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Province rejects OV social housing bids

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There seems to be no end to problems at the Olympic Village. You’d think there would be lots of demand for luxury affordable housing and having it sitting empty is a bit of an embarrassment:

The province has rejected the only three bids that came in from operators willing to run Vancouver’s much-debated social housing at the Olympic village.

That leaves the city scrambling for a new solution to fill the 252 units in those three buildings, meant to be the city’s legacy from the Olympic Games. They have been sitting empty for six months, after a lengthy negotiation process between the city and province on how to structure the bid process for non-profit operators.

The operators were supposed to provide $48-million in lease money up front, which the city is anxious to get as a down payment for the $110-million buildings – all part of a project that is financially stressed in every direction.

Full article in theGlobe and Mail

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Happy Renting

@Dave said: "Most developers set their companies up to protect their other projects and assets. I have no idea how this deal was structured, but I wouldn’t doubt that their liability would be limited."

Corporatism. Got to love it. No doubt each individual development is a corporation unto itself. And each and every corporation buys $1K tickets to each and every politicians fund raising dinner.

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Dude

@Happy Renting:

Maybe. If they could sell those condos. If not, nope. For now, it looks like they are not selling. So the answer is NO!!!!!!

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Dude

@Dave:

Dave,

I totally agree with you. Look in the mirror in a year and tell me how you feel.

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SuperSmartBull

@Newcomer:

To oppose capitalism is to willfully opress the poor. People who claim that capitalism is not the most effective way of pulling populations out of poverty have paid no attention to the events of the past fifty years. That level of negligence is immoral.

What's immoral is to glibly state that because capitalism is the best system so far for helping the poor that the rest of us can just rub our hands and say, "We're done here with helping the poor". The fact is that there are still terrible inequalities with respect to basic human needs and we should be working on regulating/improving capitalism until it resolves those inequalities. And I'm not talking about access to XBoxes and LCD TV's.

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Anonymous

@Happy Renting:

"Do you guys really think that Millenium Development Corporation does not have $561 million in assets?"

Um, no. Say 50 computers, desks, and chairs. What else? A few houseplants?

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Anonymous

@OV Default:

According to the current plan, half of the 252 units were to be assigned to social housing, and the other 126 were to be rented at market value, with preference given to unionized teachers, police and fire personnel.

Ah, now I understand.

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NO-LYMPICS

Millenium required funding from Fortress did it not? However, Fortress go nervous and the COV had to acquire a loan from the banks to lend to Fortress.

When the leaky condo era, many companies set up separate companies per project, which they could fold ,hence limiting their liability.

I am sure Millenium has it set up with a middle finger sayonora to COV.

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Newcomer

To oppose capitalism is to willfully opress the poor. People who claim that capitalism is not the most effective way of pulling populations out of poverty have paid no attention to the events of the past fifty years. That level of negligence is immoral.

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Kim Jong-il buy 3

Also from Garth:

Looks like Peter Julian (NDP) want to pump the market some more…dear god why are these people so stupid, all this affordability BS just makes prices higher…aaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

http://www.peterjulian.ndp.ca/Fairness_for_home_b…

Peter will be getting a call from me tomorrow, I want to meet him and discuss, I’ve had enough.

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realpaul

Garth is on the trail today like a dog on a bone. "As the Millennium Water development drifts towards bankruptcy and ruin, putting the taxpayers of Vancouver and BC on the hook for a billion dollars, there is much blame to go around. The dinks who run the delusional city should never have committed to bailing the thing out when it was just a badly-run project to furnish accommodation for athletes during that brief Olympic thingy. The idiots selling it laughably thought there was a market for units costing an average of $800,000, or 30% more per foot than in Toronto, in a town a third the size. So now that the city’s called a $561 million defaulted loan, it symbolizes a real estate market whose reach exceeded its grasp. Worse, it embodies the role government’s played in propping up… Read more »

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jesse

@Renting: "Let the liquidation begin!"

Not necessarily. It's unclear why they were $8MM short. It could well be they're flat out of dough but it could also be they're just trying to pay as little as possible and hoping a few % short won't raise the ire of their primary creditor.

