Toxic smoke at the Electra
Something strange afoot at the Electra condo building downtown:
The incident began Friday when contractor True North Concrete was brought in to raise some tiles that had sunk, said Bentz.
A material that was initially reported to be urethane was injected below the tiles but around suppertime tenants reported a noxious odour and nausea, prompting the hazardous materials call which resulted in downtown traffic chaos.
Then a chemical reaction of some sort resulted in smoke.
Firefighters dealt with the smoke but the smoke re-emerged Saturday afternoon.
“We still don’t know what is down there,” said Bentz of the area where the injection of material occurred.
“We still don’t know how far it goes because it’s not on any blueprints,” he said.
Vancouver deputy fire chief Mark Engler could not identify the materials used by the contractor but did say “they pumped for longer than they should have.”
The building will now be tested floor by floor for toxic residue before residents can move back in. Read the full article over at the Province website.
September 21st, 2010 at 5:03 am
@The other Garth: "No currency has come close to match that."
Real estate tracks inflation too. With dividends (rents) to boot. My point is if you want an inflation-tracking asset, might as well get some yield out of it as well. Gold offers inflation tracking but no yield; it's a speculative play, as has been accented by other commenters here.
September 21st, 2010 at 4:36 am
@jesse: Jesse, chosing a condo over a few pounds of gold is wise, seeing as a pound of gold is only worth about $19k at the moment.
I've held gold for the last 7 years, but don't consider myself a gold bug. I do see it as a very long term store of value. After all, it has lasted several millennia as a store of value. No currency has come close to match that.
The problem now is our tendency towards bubbles caused by irrational speculators and meddling governments. I wouldn't be surprised if at some point gold loses 50%+ in a few days. That shouldn't be taken as a slam against gold, though. EVERY asset class has potential to be a bubble, and experience a resulting crash.
September 20th, 2010 at 7:36 pm
@Devore:
That's what it's worth to the seller. Are the Nortel shares that someone bought for $100 still worth that to them?
"Price is what you pay, value is what you get".
September 20th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
Transglobe has a whole bunch of Craiglist listings saying:
"FOR 1 YEAR LEASE FIRST MONTH IS FREE"
(some have misspellings like "fisrt")
This seems to apply to all their apartments in New West and Fraser Valley.
Sounds like a corporate policy, and a hidden rent reduction.
September 20th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
U.S. home prices will resume price decline after year of banking and government intermission. Multiple signs point to another year of slow home price growth and U.S. home values over priced by 20 percent.
http://www.mybudget360.com/us-home-prices-will-fa…
September 20th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
September Projections for month totals
Days elapsed so far 13
Days remaining 8
Average Sales this month 106
Average Listings this month 230
Projected sell/list 45.9%
SALES
Projected month end total 2216 +/- 137
95% Conf Interval lower bound 2079
95% Conf Interval upper bound 2354
NEW LISTINGS
Projected month end total 4830 +/- 180
95% Conf Interval lower bound 4650
95% Conf Interval upper bound 5010
MONTHS OF INVENTORY
Inventory as of August 31st 15962
MoI at this sales pace 7.20
September 20th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
Mayor Moonbeam is 'clueless' about what is happening at The Electra. Is the entire building contaminated with hazardous chemical poison ? The entire building may have to be condemned if it is….who will pay…who will want to live there now? Are the children safe? Does Moonbeam give a shit…or is he just waffling until another 'story' distracts the scrutiny. Meanwhile the owners of The Electra have air space rights worth zero. Timberrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr !!!!!!
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/brit…
September 20th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
@Devore: "everything is worth only as much as someone is willing to pay for it."
Like a Yaletown condo. But not quite. At least a condo has a yield. I don't know much about gold other than it's shiny but if you give me a Sophie's Choice moment, I'll pick the condo over a few pounds of gold bars.
September 20th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
@Best place on meth: Pssh, these youngins know nothing. No perspective. When CNN is raving about gold and there are lineups around the block from the VBCE, I'll think about worrying about a bubble.
September 20th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
@House:
You could say that of anything, because everything is worth only as much as someone is willing to pay for it.
CBs are quite concerned about the price of gold, which they put on their balance sheet, at least those that still have any left. Funny, they don't put copper on there.
September 20th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
@Dave:
Inflation in amounts required to devalue debt to any significant degree will simply not happen, nor would you want it to. And what makes you think wages would rise to match inflation anyways?
Lets face it, the average person has seen minimal gains in the last 15 years at least, in real terms, and that's with a supposedly roaring economy. Any likely monetary inflation through increased treasuries issuance will just keep doing what it's doing today: increasing the price of commodities and cost of living, while keeping real wages flat.
You can't fake growth. I think everyone's already tried that. All you're doing is digging the hole deeper.
All the money fueling this decade's hefty inflation was not borne of real production, so why would the people who produce benefit? It was the result of financial engineering, and financial engineering will benefit. It's foolish to expect anything else.
September 20th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
@bugspray:
I can't remember as far back as 1980 but I'll take your word for it.
By the way, in 1979-80 gold went into it's final parabolic blow-off phase by gaining 122% in the final 4 months before it crashed.
We're nowhere near that yet.
September 20th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
@Best place on meth: "What is there to argue about"
All time highs? If that isn't a bullish signal I don't know what is.
September 20th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
There are 7 units for sale at the Electra…
Wonder how quickly those listings will move?
How many other shoddily built/renovated condo developments will be discovered over the next few years…
September 20th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
@Best place on meth: Ah yes, I remember the last time gold was making all time highs every day.. That was right before it crashed in the eighties.
September 20th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
Some pretty nice landscaping here, no?
http://www.mls.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId…
That tree is a masterpiece.
This lovely home has just been reduced again after 143 days on the market, from $679 to $629 and now to $609.
Investor alert!!! Offers, anyone?