ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: November 2, 1995
Dept. File No.: JF
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: Director of Land Use and Development and the Manager of the
Housing Centre
SUBJECT: Strata Title Conversion: 2275 Oxford Street
RECOMMENDATION
THAT the application to convert the previously-occupied building at
2275 Oxford Street (Lot E, Block 14, D.L. 184, Plan 16700) to
strata title ownership be approved in principle, but that pursuant
to Section 9(l) of the Condominium Act, the Certificate of Approval
(Form 10) shall not be issued unless the following condition has
been met within one year of the date of this approval:
Completion of all work required by the City Building
Inspector, under the required permits, at no cost to the City,
in order that this previously-occupied building substantially
complies with all relevant by-laws.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of
the foregoing.
COUNCIL POLICY
Council policy is reflected in the City's Strata Title and Cooperative
Conversion Guidelines, which outline factors Council will consider in
reviewing applications for converting previously-occupied buildings to
strata title or cooperative ownership.
PURPOSE
Council approval is required for an application to convert the
previously-occupied building at 2275 Oxford Street, (Lot E, Block 14,
D.L. 184, Plan 16700) to strata title ownership.
BACKGROUND
The site is zoned RM-3A and is developed with a three-storey multiple
dwelling building constructed in 1977 under Development Permit No. 75032
and Building Permit No. B83207. The building contains 42 dwelling
units, 40 of which were occupied at the time of application. The site
location is shown in Figure 1, below.
FIGURE 1
The building at 2275 Oxford Street consists of: 5 bachelor units, 14
loft units, 9 one-bedroom units and 14 two-bedroom units. Monthly rents
for these units compared to average rents in the East Hastings area and
Vancouver as a whole (CMHC April 1995 Survey) are as follows:
East Hastings Vancouver
Unit Type NO. Average Rent Rent Rent
Bachelor 5 $420 $458 $536
Loft 14 $540 N/A N/A
1-Bedroom 9 $575 $556 $645
2-Bedroom 14 $800 $682 $908
The April 1995 CMHC survey of rental apartments in Vancouver indicated
that the vacancy rate across the City had declined from 1.4% in April
1994 to 1.0% in April 1995. The vacancy rate in the East Hastings area
declined from 2.9% to 1.8%. Vacancy rates are expected to decline
further over the next year. A 2% vacancy rate is considered to
represent a balanced market in Vancouver, which is traditionally tighter
than elsewhere in Canada.
Over the past 5 years, an average of 95 residential units have been
converted annually from rental to strata title ownership in the City of
Vancouver. In 1994, 113 units were converted, and to date, 67 units
have been converted in 1995.
With regard to rental tenants, the City's Strata Title and Cooperative
Conversion Guidelines contain the following criteria which must be
satisfied in order for Council to give favourable consideration to an
application for converting a previously-occupied building to strata
title ownership:
(a) at least two-thirds ( ) of the households occupying the building
must have given their written consent to the conversion; and
(b) the interests of all tenants must have adequately been respected in
the conversion process.
When this application was received, City staff provided tenants with
copies of the City's Strata Title and Cooperative Conversion Guidelines
and a Tenant Information Brochure, along with a covering letter
describing the process. Tenant Response Forms were then given to the
applicant to distribute to the tenants and return, once completed.
The results are as follows:
Support the application: 31 74%
Oppose the application: 8 19%
Undecided: 1 2%
Vacant Units: 2 5%
___ ____
TOTAL: 42 100%
The owners have offered the tenants the right to purchase the units at a
discount equal to one year's rent. For those who wish to stay but not
purchase, the owners have offered two year leases at current rents. For
those who wish to move, they have offered an $800 moving allowance. The
Tenant Response Forms indicate that 4 tenants are interested in
purchasing, 9 don't know, and 27 are not interested.
STAFF ANALYSIS
In addition to Planning Department staff, the City Engineer, the
Director of Permits and Licenses and the Manager of the Housing Centre
have reviewed this application.
The City Engineer has no dedication or servicing requirements for this
site.
The Director of Permits and Licenses reports that extensive building
upgrading, including installation of a sprinkler system, and electrical
upgrading will be required in order for this building to substantially
comply with all relevant by-laws.
The Manager of the Housing Centre advises that this is the second
conversion of a large multiple rental building this year; however, both
are located in the relatively affordable East Hastings area. The first
was at 1549 Kitchener Street (47 units) and was approved by Council in
April. The rate of conversion is still within the annual range of the
past 5 years, but will have to be monitored. Most of the tenants in
this building support the conversion, and the tenants' interests have
been addressed by the owners.
The incentives being offered to the tenants are fair relative to
standards which have been established through the City's conversion
process.
Although the City has an interest in whether undertakings made to
tenants have been met, the only way of obtaining this information is to
ask the owner for evidence of a private legal agreement. Additional
staff resources would have to be allocated to administer this new
procedure. Since there have been few complaints from tenants affected
by strata conversions, staff agreed it is not necessary to institute a
new procedure at this time. However, if it becomes apparent that
undertakings made by owners to tenants are not being honoured, staff
will seek direction from Council in developing a procedure to rectify
the situation.
CONCLUSION
Based on the foregoing, and on the applicant's compliance with the
City's Strata Title and Cooperative Conversion Guidelines, the Director
of Land Use and Development and the Manager of the Housing Centre
support this application.