Looks like the City's playing nasty. Bravo.

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Dave

@Happy Renting:

Most developers set their companies up to protect their other projects and assets. I have no idea how this deal was structured, but I wouldn't doubt that their liability would be limited.

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Happy Renting

Do you guys really think that Millenium Development Corporation does not have $561 million in assets?

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chip

@Devore:

"@Best place on meth: Capitalism has been hijacked by corporate interests centuries ago, co-opting the power of governments to coerce people to further their dominance and profits"

Hudson: Seventeen *days?* Hey man, I don't wanna rain on your parade, but we're not gonna last seventeen *hours!* Those corporatists are gonna come in here just like they did before. And they're gonna come in here…

Ripley: Hudson!

Hudson: …and they're gonna come in here AND THEY'RE GONNA GET US!

Ripley: Hudson! This little girl survived longer than that with no weapons and no training.

[to Newt]

Ripley: Right?

[Newt apes a salute]

Hudson: Why don't you put her in charge?

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abolish cmhc

@paulb.: That's better… a bus load of stupid people must have pulled into town yesterday. Back to the inferno, burn baby burn, dumbass inferno!

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Renting

"6 or 8 million according to the Vancouver Sun. The first payment, expected to be 200m, was only 192m."

It looks like Millenium is officially in default. You have to think this was intentional as if they couldn't come up with another 8 million out of 200 to hold off foreclosure. They threw in the towel. Let the liquidation begin!

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Best place on meth

@Dave:

Relax Dave, that was just a dramatization – not an actual exchange.

No need to get your realtor panties in a knot.

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realpaul

It would be nice to have a money savvy government in COV ranks……the OV money pit just got deeper. As WAC said "the socialists couldn't run a lemonade stand"….ain't it the truth.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/breakingn…

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Devore

@Best place on meth: Capitalism has been hijacked by corporate interests centuries ago, co-opting the power of governments to coerce people to further their dominance and profits. What people imagine capitalism to be are really free markets. But apparently there is "rampant capitalism" in the US health care system, really? If that's capitalism, you can have it, but I do believe you misspelled "corporatism".

Now, all this talk of pies has made me hungry. One thing however does need to be observed about these delicious pastries: they do not magically come into existence to be divided up amongst the hungry, they must be actually be produced each and every day from real ingredients by real people who get up at 5 in the morning.

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Dave

@Best place on meth:

Ever tried to do it? OK, now STFU.

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Best place on meth

@Dave:

No Dave,

The consumers don't list themselves, the realtards still do that.

But that's all they get to do for the seller if that's all the seller wants from them. It goes like this:

Seller: Hey, realtard. Here's $500. List my house and fuck off, I never want to see your face again.

Got it now, Dave?

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NO-LYMPICS

136 Anonymous :

No, you are 100% correct.

This is a carefully orchstrated death throe.

Millenium has lost any profit, they don't even have Rich Asians flocking in to buy? Why?

The cOV is left holding the bag, but then again the COV borrowed the money from the banks ,…right?

Oh, I get it….if COV can't pay back the banks, then Stanley Park and Queen Elizabeth park will be forfeited and developed.

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Dave

@Best place on meth:

Self inflicted.

Keep in mind that CREA maintains and controls MLS. That could be a problem and a shortcoming of this agreement. The computer system and technology need to be modified to enable consumers to list themselves. It's not as simple as just saying you want to list your house.

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Anonymous

@The other Garth:

"They ARE however, defaulting on some other amount."

6 or 8 million according to the Vancouver Sun. The first payment, expected to be 200m, was only 192m. A further 2m was raised in condo sales. But I guess there's something in the contract saying that if they miss a payment then the entire account is called in, and the City's lawyers have convinced them that this qualifies. They'll probably spend a few million on a lengthy legal battle, before Millennium shuts it doors, the accountants move in and scavenge its corpse for whatever they can get (all in the name of "winding down costs") and the taxpayer is left on the hook for the balance (less whatever they get by selling their old desks and chairs at public auction).

Just speculation 🙂

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