Waiting game at Holborn’s Dunsmuir House site over whether property owner on the hook for fees

What happened: A city-ordered demolition of Dunsmuir House, a 115-year-old heritage-listed hotel at the corner of Dunsmuir and Richards, was completed last month after it was declared a threat to public safety by city officials in December 2024. 

• Holborn Group, the developer that owns the Dunsmuir property, is being accused by the city of “neglecting the building to the point where demolition became the only viable option to ensure public safety,” which meant heritage features of the building could not be safely retained.  

ABC Coun. Peter Meiszner told Vancity Lookout the urgent demolition was not the outcome anyone wanted to see. Losing the heritage components of the buildings “makes it twice as bad, in my opinion,” Meiszner said.

Compensation: Vancouver does have a bylaw on the books intended to protect single-room accommodations (SRAs) like Dunsmuir House. The bylaw allows city council to “impose a $300,000 per unit charge as a condition of a conversion or demolition permit,” according to the city. With 167 rooms, Holborn Group could be on the hook for as much as $50 million, according to the Tyee. 

However: That money is not a fine, and would “be paid into a reserve fund for the provision of accommodation to replace the [SRA] that is to be converted or demolished under the permit,” the city said. 

• And because the building was demolished by city order, rather than as an application by the property owner for a demolition permit or redevelopment proposal, the SRA bylaw charges have not been triggered. 

“When the owner, Holborn, does submit a redevelopment proposal for the property, that's when [the SRA charge] would be considered. But there's no active application that's been submitted to the city at this time,” Meiszner said. 

Council has asked staff to report back on “any legal avenues the City of Vancouver may have to seek recourse for the apparent neglect of the subject building and loss of heritage by the property owner,” and that work is ongoing, according to the city. 

What it means: Outside of that staff report, the ball seems to be in Holborn’s court when it comes to what’s next for the corner lot in central downtown. 

Holborn Group’s history of developing on sites with government strings attached — like at Little Mountain where construction is only happening in earnest now after the company bought the site from the province in 2008 — doesn’t augur well for a speedy resolution on Dunsmuir. 

• In the meantime, Meiszner said he’s kicking around the idea of having the vacant lot become an area for food trucks, on a temporary basis.