Long-time residents at Tantalus Manor are raising awareness about the lack of affordable housing after their apartment building was put up for sale last month.
“My biggest concern is where do we go?” said David Williams, who has lived in the building for over 20 years and is concerned that a sale could mean changes. “It’s going to happen one day, but it’s very concerning.”
Williams and a number of his neighbours have formed a tenant committee to try and advocate for themselves in advance of any changes that may come to the building after a sale.
Many of the long-time residents pay significantly less per month than the average rent in Squamish.
While they are technically protected by the Tenancy Act, the committee is worried they could become victims of “renovictions” if the new owner decides to update the aging units or a “demoviction” if an eventual teardown takes place.
David Venance of real estate agency JLL said the property isn’t being marketed for current redevelopment, and the existing tenants will be protected by rental laws.**
“Wherever we list or sell an apartment building, tenants always have similar concerns, but we do our best to reassure them what the property is being marketed for,” he said. “I offer my contact to tenants, they are more than welcome to contact me with any concerns.”
The listing price on the 40-unit apartment building is $6.9 million. It was originally built in 1965.
The sales brochure notes that current rents are 20 per cent below the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation average and 50 per cent below market rents, offering “investors significance value-add and subsequent revenue upside potential.”
“The net operating income can potentially be doubled through a comprehensive building renovation and re-leasing program,” reads the brochure. “The long-term opportunity is to eventually unlock the potential under latent land value via redevelopment of the property on the approximate 40,000-square-foot lot to a higher density given its proximity to the downtown core.”
Venance said the property is being marketed as an intact rental apartment in a low vacancy market, rather than a teardown opportunity.
“When the rents are below market, that means there is future upside for an investor upon tenant turnover,” he said. “Tenants are protected by the Residential Tenancy Agreement, they would be treated no different by the new owner than the current owner. If a tenant moves out, then the rent would go up for a new tenant, but you can only increase the [existing] rent by a small percentage here.”
None of the members of the tenant committee said they blame the current owner for selling, but said they are fearful of higher rents in a community where rental apartments are becoming extremely rare.
Many of the occupants at 1098 Wilson Crescent are seniors or have mobility issues, and it would be impossible to find comparable rents in town, they say.
“I moved here in 1980 and I’d like to stay here, but there’s no possible way to do it if this place goes down. Not at the moment,” said Dan Pierce. “Affordable housing would be great, if you live long enough to get on the list, but there’s a huge pile of people in this town looking for places to live – both young and old.”
Two new affordable rental buildings are currently in the approvals phase at council.
The Squamish Senior Citizens Home Society is currently proposing a new building that would include 232 units. The District is also considering a new build on Buckley Avenue that would support 72 rental apartment units at fixed rates.
Residents like Pierce and Williams are concerned that as waitlists get longer and longer and existing apartments continue to age, they may run out of time.
Anita Prine, another member of the committee, said she currently pays $709 for her apartment.
Like many other tenants, facing a monthly market rent of $1,200 or $1,500 would leave no room to afford food or gas.
“There is a big community in this building, people caring for each other,” she said.
“While we’re waiting for affordable housing, what do we do? We will run out of time.”
**Please note, this story has been corrected since it was first posted to provide the accurate spelling of the realtor's name and agency.
