Who Is Really Going to Pay?

New levy could help homeless

By Irwin Loy, 24 hours, (May 27, 2005).

Pony up the cash to help the homeless. That's
the message to condo developers from the City
of Vancouver.

Coun. Jim Green says developers looking to convert
old low-income housing into ritzy condos can expect
to pay more than the $5,000 per room fee the city
now charges. The money funds social housing to
replace the lost rooms, but Green says it isn't nearly
enough to cover the $150,000 per unit cost of
building new ones.

Peter Simpson, CEO of Greater Vancouver Home
Builders' Association, says the extra costs are a
"necessary evil," but worries they'll be passed on to
homeowners.

"Vancouver is one of the most expensive places to
live in Canada and that's nothing to celebrate,"
Simpson told 24 hours yesterday.

Without regulating low-income room conversions,
the city worries 1,500 rooms could be lost by 2015.
There are currently about 6,000 rooms downtown.