SomeThingsActuallyDoReallyMatter
…At top of mind is the 1989 decision by then-mayor Gordon Campbell to provide discounted city land to the Vancouver Land Corporation or VLC Properties – a company created by his developer friend Jack Poole and backed by union pension funds – to develop low-cost rental housing in the city in response to the affordable-housing crisis of that era.
That privately arranged deal generated criticism for years afterward, with some feeling that VLC – now called Concert Properties and one of city’s most successful development companies – didn’t build as much rental housing as originally promised.
“I’ve asked and am trying to get answers to, ‘What was wrong with that proposal?’ ” said (task force member) Ms. (Olga) Ilich, who said that the concept of building rental apartments on city-owned land, with a steady stream of revenue coming to the city from them, seems on the surface like an attractive idea.
But, in the meantime, the quick-start recommendation is to experiment with only one small piece of city property to see what developers propose.
She said the task force has also been working to get information on older co-ops and social housing in the city that could be renovated and expanded.
The task force is aiming to find ways of developing suitable housing for households with incomes between $21,500 and $86,500…
