The good news is you’ve secured that high-paying dream tech job in Vancouver. The bad news is that dream job is in a city with a rental vacancy rate of less than one per cent—and despite your best efforts at saving, you still don’t have enough for a down payment in what is considered one of the world’s most expensive housing markets.

You did, however, manage to secure a basement suite to rent in Port Moody for the time being, in a commutable city with its own close-to-zero vacancy rate. Then, you see a local media story about a new Port Moody-based rent-to-own condo opportunity, steps from nearby major Evergreen rapid transit lines, 25 minutes to Waterfront station downtown and just a short walk to your new job.

“Rent-to-own homes” isn’t a new idea outside of Metro Vancouver, in places like Britain or the U.S. But it is a novel idea here.

The rent-to-own opportunity was certainly welcome news to Metro Vancouver renters when UDI member Panatch Group offered this innovative solution in January 2019 for its 50 Electronic Avenue project. Owner Kush Panatch recently shared the details behind this successful partnership with the City of Port Moody and Vancity at a UDI education seminar in front of an audience of nearly 300 multi-family home builders. He played a Global News story for the UDI crowd, recalling that media coverage created a huge spike in applications for this unique “pathway to home ownership.”

Multiple media stories led to their staff fielding more than 500 applicants for the 30 rent-to-own units in the 358-unit project, which features a shared amenity space with yoga studio, gym, children’s play area, dog wash and a co-working space, among other popular and contemporary communal needs.

Successful applicants would pay a fixed rent for two years, with all of that money converted into equity for their down payment.

It’s a great opportunity for home ownership. Now I don’t have to pay rent and save at the same time.

Construction is expected to be completed in 2021. At that point, rent-to-own buyers will pay rents of $1,000 a month for a one-bedroom unit or $1,250 for a two-bedroom. Purchase prices for the 643-square-foot, one-bedroom suites started at $469,900 while two-bedroom units started at $649,900.

The conditions to qualify were simple:

• Applicants must currently live or work in Port Moody;
• They must live in the home and can’t assign their purchase agreement to another person;
• They must-be first-time homebuyers.

With so many applicants, they chose a random lottery-style selection process last March, which left some elated and others disappointed but hopeful they’ll get another chance.

One of the would-be homebuyers, 24-year-old Christian Fracchia, lauded the project to Global News: “It’s a great opportunity for home ownership. Now I don’t have to pay rent and save at the same time. Otherwise, I would have to wait five or 10 years to save that money.”

A Rotary Club of Richmond award winner for his community-minded service, Panatch said he hopes this inspires other homebuilders to offer similar solutions. He believes this can help more people find affordable homes in the communities where they work.

That’s already happening. The Victoria Times-Colonist reports that Ledcor recently offered renters a chance to apply 25 per cent of their monthly rent to the purchase of a new home at the Belmont Residences Project in Langford, on Vancouver Island, last April.

Homebuilder Anthem Properties just announced their new rent-to-own program, with similar conditions to Panatch, in the District of North Vancouver. Their 341-unit project features 25 rent-to-own apartments, as well as 33 below-market rentals, along with condominiums and townhomes.

These achievements are part of what makes me proud of our industry, one that drives innovation and builds caring and sharing communities.

Anne McMullin is President and CEO of the Urban Development Institute, a non-profit and non-partisan industry association of the residential, commercial and industrial builders. This sector supports more than 220,000 good-paying, family-supporting B.C. jobs through nearly $23 billion in annual economic activity. Through municipal fees and contributions, the industry builds homes, offices, daycares, social housing, parks, public art, museums, schools and community centers throughout B.C.

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On Nov. 23, 1959, The Sun had a page of photos headlined “More Colourful New Buildings Add Striking Beauty to Vancouver.”

In the upper-left corner was Ocean Towers, a 19-storey building at 1835 Morton Avenue, between Denman and Beach. In the lower right is Berkeley Tower, a 16-storey building at Denman and Davie.

