Vancouver city council was unanimous Tuesday in approving a proposal for a 14-storey rental housing tower in Kerrisdale, despite concerns over maintenance, repairs and other issues associated to an adjacent building owned by the same developer.
Larco Investments Ltd. owns an 88-unit rental tower at 5455 Balsam St. called the Fontainebleau Apartments and now plans to construct a 145-unit market rental tower on a portion of the same property.
In giving Larco the green light, council attached a series of conditions to the proposal in response to tenants’ concerns at the Fontainebleau Apartments, a 1960s era building which has a large seniors’ population.
Council’s approval included criticism of Larco.
“I am not impressed — I will be honest — with this applicant,” said Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung in her closing comments.
“We desperately need new rental housing in the city, and you don't want to be against that. But taking care of existing renters, and particularly seniors in our city, I think is fundamentally important.”
Building's pool closed for five summers now
During the public hearing, council heard from tenants who complained of laundry machines, toilets, leaky pipes and kitchen sinks not being repaired or replaced in a timely manner.
At times, garbage had piled up in the basement for several weeks.
The building’s pool has been closed since the pandemic was declared in 2020 and sidewalks aren’t shovelled during snowfalls, said Daniel Kasowitz, one of many tenants who opposed Larco’s proposal.
“This is the fifth summer in a row that the residents have been unable to swim in our outdoor swimming pool,” said Kasowitz, who estimated up to 70 per cent of tenants are elderly and chose to live at Fontainebleau because of the pool.
“They find it essential to their health, providing one of their only sources of exercise.”
'Greenest city on earth'
Other tenants raised concerns about the building’s boiler, a loss of the parkade during redevelopment and destruction of a garden, which Ileana Madrid, who has lived at Fontainebleau for 27 years, said tenants use to socialize, relax and exercise.
“The City of Vancouver’s website claims the goal of the city is to become ‘the greenest city on earth,’” Madrid told council.
“The rezoning and proposed development of 5455 Balsam St. goes directly against the city’s own stated goals and should not be approved.”
Council heard that Larco acquired the Fontainebleau Apartments in February 2020, and employs a property management company. Kasowitz’s wife, Karen, told council the property manager works part-time.
“There are times when we tenants take upon the responsibility of cleaning the common areas of our building, the elevators, the laundry rooms, the garbage area and the pool area, and also watering the plants in the lobby and watering the garden last spring when the sprinkler system was not working,” she said.
Pool must be retained
The conditions council attached to the proposal include that the Fontainebleau Apartments “be certified to the satisfaction of the city building inspector” to comply with regulations set out in the city’s standards of maintenance bylaw regarding exterior walls, doors and windows, gas appliances and systems, heating and electrical systems.
A temporary off-site parking agreement must be reached before Larco can obtain a development permit for the new tower. Council also stated the outdoor swimming pool must be retained and maintained as operational, and that four trees identified in an arborist report be protected.
Kirby-Yung said that although the proposal meets city policies, she was mindful of the concerns raised by the Fontainebleau’s tenants and encouraged them to report any future problems to the city.
“As a society, we are defined by how we take care of our older persons and to leave people in situations — where it is quite clear to me from what we heard — that the conditions of their day-to-day living were degrading, whether it was cutting off the pool or whether it was issues with heating or whatever the case is, it was, quite frankly, very difficult, and I think it was quite deplorable,” she said.
Coun. Pete Fry echoed some of Kirby-Yung’s concerns but also described Larco’s proposal as “a good development.”
“Yes, we definitely need to deliver more housing, but it's not a race to the bottom, either,” Fry said.
"We're not throwing folks under the bus. We're not allowing substandard building conditions and sort of abuse of tenancies to further that agenda. So I really do appreciate where we've landed on this, and it does give me the confidence to support this development.”
'A desirable place to live'
Glacier Media left a phone message with a Larco receptionist Tuesday morning for comment from the company but had not heard back before this story was posted.
At the hearing, Wendy LeBreton, Larco’s development manager, committed to finding parking for tenants during construction and reporting tenants’ other concerns to the property management company.
“We want to ensure this is a desirable place to live and will wholeheartedly commit to ensuring tenant concerns within both the new and existing building are addressed expediently,” LeBreton told council.
“As a member of the development team at Larco, I will be taking the feedback I hear today and relating it directly to our property management team for action.”
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