop the property into a boutique condo building.

      The new development will have four storeys, with one apartment on each floor.

      Tenants have not received notices to leave, which may come anytime.

      Adding to their anxiety is the fact that the property is also on the market, with an asking price of $4.3 million.

      “It’s pretty awful,” Miller said in the interview.

      The property has an assessed value of almost $2.5 million.
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      According to Miller, tenants include a mother with a teen daughter.

      “We’re not sure what’s going on, because the house is also being relisted at the same time,” she said.

      Miller is questioning why city hall approved a project that will reduce the number of homes available for citizens amid a housing crisis in Vancouver.

      “It’s one thing if they were going to rip it down and put in a condo building that was going to create 20 or 30 units out of what used to be six, but to go from six down to something even smaller and much more less affordable, it’s pretty ridiculous,” she said.

      A flyer indicates that the property is being marketed by realty company NAI Commercial.

      Company representative Brandon Harding related that the owner is “quite hesitant” to sell the property.

      “It’s on the market, but it’s kind of not on the market right now,” Harding told the Straight in a phone interview.

      Harding said he isn’t aware of any development permit approved for the property.

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