new leaky condo problems downtown
The CBC is reporting that two Concord Pacific condo towers in downtown Vancouver have developed leaky condo problems requiring millions in repair work. The ‘leaky condo issue‘ is very familiar to Vancouver residents, and apparently still very much a concern.
Governor’s Tower at 388 Drake St has required replacement of all windows, exterior walls and bricks which has cost owners at least $100k per unit:
The cost of repairs to the tower was estimated at $29 million, and each of the 237 condo owners had to fork over at least $118,000, with the cost depending on the size of their apartments, Fox said.
Governor’s Tower was built 14 years ago and the 10-year warranty had expired.
The Parkview Tower at 289 Drake street is the other Concord Pacific tower reported with this issue:
All the windows on the 14-year-old tower were replaced because they leaked, said Alan Cadwell, whose Langley-based company, The Condo Advocate, repaired Parkview Tower.
Cadwell’s company specializes in restoration management for leaky condos in B.C.
“With one good push, the window wall system, in theory, could be kicked out and could be travelling to the floor,” Cadwell said of the condition of the windows.
The cost of the repairs for Parkview Tower amounted to more than $8 million, he said.
Thanks to LaLaLand and Bizznitch for the story tip and link.
UPDATE: In a bit of synchronicity the Vancouver Sun has this article in todays paper: Leaky condo crisis far from over.
RSS 2.0 comments feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.By 2012, when the leaky condo era enters its fourth decade, as many as one-third of the defective units will remain unrepaired, said the report, prepared for the province’s Homeowner Protection Office (HPO) by private consultants.
At least 45 per cent and possibly as many as 68 per cent of leaky buildings have not been repaired yet, according to various scenarios explored by the consultants.
…
The consultants made no attempt to estimate the total cost of the damage, but concluded that early estimates of the repair cost per unit – $10,000 to $15,000 – were way low.
“Based on the HPO experience, it would appear that the actual average repair costs are approximately five times or six times higher,” they said.
By last September, repair loans the HPO makes to leaky condo owners had grown to an average of $62,000 for wood-frame apartments, and $72,000 for those in concrete buildings.
July 10th, 2008 at 12:15 am
$250-$300 per sq. ft.!
hmmm… I’d say…
$125-$175 per sq. ft.!
July 9th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
I wil buy at tv towers once they get to $200,000 for a higher floor two bedroom, about what it should cost once the market corrects.
$250-$300 per sq. ft.!
July 9th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
I think SATV’s lost his marbles today
he does sound a little rattled
i’m also assuming he has more than 1 marble
July 9th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
M,
Bdk was playing with sources and words there is nothing to shift that was ‘time’just wanted to tied some of his loose nuts and bolts,
i am willing to fix his fossball table and throw away his rothmans blue from his balcony just $300 fine from strata he will be fine for decades to come.
Between M why did you sell your condo-the best investment plus affordable plan for next generation?
July 9th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
I think SATV’s lost his marbles today… I can’t remember a time when he’s nym-shifted this much before!
July 9th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
you don’t want to raise on baiting tacts i am not selling you anything because towers are sold out in 2006 if you want bargain go find a flipper before something list in mls it’s gonna be very expensive.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
well,pen doesn’t work on concrete for correction nib will break off of a pen you gotta think about it man similar units non concrete construction in east side will cost you around $400.000 and you want to correct the market on world famous shopping promenade just 2 minute walking distance
from Canada line.
July 9th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
I wil buy at tv towers once they get to $200,000 for a higher floor two bedroom, about what it should cost once the market corrects.
July 9th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
hey you 70 k in pocket,
if you ever got to reach close to this project hmmm it could be possible you may don’t want to go back home unless you grab the fob key for your brand new purchase it looks absolutely fantastic!!!
http://www.cbc.ca/bc/redevelop.....robson.pdf
July 9th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
My source tells me TV Towers is going to leak more than any other Concord Pacific Project.
July 9th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Finally good news (well I guess bad news for everybody else) for us bears!
Now how to profit from this? Short Canadian bank stocks?
July 9th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
.nhoJ ,tcerroc yletulosba er’uoY
July 9th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Thanks for the links everyone, I’ve just posted a thread on the new federal mortgage limits.
Richard: fixed the server time.
John: I assume you’re being sarcastic since your post contains so many obvious falsehoods.
July 9th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Vancouver’s condo market continues to be one of the most robust in the nation. This red hot market will not be affected one bit by the reduced amortizations because in this financially conservative country hardly any purchasers were using them in the first place. Downpayments continue to be high. The olympics are near and the real estate market abounds.
July 9th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Wow, seems like all the wheels are falling off the RE bus at the same time.
First declining affordability, then economic slowdown, then higher gas and food prices, then rising inventories and falling sales, then leaky condo news, now the tightening of the credit noose.
Like a bad game of J-J-J-Jenga.
July 9th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
FTB’s forced to downsize, now known as simply FB’s!
That’s First Time Buyers to start, you figure out the rest.
July 9th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
VancouverBanker said: More important though is raising the downpayment to 5%. That will take out tons of speculators.
But they can still borrow the 5%, right? It’s just not insured. So is this an effective change or just good optics? (Honest question.)
July 9th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
“Will a 5 year cut make much of a difference? ”
I think so. In markets, it is the marginal buyer who sets the last price.
July 9th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Blueskies is bang on … I suspect 30 and 10 would be all but impossible when variable rate guys start renewing … especially if rates (inflation bogey!?!) starts to creep higher … if you live in West Van and you haven’t put at least 15% down (benchmark down 10.4% and new 5% rule) you’re FU$ked … see how quickly it turns!!!!
gov’t surely did the math and this was the most palatable given market/political agenda
Get out the popcorn.
July 9th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
The G&M story says max 45% debt-service ratio. That’s a big change from present, right? So few in Vancouver could get a CHMC-backed mortgage right now if these rules were in place? Maybe I’m missing something, but that seems to be the big deal…