Vancouver councillor sounds alarm over Granville hotel deal, low-income housing loss

The ongoing transformation of Vancouver’s downtown entertainment district took a step forward this week, as Vancouver City Council — led by Mayor Ken Sim’s ABC majority — approved an application to convert the long-vacant Clifton Hotel on Granville Street into a new 67-room commercial hotel.

But it’s not the renovation that has critics sounding the alarm; it’s the price tag attached to the loss of 74 Single Room Occupancy (SRO) units.

The city agreed to accept $1.1 million from the developer in exchange for the removal of the SRO units. That works out to roughly $16,000 per door — an amount far below the $300,000 per unit the council could’ve asked for under its SRA (Single Room Accommodation) Conversion Bylaw.

Green Coun. Pete Fry, one of four councillors initially opposed to the application, says the decision undercuts a vital housing policy intended to protect Vancouver’s most vulnerable.

“My concern is that it will, in turn, sort of incentivize speculation and sort of predatory real estate practices,” said Fry.

“We could start seeing people buying up SROs with the intention to cut a sweet deal with the City of Vancouver, and that our current bylaws really don’t mean much of anything.”

Fry’s concern isn’t hypothetical, either.

Last year, the city approved the demolition of the Dunsmuir Hotel’s 167 SRO units without collecting the full $50 million it could have under the bylaw. However, council could still impose a fee if the developer applies for a permit in the future.

“I think there is an element of speculation that’s going on here that we need to get ahead of. Because where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and this is important housing stock,” said Fry.

According to a report prepared by the city’s General Manager of Arts, Culture, and Community Services, the Clifton Hotel — vacant since 2015 — was deemed uninhabitable and would have required millions in safety and structural upgrades just to reopen as housing.

The building’s owner, Solterra, purchased the property in 2016 and applied for an SRA Conversion Permit earlier this year.

Staff also conducted a financial analysis, concluding that a full $300,000 per unit payout would render the project unviable.

Instead, the city settled on the $1.1 million figure, which will be deposited into its SRA Replacement Reserve fund to support the development of new low-cost housing elsewhere in the city.

The report also notes the proposal aligns with the direction of the forthcoming Granville Street Plan, which is expected to go before council in June, and prioritizes commercial and entertainment uses — like hotels and performance venues — over residential developments in the core Granville entertainment district.