Together, they represent the two visions for the high-rise boom that would transform the West End in the 1950s and ’60s.

Ocean Towers was a massive project that occupies most of a block. Berkeley Tower was tall and thin, an example of what came to be known as a point tower.

Ocean Towers was the first skyscraper built in the West End, and stirred up a lot of controversy in the mid-1950s.

“Previously, height of buildings in the West End was limited to eight storeys, although they could go higher if built correspondingly narrower,” said a Vancouver Sun story on Feb. 26, 1957.

“Architects claimed these restrictions were too severe because the number of suites allowed would not meet today’s property and construction costs.”

The project was original pitched at 21 storeys, then reduced to 19. But several civic bodies argued against it, including the Town Planning Commission (the precursor to today’s planning department), the city’s technical planning board, the Vancouver Housing Authority and the Community Arts Council.

Artists’s conception of the Ocean Towers development at 1835 Morton in the June 29, 1957 Vancouver Sun. PNG

City council approved it, regardless, which The Sun said “took the ceiling off tall buildings in the West End.”

City planning director Gerald Sutton Brown warned council “you are making one of the biggest mistakes in Vancouver history. Once you relax the zoning bylaw, you can find no possible excuse to refuse anyone else with a similar request.”

The Sun reported Sutton Brown also argued: “In other cities where unlimited bulk and height have been permitted, residents have found themselves surrounded by a veritable wall of tall buildings, which blocked out daylight and eliminated view.”

The project was done by Otto Becker and Associates. It was originally projected to cost $1 million, then $1.5 million, and came in at “about” $2 million.

“A true tower-type building, it contains 68 suites and penthouse, and has parking for 110 cars,” The Sun reported on Nov. 23, 1959. “Becker Construction built (the) structure to design of (architect) Rix Reinecke.”

An illustration in the Feb. 26, 1957, paper shows the tower from the top down, and a helicopter pad is at the west end of the building. But it’s doubtful any helicopters ever used it.

Artists’s conception of the Ocean Towers development at 1835 Morton in the Feb. 16, 1957 Vancouver Sun.

Morton Avenue is named after John Morton, one of the “Three Greenhorns” who purchased 550 acres of swampy forest between English Bay and Burrard Inlet for $555 in 1862.

It’s only a block long, and pre-Ocean Towers comprised an older apartment building (Morton Lodge), an antique store and four houses. The Sun reported Becker had paid $200,000 to assemble the property.

There were no strata condominiums in B.C. until the province brought in the Strata Titles Act in 1966. But Becker marketed “self-owned apartments” at Ocean Towers by selling shares.

There were several other “self-owned” apartment complexes for sale at the time, including Chilco Towers (710 Chilco at Robson, across from Lost Lagoon), The Beach Park (2095 Beach, right beside Stanley Park) and the Buena Vista (2430 Point Grey Road, by Kits Beach).

The suites at Ocean Towers were originally $25,000 to $31,000, but the price rose to $31,000 to $38,000 by the time they were completed. The two- and three-bedroom units ranged in size from 1,035 to 1,535 sq. ft., and all offered a drop-dead gorgeous view of English Bay.

Two suites sold there in 2018, one on the second floor for $1.6 million and one on the 19th for $3.15 million. Five are currently for sale, from $1.175 million to $2.398 million. The penthouse was for sale for $17.3 million last year, but appears to have gone off the market without selling.

