ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT


                                                        Date: June 13, 1996
                                                        Dept. File No. 3213

   TO:       Vancouver City Council

   FROM:     Manager of the Housing Centre

   SUBJECT:  Assignment of Long-Term Leases - 1878 Robson Street



   RECOMMENDATION

        THAT Council, amend By-law No 6774, and, in accordance with Section
        2(3) of the Residential Tenancy Act, to delete the approval for the
        single apartment and substitute a provision to permit the Belmanor
        Apartments Limited to enter into and assign long-term leases for
        all the units at 1878 Robson Street and instruct the Director of
        Legal Services to bring forward the necessary by-law.


   GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

        The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of
        the foregoing.


   COUNCIL POLICY

   Council policy is to protect the interest of tenants in any loss of
   rental housing through stratification, redevelopment, or conversion by
   other means such as long-term leases.


   PURPOSE

   This report recommends Council approval of a by-law to permit the
   Belmanor Apartments Ltd. to enter into and assign long-term leases.

   BACKGROUND

   The Belmanor Apartments at 1878 Robson are one of approximately
   100 apartment buildings in the City where the units were sold
   individually prior to the creation of the Condominium Act.  These
   buildings are either co-operatives or companies where the units were
   sold by way of long term, usually 99-year, leases.  The Condominium Act
   was introduced to regularize the ownership of multiple residential
   buildings, and since its introduction in 1967 few new 'apartment
   companies  have been developed.


   To ensure that rental buildings were not converted to long-term lease
   without the municipal approvals required for conversions to
   condominiums, the Province in 1990 amended the Residential Tenancy Act
   to require municipal approval of the creation and assignment of leases
   where the term exceeds 20 years.

   Last year the Belmanor Apartments Limited, comprised of 14 units that
   were sold by way of long-term lease in 1950, sought the City s
   permission to enter into a long-term lease of the caretaker suite for
   which a long-term lease had never been created.  The owners were using a
   management company to maintain the building and had no need for a
   caretaker.  They wanted to sell the unit and use the proceeds for some
   major maintenance projects.  The owners intended to sell the caretaker
   suite, a small studio unit, to the owner of the adjacent suite who would
   consolidate it with theirs.

   On July 27, 1995, Council approved the recommendation:

        THAT Council, in accordance with Section 2(3) of the
        Residential Tenancy Act approve a by-law to permit the
        Belmanor Apartments Limited to enter into and assign a long
        term lease of the caretaker suite (formerly Apt. #4, now part
        of Apt. #5) at 1878 Robson Street and instruct the Director of
        Legal Services to prepare the necessary by-law.

   Council enacted By-law No. 7486 on November 7, 1995.


   DISCUSSION

   The owners of the Belmanor Apartments Limited have asked to have the
   previous by-law replaced by one that covers the whole building.  They
   are concerned that the units may be renumbered and recon-figured at some
   point in the future and a by-law that refers to specific suites will not
   be applicable.  There are no plans registered as in the case of strata
   corporations developed under the Condominium Act, and it is difficult to
   describe individual suites.

   This request is supported.  The only concern related to whether any of
   the other 14 units had always been rental and whether there would be any
   displacement of tenants.  The 14 existing units are all owner occupied,
   and the owners own the building collectively.  Rentals have not been
   permitted in the building to date.  Consequently, in the interests of
   clarity and simplicity, it is recommended that the amendments to By-law
   No. 6774, which were enacted by By-law No. 7486, be deleted and replaced
   with a general by-law that will allow the Belmanor Apartments Limited to
   enter into and assign long-term leases in the building at 1878 Robson
   Street.  As well, if any rentals are approved in the future, a by-law
   covering the whole building will allow the assignment (sale) of a unit
   to new owner with the tenant in place.  Otherwise, a separate new by-law
   would be required.


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