Vancouver renter advocates push back against Broadway redevelopment

A new survey from the Vancouver Tenants Union shows "large rent gaps" in the city's Broadway Plan neighbourhoods. Kier Junos reports on the renters report as Vancouver council is set to vote on Broadway Plan this Wednesday.

By Emma Albert and Martin MacMahon

An organizer with the Vancouver Tenants Union (VTU) is “highly skeptical” of the city’s protections for renters amid redevelopment of the Broadway corridor.

The 30-year Broadway Plan aims to build new high rises in the Kitsilano, Fairview and Mount Pleasant areas, adding 30,000 new homes. This will mean replacing existing three-storey apartment buildings.

The VTU is worried people living in affordable rentals in the redevelopment area will not be able to move back into the neighbourhood at the same rent cost.

Mazdak Gharibnavaz, a volunteer with the VTU argues the plan is “essentially a transit-oriented displacement at work” and that older rental buildings, like those on Broadway, are often targeted by redevelopment projects.

“In terms of what the city calls ‘improved tenant protections,’ these are something to be highly skeptical about,” said Gharibnavaz said.

“We don’t believe that the municipal government will protect tenants. And we believe that tenants themselves need to get organized and resist these developments.”

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Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart has spoken in support of the Broadway plan and proposes that should a renter need to re-locate, they be either “generously compensated” to move or be guaranteed the right to return to replacement buildings with rent at or below what they pay right now.

But Gharibnavaz says politicians can promise whatever they like, but “what’s important is what actually gets enforced.”

“In our experience, the municipal government and city staff do not enforce properly. There are arbitrary decisions made,” he said, noting a civic election is coming up later this year.

Rather than replacing existing affordable housing, Gharibnavaz argues the city should instead buy land to create “appropriate housing” for people.

He believes the Broadway redevelopment plan could be more harmful than helpful for those currently living in the area. The plan, according to the group, would give landlords and investors the incentive to “renovict” tenants who are paying less then the rent average right now. The VTU held a rally outside Vancouver city hall Monday to voice their concerns.

The Broadway plan is projecting up to 50,000 more tenants will be living along the corridor over the next 30 years. The main three focuses for the plan are housing, jobs and amenities set around the new Broadway subway. Also said to be included are around 600 more social housing units, 330 new social housing units from city owned housing sites and roughly 1,500 secured below market rental units.

The group says based on its survey of households in “purpose-built rental buildings,” it believes some landlords stand to benefit by an up to 20 per cent increase in rent, should they find a reason to evict their current tenant.

It also argues some landlords could increase their rental income by as much as 70 per cent if they redeveloped their building and replaced all tenants. Gharibnavaz says this creates a risk for long-term tenants, since they often pay lower rents then newer tenants.

According to the VTU, the average affordable rental tenant in that area has lived there for around seven years, while a quarter have been there over a decade.

“The only way to fight back against gentrification and displacement is to be an organized movement that resists,” Gharibnavaz said.

With files from Denise Wong

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