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Post-Olympics, spotlight falls on housing dilemma
Some say the posh athletes’ village should be partially used for lower-income dwellers, but others say that makes no economic sense.
Olympians in Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Games loved staying in the athletes’ village. Big surprise.
Their rooms will soon be retrofitted, and, in some cases, sold for millions of dollars. Another athletes’ village as nice as the one Vancouver built is unlikely in the next 100 years. But as soon as the Paralympics conclude later this month, attention will once again focus on the economics of the development and how much of the nearly $ 1-billion that Vancouver taxpayers spent to bail out the project they are likely to get back.
One of the more contentious aspects of that discussion is certain to involve the status and future of the 252 units of social housing to which the city had committed itself. It is a promise now likely to be broken.
The final decision will have wide-ranging political implications for the governing Vision Vancouver party and its leader, Mayor Gregor Robertson.
On one side are those who say the social housing is too expensive and would be better built, far cheaper, somewhere else. On the other are those who believe the city has a moral imperative to honour its obligation to make room for the poor in all big real estate developments.
That group includes Jim Green, the legendary community development consultant. If Vision backs away from the social housing, he warned yesterday, “it will be a complete disaster for the party and the city. This income mix in real estate developments is key to the future of Vancouver.” Perhaps. But Vision also must weigh the risks of going ahead with a plan that would come at an enormous cost to taxpayers.
The social housing component of the project was supposed to cost about $ 65-million. It ballooned to $ 110-million. The worst cost overruns of the Olympic Village construction involved the three parcels of units set aside for social housing. Meantime, estimates show it would cost an additional $ 55-million to $ 75-million to subsidize the housing (keeping rents far below market value) over a period of 30 years or so, as originally planned.
It would arguably be the most expensive social housing anywhere in the world.
Complicating the issue is the fact the city could still end up losing $ 100-million or more from its stake in the project. You may recall that the city had to bail out the developer to the tune of about $ 900-million after the original lender, Fortress Investment Group, decided to bail because of nervousness about overruns.
Now, given the bounce-back in the economy and the positive exposure the Olympic Village received during the Games, there is a much stronger likelihood Millennium Development will be able to repay all of its building loan. But that still leaves $ 170-million that it owes the city for the land upon which the project is built.
It’s entirely possible the city will not get that back. This creates a problem, because it was counting on that money to pay for the $ 160-million it spent on other infrastructure investments related to the project, such as soil remediation, a civic centre, a plaza and other improvements.
Even if the city were to get half the money back, that still amounts to an $ 87-million loss, which makes it that much harder to justify spending possibly $ 180-million for 252 units of social housing.
This is why council will be presented later this month with a range of options. The one being favoured at the moment is for the 252 units to be rented out, at rates slightly under market, possibly for seven to 10 years. At the end of that time, a decision would be made as to what portion to convert to social housing while selling the rest as condos at market value.
The money saved by going this route would be used to build more social housing on another site at a much more cost-effective rate.
Advocates like Mr. Green will not be thrilled with this solution. Mr. Green rejects any plan perceived as concentrating low-income people in one area, creating what he calls “massive ghettos.” I don’t think that’s what the city has in mind; nonetheless, that is a sentiment it would face if it takes this option.
Whatever happens, it seems certain now that the Olympic Village won’t have 252 units of social housing.
Any decision needs to be made soon. The units become available in April and nothing would be worse than having them sit empty – with potential dollars flying out their windows – while council dithers.
This will be the biggest, most controversial decision this Vision government will make, the fallout from which may be felt into the next election.
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