Derelict and decrepit: What’s going on with abandoned buildings in Vancouver?

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Good morning,

There’s nothing better than some good rest and relaxation over the holidays. While I didn’t spend any time writing the newsletter, I did read a few books, watch a couple of excellent movies and get outside skiing.

Before we get to today’s newsletter, I wanted to extend a huge thank you to all of you who became members during our big crowdfunding campaign in December.

It was a special one. Not only did we beat our goal of 100 new members, we broke our stretch goal of 125 we set with only a few days left in the campaign. Honestly, I’m speechless. It’s times like this that remind me why this is the best job in the world (sorry, astronauts!). 

With these results, we’re going to move faster on some of our internal plans, including hiring and more exclusive stories. More on that in the coming weeks, but I can tell you the next few months maybe some of the biggest since we first launched. 

I know those emails were probably a little annoying. It’s not something I enjoy sending, compared to our normal newsletters, but since 75 per cent of our funding comes from readers, it ends up being unavoidable.

With all that said, we’re back in the swing of things with the first newsletter of 2025. I hope you enjoy it. And check out our new Wordle at the bottom, it’s a little more slick and with no ads compared to the old one.

Let’s dive in!

— Geoff Sharpe, Lookout managing editor

PS - If you find this newsletter valuable, please consider forwarding it to your friends. New to the Lookout? Sign-up for free.

WEATHER

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Saturday: 7 🌡️ 4 | 🌧️

Sunday: 6 🌡️ 3 | 🌧️

Monday: 7 🌡️ 2 | 🌤️

CITY HALL

Derelict, decrepit, destroyed: What’s going on with abandoned buildings in Vancouver?

In a city dealing with a housing crisis, you’d think there would be an effort to maximize existing housing stock. But recent headlines illustrate a problem that the city is struggling to deal with — a large number of buildings that sit abandoned. 

What’s going on: The highest-profile case of this was the Dunsmuir Hotel at 500 Dunsmuir, which had been abandoned and has been sitting empty since 2013, according to the Vancouver Sun. Council recently voted to demolish the building after staff reported that it was at risk of catastrophic collapse.

Holborn Properties, which owns the building, is responsible for the costs of tearing it down, with council asking staff to look into legal options due to their neglect of the heritage building. Their own report said the building was not a public hazard, according to Global. 

• For a history of the Dunsmuir building, which is over 100 years old, you read this story by the Tyee. 

The Regent Hotel, a former derelict SRO at 160 East Hastings, was been shut down by the city since 2018. It was subject to more than 1,000 health and safety violations, according to Global. It was purchased by the city after it reached a settlement with the Sahota family, the controversial owners of many SROs in the city. But the city itself has done nothing with the building since. 

How big is the problem?: It seems like something some group cough the municipal government cough should’ve addressed years ago, but that doesn’t appear to be the case, as staff at the city are finally set to look into the issue. But there are estimates that the number of derelict and abandoned buildings could be in the hundreds, according to the Vancouver Sun. The group will seek to understand where the buildings are, get them better managed and increase their authority. 

• One problem right now, says Vancouver’s chief building official Saul Schwebs, is that the city doesn’t have much authority to demand buildings be maintained by their owners. 

Penalties?: While not technically a solution, one policy that could help is levying an extra tax on vacant properties, something the Union of BC Municipalities has passed a resolution on calling on the provincial government to give municipalities this power back in 2023. However, the province has not acted on their ask. 

A bigger problem: Owners not taking care of buildings is not just a developer abandoned building issue. While there are rules for occupied buildings when owners neglect them, some say the current rules aren’t enough. 

Larco, the owner of a building in the West End, was ordered by the province and the city to fix air problems and water damage, according to the Vancouver Sun. But the deadline for the repairs, Dec. 22, has passed with no fixes completed according to the tenants. Those tenants want the city to prosecute Larco Investments, which is owned by the Laljis, one of the richest families in Canada. 

• The city told the Vancouver Sun they were communicating with Larco about the problems. 

What it means: In the midst of a housing crisis, and while the government taxes individuals with vacant homes, it stands to reason that developers might also face a similar tax if they leave buildings derelict.

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VANCOUVER NUMBERS

$82,664,000: The price of the most expensive home in BC, owned by Lululemon founder Chip Wilson and located in Point Grey. That’s from BC’s 2025 property home assessment values which were just released. [CityNews]

-7.5%: The drop in opioid toxicity deaths in BC from 2023 of 1,297 to 2024 with 1,200. The overall death rate in Canada is also down 11.1 per cent. [Globe and Mail]

THE AGENDA

🧑‍⚖️ While the Vancouver school board has not brought in automated external defibrillators, a request made by students who saw their friend die from a heart attack, BC’s new education minister is looking into bringing them into schools as well as making training for cardiopulmonary resuscitation mandatory. [Vancouver Sun]

❌ It was a tough holiday for 600 workers and clients of Vancouver’s Bench Accounting, which abruptly shut down during the holidays. But, the company appears to have a buyer, with Employer.com planning to purchase the company and maintain its employees. [CBC]

🪲 Here’s some good news to start 2025 — there were no Japanese beetles detected in Vancouver in 2024 for the first time. The beetle is an invasive species that is a threat to native plants. The peak of the problem was back in 2018 with 8,275 beetles, falling to 4 in 2023. [CBC]