Sutton Brown may have lost the battle over Ocean Towers, but he won the war against buildings like it. Vancouverites did not like having their views blocked, and no other building as wide as Ocean Towers went up on the waterfront. Instead we have tall, thin point towers you can see around to glimpse the mountains or water.

jmackie@postmedia.com

Ad for the Ocean Towers development in the Oct. 15, 1960 Vancouver Sun. PNG

Ocean Towers story in the Feb. 26, 1957 Vancouver Sun. PNG

Photo page of “colourful new buildings” in the Nov. 23, 1957 Vancouver Sun. The Ocean Towers development at 1835 Morton is in the top left, Berkeley Tower is bottom right. It would have run in colour but it’s in black and white on microfilm. PNG

Page on “self-owned apartments” in the Oct. 17, 1958 Vancouver Province. PNG

Ocean Towers (middle) was the first skyscraper in the West End when it was built between 1957 and 1959; Berkeley Tower (right) was just behind it. This photo was taken on July 25, 1959, when they were still under construction. To the left is the Sylvia Hotel, an eight-story building that dominated the English Bay waterfront when it was built in 1912. Ken Orr/Vancouver Sun PNG

There’s a housing crisis going on in Vancouver. Perhaps you’ve noticed. Perhaps you’ve felt personally squeezed out of the market due to the exorbitant prices.

But maybe you haven’t, in which case, the real crisis is probably what to do with all that money spilling out of your pockets. Do you buy larger pants? Pants with more pockets? A larger wallet, perhaps? Or maybe you spring for the largest wallet money can buy: a really big house.

Vancouver’s most expensive home listing is located at 1233 Tecumseh Ave.  REALTOR.CA

For just shy of $40 million, you can even buy the priciest home on the market in the city of Vancouver: the sprawling, seven-bedroom Shaughnessy mansion located at 1233 Tecumseh Avenue.

Vancouver’s most expensive home listing, located at 1233 Tecumseh Ave., has an asking price of $39,980,000. REALTOR.CA

Built in 1922 and completely rebuilt and updated in recent years, this dynamic, private lair is perfect for comic book super villains or even their real-life, modern-day counterpart, the casual billionaire. Quit twirling your moustache and make an offer!

This sprawling, 25,340 sq.ft. property is just steps from Shaughnessy Park, although one wonders why you’d ever go out when you’ve got a lush green space, a koi pond visible even from the basement lounge, and a swimming pool at the house. What’s out there for you that isn’t in here for you already? Stay inside and go a little mad like Howard Hughes, if you like.

There’s also this weird frog statue. Haven’t you always wanted one of those?

This single-family home has everything, including room for several more families. It has seven bedrooms, including a self-contained guest building with pool access, so you can host your friends from a safe distance.

It has nine bathrooms — perfect for anyone that thinks eight bathrooms just isn’t enough. This one even has a free-standing tub, so you can sink into a relaxing bath, close your eyes and pretend you’re in a little yacht for mice.

It has five fireplaces, so you can easily forget where you built that fire. This majestic, two-level home even has an in-house elevator, so you can get from the downstairs to the upstairs without all that needless legwork. Look at this staircase. It’s like 12 steps! Anything with that many steps is an Ikea manual, and you’ve long since evolved beyond assemble-at-home furniture.

And if your fondness for this home isn’t already deeply-felt, take a gander at the basement pool table, which is also deeply felt. You’re sure to snooker more than the equitable distribution of wealth on this blue baby. Rack ’em up!

The office features shelving for your many leather-bound books, dimmable LED lighting for long nights of brooding, and a high-backed swivel chair so you can greet visitors by spinning around to reveal yourself and your sinister lap-cat as you say, “bwahahaha I’ve been expecting you.”

The larger-than-life dining room features high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows so you can enjoy the lush greenery just outside. Plus it’s one of those cool, super-long dining tables that rich people on TV have, where they sit really far apart in a visual metaphor for their strained relationships. Pass the salt!

Finally and most importantly, the extravagant kitchen is open-concept, so you can see the living room TV from one of the sinks. We’d expect nothing less for one of Vancouver’s spiffiest homes.

The other sink, opposite several gas stoves and an embedded oven, is long enough to bathe several small dogs at once. No more tedious trips to the puppy spa for you!

This home is currently listed for just $39,980,000, but if your world view is in any way distorted by having that kind of cash on hand, you’re sure to find it’s money well-spent.

hmooney@postmedia.com

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