[Update – this protest is scheduled for 12 noon on Friday, October 6, 2023 in front of the building at 5455 Balsam Street in Kerrisdale. Organizers welcome the neighbourhood community, family and friends to come and show support.]
With a long list of grievances, tenants of the Fontainbleau Apartment building at 5455 Balsam Street in Kerrisdale say they are preparing a protest their landlord.
After the enigmatic (see below) developer Larco bought the property in 2020, things started going downhill for tenants, including many elderly, who suspect the firm is trying to empty the building. Larco has a rezoning application currently in process (see Shape Your City) on the same site for a second (infill) rental tower, but under the City’s Secured Rental Policy the rezoning will only be considered if no existing tenants are displaced by the rezoning.
Tenants say that over the past few years they have endured …
- eviction notices issued with late rent blamed on tenants, though the delay was in the office,
- no heat in the building since September 20 this year,
- lack of fire safety inspections,
- lack of cleaning (windows and carpets not cleaned)
- lack of maintenance (e.g., leaks not being fixed, 4 laundry machines don’t work out of 12 – about one per floor),
- high turnover of managers, poor communication and responses to tenant requests,
- inadequate garbage removal,
- cancellation of pest control services, resulting in a rodent infestation,
- debris build-up from contracting work,
- swimming pool unusable for the past two years due to failure to do a minor repair,
- leaving vacated apartments empty for 2-3 years without doing any repair/renovations — despite the rental housing shortage, and
- lack of garden/landscaping care.
On the right (in the above photo of the model) is a proposed new 14-storey infill rental tower that would contain 145 secured rental units. That is, if the rezoning application gets approved by mayor and council. The applicant, Larco, has been working with rezoning staff at the City of Vancouver, and a “referral report” to Council recommending the project go forward to a Public Hearing could appear at any time.
On the left (in the above photo of the model) is the existing 14-storey apartment building constructed in 1965, with 87 rental units that were airy, bright and spacious, and have gleaming hardwood floors. Tenants include a mix of elderly, retired, working persons, and young couples. Some have lived in the building for over 25 years. There is a long-standing community here. But 10 to 15 families have reportedly already given up due to the worsening conditions and moved out. Up to ten tenants have been given eviction notices for questionable reasons such as late rent, though the error in handling payments was apparently in the office.
Larco has done many development projects in Vancouver and across the country over the years. It has also benefited from the “revolving door” hiring senior rezoning staff away from the City, with all their knowledge of how rezonings work.
Another Larco rezoning (pictured below) still in the works is an infill tower beside the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver at 900 West Georgia Street downtown (see “12-storey glass infill office tower beside historic Fairmont Hotel Vancouver“).
As for the Fontainbleau in Kerrisdale, Larco Investment Group bought 5455 Balsam Street in 2020 and installed Maple Leaf Property Management as the building manager. The Colliers real estate listing from 2020 mentions building features as “Rental building with significant income upside” and “Extremely low vacancy rates.”
After that, things began to go downhill for the tenants. Many tenants have have complained to the City of Vancouver, Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) and advocacy groups like the Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre (TRAC). With little success.
They complain that Larco has been cutting services and amenities, allowing the property to degrade to a state of disrepair. With the weather now colder and no heat available since September 20 this year, the situation is getting more urgent. Hundreds of complaints have reportedly been made to the City’s 311 number about health and safety concerns. City inspectors have visited the property and issued warnings to Larco.
Tenants report that some suites have been left vacant for many months with no work being done. Some are concerned about the lack of security measures. There was reportedly a break-in a few weeks ago. After Larco purchased the building, the lock box for emergency services access was removed, and there are currently no arrangements for them to gain access if called for an emergency.
Another tenant reportedly gave up and moved out of the building in August 2023. The suite had a broken thermostat, leaving the room heat stuck on maximum for over a year. Building management claimed they could not get parts to fix it and recommended just opening the patio door open if the unit was too hot. The renter had been paying $1,650 a month (the unit’s market value would now be nearly double that) and the tenant who moved out is paying more rent in a new place.