🌺 The Stanley Park Ecology Society is hard at work these days planting native flora shrubs next to the new trees replacing the ones cut down due to the hemlock looper moth infestation. The goal is to build a diversity of plants to prevent invasive species from taking root. [Vanocouver Sun]

🐈 Apparently, the Lower Mainland has a cougar population of 650, which seems massive to me. But most don’t venture into Metro Vancouver, though recently, on Dec. 26, one was spotted in the Dunbar area. [Global News]

🏒 Some of the biggest things to watch for during the next part of the Canucks season? Whether Elias Pettersson can get going, whether the team can improve playing at home, and what will happen to Brock Boeser and five other players who are entering unrestricted free agency. [CityNews]

👮 Police are asking for witnesses for a collision that took place on Dec. 15 at Broadway and Victoria Drive after a car struck a man who eventually died in hospital. [Global]

💸 The WISH Drop-In Centre in the Downtown Eastside will be shutting down on Feb. 7 for two months. The organization serves sex workers in the area and will have to shut down temporarily due to lack of funding. [Vancouver Sun]

🏠If you flip homes for a living, you may need to find a new job. The province’s home flipping tax is now in effect. The idea is to prevent people from purchasing a home and selling it immediately for a profit, with 20 per cent of the net taxable income being subject to tax, then falling on a pro-rata basis until 730 days afterwards. The province expects the tax to apply to 4,000 properties. [Storeys]

HOUSING

BC property value assessments are in

And the changes? Well, not much, according to the latest valuations. Most regions throughout BC saw their litte change in the average home assessment value, with small increases and decreases around 3 per cent, according to Global. 

This is the second year in a row that prices have stayed mostly flat. Vancouver prices stayed the same at $2.2 million according to the Vancouver Sun. Victoria and North Saanich saw some of the biggest drops, at around 5 per cent. 

Yes, but: Assessed values are different than what homes are actually sold for, as a hot housing market (which we’re not in currently) leads to higher sales prices than the assessed value. The price is also based on values as of July 1, 2024. 

• Why it matters: The assessed value of a home is used to set the mill rate which is used for levying property taxes by municipalities. 

Zoom out: There are no grades in home value assessments, but if there were Ontario would get an F. The province hasn’t updated property tax assessment in nine, yes nine, years and has no plan to do so according to the Globe and Mail. Frankly, I’d prefer a yearly increase to a huge one at once! 

Expensive city: If you’re looking for the most expensive homes, they’re obviously in Vancouver. As mentioned previously, Chip Wilson’s home was the most expensive. But not only is Vancouver in first place, but the top five priced homes were also in Vancouver, with three of the other properties along with Chip Wilson’s in Point Grey, and one in Kitsilano, according to Business in Vancouver. 

What’s going on: The lack of differentiation in prices in each region is likely primarily due to interest rates, which have weighed on the housing market, though the provincial government is arguing it’s because of their housing policies. However, that could change in the future as interest rates are expected to continue to drop. 

EVENT GUIDE

VanDusen Festival of Lights | VanDusen Botanical Garden | Now, multiple times | Tickets $31

Holiday History & Hot Chocolate Tour | 738 Granville near W. Georgia | Today until Jan. 10, check booking calendar for times | Tickets $49

Canyon Lights at Capilano Suspension Bridge | Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, 3735 Capilano Road, North Vancouver | Today - Jan. 19, 11:00 am | Tickets various prices

25th Annual Winter Ice Palace | Cloverdale Arena, 6090 176 Street, Surrey | Until Jan. 5, 5:00 pm | Tickets $5

Holiday Splash | Vancouver Aquarium, Stanley Park | Today until Jan. 5, 5:00 pm | Tickets $41

Chinatown Banner Making Workshop | Sun Wah Centre, 268 Keefer Street, 4th Floor | Jan. 4, 2:00 pm | Free

Oshōgatsu – Japanese New Year Celebrations | Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre, 6688 Southoaks Crescent | Jan. 4, 10:00 am | Free

Nerikiri Workshop: Mandarin & Kimono Designs | Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre, 6688 Southoaks Crescent | Jan. 4, 11:00 am | Tickets $65

Chinatown Through the Lens: A Street Photography Walk | International Village Mall, 88 West Pender Street | Jan. 5, 3:00 pm | Tickets $28

Kitsilano Winter Farmers’ Market | West 10th Avenue and Trafalgar Street | Every Sunday until Apr. 27, 10:00 am | Free

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Beloved Vancouver artist Joe Average, who was honoured with the Order of Canada earlier this month, passed away on Christmas Eve at the age of 67. The artist was diagnosed with AIDS at the age of 23 and was told that he might only have months to live. His art has become iconic, and tributes have poured in from around the world. 

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COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• The Bloedel Conservatory re-opens this Saturday!

• This little bridge is helping locals' feet stay dry. [Vancover is Awesome]

• Here’s a helpful guide for getting an EV charging cord if you park near a Vancouver sidewalk. [Vancouver Sun]

• The Polar Bear Swim was started in Vancouver in 1920, with many taking the waters on Jan. 1. [CBC]

• Anyone interested in the outdoors and photography will want to see National Geographic, Spectacle at Science World showcasing striking photos from around the planet. [Straight]

PHOTO OF THE DAY

The thing I love most about this photo of Olympic Village from 2004 to 2024 is the amount of green space that was added. We need more of that, not less…

VANCOUVER WORDLE

Think you know today’s answer? Play it here.