humor

Gentrification in reverse

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71 Comments

Syruptrap.ca shares the sad news that another Luxury condo tower is to be torn down and replaced with a small independent bookstore:

Beloved Pinnacle Towers developer Jerry Gotham lamented the announcement in a Facebook post on Monday.

“Pinnacle Towers has been an integral part of the local community for the last seven years,” wrote Gotham.

“I am sad to announce today that the new owners, book lovers Daphne and George, will tear the building down in order to build a small independent neighbourhood bookstore.”

A frustrated Gotham told press that he wishes there was something he could do to save Pinnacle Towers.

“This 40-storey luxury condo development — the marble baths, the helipad, the green roof — was my life. To see it all come down like this is a damned shame.”

Several members of the community gathered in front of the demolition site on Monday to protest the announcement.

“This tall, expensive glass building is an important part of the cultural fabric of this city,” said Sheila Barthelby, creator of a “Save Pinnacle Towers” petition on Change.org, which as of Monday morning has garnered over 200 signatures.

This seems to happen so often these days. Read the full article here.

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[…] –All aboard the debt train! –The perfect balanced market –For sale: Bentall Centre –No one wants to cool the market –Shaughnessy protected –Hard times –Jenny Kwan misquoted –Canadian foreign buyers –World economy on its head? –The risks of interest rates – […]

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History

http://economyandmarkets.com/markets/housing-market-markets/heres-how-much-manhattan-fell-during-the-great-depression/

Harry Dent, hot off the wire. Mentions Vancouver RE, Chinese, Laundered money, bubbles, interesting stats and graph. Great Bear food.

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@#65

what! Nichol House once owned by The Province’s founder, Walter Nichol built in 1912 is to be protected indefinitely. Poor guy. Chopped up for naught.

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vangrl

Hope Paul has figured the new system out better than Trish/Rob

http://www.robchipman.net/author/trish/

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@#21 & #41

In some countries, landlords are charged under their immigration Act with harboring foreigners who overstay. Not sure if this apply to us.
Surely landlords here renting out on a month-to-month basis for cash only, will not bother to check their tenant’s visas and passports.

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ostritch

Kwan is clear. She doesn’t endorse hiding capital or income from CRA. Having said that, there seemed to be an acknowledged problem 18 years ago. Today, that problem is worse with mainlanders not only vastly underreporting worldwide income but upping stakes and moving and investing here in part to game the tax system along with buying and developing both commercial and residential RE to flip it to other Mainlanders who do the same. The shame, which she conveniently misses, is on our politicians who can stay in power 18 years with no discernible action on their part to warn, restrain or draw attention to this type of problem.

Her views have been as consistent as her actions; nothing.

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bullwhip29

Shaughnessy mansions to be protected
New Vancouver conservation area prohibits demolition of houses built before 1940
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/metro/shaughnessy+mansions+protected/11400830/story.html

>>>city staff unanimously recommends setting up a Shaughnessy heritage conservation area named Shitsilano (just kidding…)

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@#48

Sigh! I believe that Ottawa had already made an overture on this matter to Quebec, and got a reply to the tune of “je m’en fous.”

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[…] Meanwhile in the Metro area home ownership rates have moved from 56% in 1986 to 65% in 2011. […]

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ostritch

Once China reaches reserve currency status, and its citizens are free to invest worldwide, they will bid up U.S. stocks the same way as they have bid up YVR real estate prices. In the future, Garth will be very rich and wrong at the same time. A very unique bear indeed.

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paulb

Week to date

New
505
Sold
305

TI:11910

http://www.paulboenisch.com

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gordholio

For anyone who’s still following along with this, here’s the reply I received from Jenny Kwan re: the quote at the end of that Douglas Todd piece last week: Dear Gord, I, like you, am extremely disturbed with Douglas Todd’s piece in the Sun this morning on the issue of Canadian immigrants not reporting their full global income at tax time. This is an issue I’m very interested in and there is no question that all people should pay their fair share of taxes. So imagine my surprise to see an 18-year-old quote of mine printed in the Sun this morning—and presented as if I just said I supported tax avoidance. This quote was used completely out of its original context. Worth noting is that Douglas Todd never interviewed me for this story. According to the story, the quote comes… Read more »

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History

Harper and his handlers are working an old Post Sale technique .. trying to mitigating Buyers Remorse by advocating further feedstock enter the Home Ownership hopper.

Couldnt resist the use of the word ‘Hopper’… Hopper Harper. For those in the know, hopper is the defining noun of the Human Physical manifestation sign of Cancer, as Cancer rules the stomach, or Hopper.. and we know Cancer rules homes, Houses, and families. It’s just plain Uncanadian (antithetical to our Cancer July 1 birthday) to not own your very own home…

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patriotz

@57: “And some of the latest housing data appears to be backing Icahn’s assertion.”

But they don’t present any data to back up the assertion. Well, it is Fox, after all.

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MadasHell

Carl Icahn on another US housing bubble: “You know, the subprime debt was only $1 trillion (2007) and look what it did. This time, you’ve got $2.2 trillion. It’s ridiculous… People are buying things they don’t understand,” he said.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/business-leaders/2015/09/29/icahn-theres-housing-bubble-and-it-could-be-disastrous/

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Best place on meth

@53

“Not surprisingly, organized real estate loves everything the Conservatives have done to boost housing and believes the government can reach the goals it has set.

“We need to have strong policies in place to meet that target,” said Kevin Lee, chief executive of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association, about the goal of reaching a 72.5 per cent home ownership rate.

Lee says comparisons to the U.S. market are not valid, even as our home ownership rates soar past its highs. ‘The American situation and the way mortgages were handled and the stringency were entirely different than (Canada today.).”

Did he just say it’s different here?

I’ve never heard that angle before.

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Best place on meth

“gonna be some pissed of rich Chinese today”

Gonna be some shark fin chunks shooting out some noses today.

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patriotz

@50: “a new minority Conservative government”

Oxymoron.

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bullwhip29

@ #49
make that 700,000…

if you’re going out with a bang, may as well make it THE big one

http://business.financialpost.com/personal-finance/mortgages-real-estate/stephen-harper-wants-to-add-another-70000-homeowners-in-canada-is-that-what-we-really-need?

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vangrl

#48

that is the most poorly written petition I’ve ever seen….shame.

Not signing that.

It reads as though Chinese are buying Canadian Real Estate to meet the 1.6 million asset criteria. If they already bought it, then cancelling QIIP is a moot point.

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vangrl

#43

Institutional investors, pension funds etc…

Any individual investors would be Mainland Chinese Canadians.

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UBC in crisis mode

A few months ago I predicted a new minority Conservative government. I feel bad to be right again.

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MadasHell

From todays FP: Stephen Harper wants to add another 70,000 homeowners in Canada. Is that what we really need?

The Conservatives want to push home ownership levels to 72.5 per cent, well above the current rate which is hovering close to 70 per cent.

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pi

Sorry, wrong link. It was mentioned in Douglas Todd article, but here is the actual petition:

http://tinyurl.com/q9gqmrb

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