When she received the Jan. 28 eviction notice, Christiane Helzel also lost her job of 20 years as the resident manager of a 30-unit East Vancouver apartment building.
The couple that owned 1925 Woodland Dr. for 20 years, Ole and Jytte Hansen, is retiring and sold to a company connected to Jameson Development Corp. It couldn’t have come at a worse time for Helzel, who is undergoing cancer treatment.
“We don’t blame (the Hansens) for selling it, we blame the guys that bought it,” Helzel told the Courier.
Helzel, whose one-bedroom suite rents for $740 a month, said Jameson’s John Pappajohn had told her the plan was to convert the laundry room and storage room into bachelor suites.
“He said that they’re just doing a few renovations, we could all stay in here,” she said. “A week later we all got registered letters saying we had to be out of here by April 30.”
Because of the “renoviction,” Helzel said she fears for elderly tenants who have lived in the building longer than her and the future of affordable housing in Grandview-Woodland.
According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the citywide apartment vacancy rate fell to 0.5 percent last October and monthly rents averaged $1,176. The East Hastings zone that includes 1925 Woodland Dr. had an 0.8 percent vacancy rate and $957 average rent.
Tenant Pam Burge provided the Courier a copy of the eviction notice from 1925 Woodland Drive LLP, signed by Tony Pappajohn. It came with a copy of a Jan. 21, 2015 civic building permit for renovations to increase floor area by 520 square feet, resulting in two new residential units, a seismic upgrade and additional storage and common areas. The Hansens originally applied last June for a development permit.
The Residential Tenancy Act requires a minimum two-month notice to vacate and one-month free rent. After tenants complained to Vision Vancouver Coun. Geoff Meggs, the new landlord revised the offer to two months free rent and a $500 moving allowance.
Meggs said the building would remain within the city’s rental stock, but conceded future tenants would pay higher rents.
“(Rental housing) really is an area under provincial jurisdiction, not the city’s,” Meggs said. “It’s very upsetting for those tenants, I understand that. But there is nothing in the city’s laws that could prevent upgrading of apartments. In many cases we would like to see upgrading.”
Hansen declined comment when contacted by the Courier. Neither Tony, John nor Tom Pappajohn responded to Courier interview requests. Vision Vancouver’s pre-election donation disclosure showed Tony and Tom Pappajohn gave the party $125 each, plus $20,000 from Jameson. The Pappajohns’ marquee downtown residential, office and retail development, Jameson House, was put under court protection from creditors after construction halted amid the 2008 credit crunch. It was eventually completed in 2011 by Bosa Development.
Tenant Little Woo said most of her neighbours are resigned to moving, but are joining a Residential Tenancy Branch complaint out of principle. She said the building was well-kept, with a low turnover rate. Ole Hansen kept rents low and fostered a community atmosphere in an already diverse neighbourhood, she said.
“He’s taken in people that have been through violence and needed an affordable place to live. He’s got a big heart, the previous landlord, we all appreciate him very much,” Woo said. “There is a huge contrast, what the two types of landlords can be like in Vancouver. It’s the second one, the developers, that are growing because of the B.C. tenancy act that allows this type of thing to happen and Vancouver city hall. We keep hearing that it’s the provincial legislation that allows this, but they’re offering these development permits and not creating affordable housing.”
Burge said the location was ideal, with spacious suites and walking distance to Broadway, Commercial Drive and SkyTrain, after she experienced poor conditions at social housing projects in downtown and the Olympic Village.
“I’d hate to leave here,” Burge said. “It’s my home.”
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