Forward of the controversial demolition of Vancouver’s former Dunsmuir Hotel, a longtime housing advocate is questioning why one other constructing stays empty almost seven years after it was slated to turn into social housing.
The 1913-built Regent Hotel at 160 East Hastings Avenue has been decaying for the reason that Metropolis of Vancouver shut it down on the finish of June 2018.
The previous single-room occupancy (SRO) resort was recognized for its deplorable dwelling circumstances and had been the topic of over 1,000 well being and security violations over the course of its possession by the infamous Sahota household.
Town has owned the Regent since late 2020 when it reached a settlement with the Sahotas to expropriate the property and the dilapidated Balmoral Lodge, which has since been torn down.
Each buildings have been to be reworked into social housing.
“So many issues have been promised to us down right here which have by no means adopted by means of,” Downtown Eastside resident Stephanie ‘Pink’ Berrigan informed World Information Wednesday.
Housing advocate Jean Swanson stated the plan was to renovate the Regent to accommodate residents of the Downtown Eastside, the homeless and people staying in shelters.
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“Nothing’s occurred,” the previous metropolis councillor informed World Information in an interview. “It’s simply sitting there getting increasingly more derelict.”
Swanson stated she wonders if there’s a double normal at play.
“Is the town doing with the Regent what it’s mad at Holborn for doing to 500 Dunsmuir?” Swanson requested.
Council just lately ordered the demolition of Dunsmuir Home, accusing its non-public proprietor of neglecting the heritage constructing for greater than a decade.
Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung with ABC Vancouver stated the state of affairs with the Regent is totally different as a result of it and the Balmoral resort have been expropriated, or primarily taken away from their non-public proprietor.
“It takes a while by way of ongoing conversations by way of what that appears like,” Kirby-Yung stated in an interview Wednesday. “We don’t need to exchange the previous mannequin of SRO housing. We need to construct dignified self-contained models.”
Town of Vancouver stated it has leased the Regent to BC Housing, which has carried out remediation and is getting ready for “rehabilitation to self-contained social housing.”
Since August 2023, BC Housing informed World Information it has began to remediate the positioning and take away hazardous supplies, with plans to exchange the SRO models with up to date self-contained suites.
“I get actually annoyed as a result of there (are) plenty of elders sitting out right here and so they stated they’ve been out right here for lots of years,” Downtown Eastside resident Lorretta Thomas informed World Information. “They need to transfer quite a bit quicker on it.”
The Crown company stated there’s no timeline for the beginning of renovation work on the Regent.
Demolition of the Balmoral property at 159 East Hastings Avenue was accomplished final yr and the town stated it’s finalizing lease phrases with BC Housing to redevelop the positioning and adjoining city-owned websites into social housing.
That work is anticipated to start in 2027, topic to getting into the mandatory partnership agreements with BC Housing and regulatory approvals.
© 2025 World Information, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.
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