A recent case with a similar pattern (new landlord buys an older rental building, attempts various tactics to force long-time tenants out) ended up with a happy outcome for a long-time resident. See ‘So happy’- Vancouver man wins eviction fight to stay in his home of 16 years (Amy Judd, Grace Ke, Global News 17-Aug-2023) (https://globalnews.ca/news/9903449/vancouver-man-wins-eviction-fight/). In this case, 16-year tenant living on disability and paying $800 a month for a unit in a 12-unit apartment building on Glen Drive fought an eviction notice for three months (landlord’s excuse was the unit was needed for a live-in caretaker, though two other units in the building were vacant). In August 2023, provincial Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) ruled in his favour so he got to stay in his unit. Support from the Vancouver Tenants Union was a crucial factor in bringing the case some attention. Excellent video summary here on Global News (two minutes).
https://globalnews.ca/video/embed/9898983/
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MORE READING
About the process
One step in the process is getting advice from the Urban Design Panel, which discussed this application on March 2, 2022. This is an advisory body to City Council. It can only express “support” or “non-support” for a proposal, but cannot “approve” it. The panel members voted 7-0 to support the application, with comments. See p7-11 of this report. Rezoning number is RZ-2021-00063. (https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/03022022-udp-minutes.pdf)
The next step is the planning staff (rezoning planner) will prepare a “referral report” for City Council, which basically is a final version of the rezoning application. It would be presented to City Council during a Regular Council meeting one day. A “referral report” is a report recommending Council go ahead with a Public Hearing, usually held a few weeks later. The Public Hearing is for public input and a final vote by City Council to approve an application. Until then, the rezoning application has not yet been approved.
One interesting thing in the UDP report is about the policy that enables this particular application: Secured Rental Policy – Consideration of this rezoning application is enabled by the Secured Rental Policy. Specifically, the Policy allows for consideration of rezoning applications for sites zoned RM-3 where existing rental units do not currently exist, and infill development where appropriate on sites where existing tenants are not displaced. In this case the latter criteria for infill development applies.
“Existing tenants” are not supposed to be displaced. But by lack of proper maintenance and service, the number of existing tenants who give up and/or are forced to move seems to be on the rise.
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RESOURCES
City of Vancouver “Shape Your City” web page for this rezoning: https://www.shapeyourcity.ca/5455-balsam-st
Rezoning Booklet (October 2021) – https://rezoning.vancouver.ca/applications/5455-balsam-st/rezoning-booklet.pdf
Below: Flyover video of the proposed neighbouring tower on the site. Rezoning public hearing yet to be scheduled. The black-and-white building on the left is the existing building where tenants are being exposed to significant hardships. Existing and proposed building would have the same owner, Larco.
Below: Display boards from the virtual open house for public consultation (City of Vancouver website).
MORE READING ABOUT LARCO
Canada Revenue Agency’s landlord stashed money in offshore tax havens: Three CRA offices were sold off to a family with extensive offshore holdings in the British Virgin Islands and Liechtenstein (Marco Chown Oved, Foreign Affairs Reporter, The Toronto Star, 13-Dec-2016) – https://www.thestar.com/news/world/canada-revenue-agency-s-landlord-stashed-money-in-offshore-tax-havens/article_eaea4877-3be6-5ebd-8e66-2339a729ac93.html
Hide and Seek How a Government Partner Uses Tax Havens to Avoid Canadian Taxes. A 19-page paper about Larco’s dealings, with extensive links and references, by Tax Fairness. (https://www.taxfairness.ca/sites/default/files/pdf/hideandseek.pdf)
15-storey tower proposed at 5455 Balsam St. Virtual. Open house Jan 31- Feb 20. (Applicant is mystery firm Larco Investments). https://cityhallwatch.wordpress.com/2022/01/31/15-storey-tower-5455-balsam-open-house/
Feint by Numbers: 5455 (Conversation #32: Proposed spot rezoning at 5455 Balsam shows staff use tech & COVID to betray Vancouver residents & neighbourhoods) – https://cityhallwatch.wordpress.com/2022/02/28/palmquist-feint-by-numbers-5455-balsam/
CityHallWatch: Tools to engage in Vancouver city decisions 
Staggering level of pure evil and GREED writ large…