W2TV: Boycott Sequel 138 Pantages Condos
Coast Salish Territory Saltwater City Vancouver British Columbia Canada September 8, 2011.
In the Downtown Eastside (DTES), the Stop Pantages Condos Coalition gathered at the northwest corner of Pender & Taylor to voice and act.
Inside the Tinseltown complex, the sales office for condos proposed on the Pantages Theatre site on the 100 block of East Hastings. The developer, Marc Williams, has named it Sequel 138.
Rules and technicalities were cited by building security personnel prevented a media briefing near the sales office. Organizers and participants were informed videotaping was forbidden in the building. Ironic in that the police were videotaping in full view and visitors to the mall and cinema also regularly do as well.
The development is opposed by a group of DTES residents and organizations with allies across the city. The action marks the public launch of a boycott campaign to discourage the buying condos at Pantages site. The boycott campaign calls on housing providers not to work with the developer, as well as local artists and agency workers, the target buyers, to refuse to purchase space in it.
Over 40 organizations and 2000 individuals have signed on to a Community Resolution that calls on the City to stop the development permit application, buy the land from the developer and designate it for 100% resident controlled social housing.
Four representative target market purchasers for the Pantages condos stepped up to sign a Certificate of Conscience supporting the boycott. They view the development as unethical due to the role it will play in gentrification and displacement of low income residents in the DTES.
The DTES not for developers blog states: "The reality, the majority of us who work in the Downtown Eastside, especially those with families, could not afford to buy and live in these condos."
Importantly, many advocates, service providers, and front-line and outreach workers who are committed to serving the Downtown Eastside support the DTES Community Resolution opposing condos in heart of this neighbourhood.
They do not want to be complicit in a project that will further displace, impoverish, and police residents of the Downtown Eastside, making people feel more unwelcome. Currently, condos are outpacing social housing affordable to DTES residents at a rate of 11:1, contrary to the City's own Housing Plan.
The City's 2010 assessed land value for the property, which includes the Pantages and four adjacent buildings was $3.7 million.
According to the Georgia Straight, the developer with the support of the Pantages Theatre Arts Society, sought a bonus density transfer to fund the theatre's restoration in October 2009. When the city placed a moratorium on such transfers, a deal was hammered out to have the city purchase the theatre outright. That deal collapsed when the city requested a feasibility study, causing more delays during which time the theatre deteriorated beyond repair.
The developer subsequently placed the property on the market with a price tag of $8.2 million, and in 2010, the city again declined to buy it.
The Boycott Pantages Condos Coalition states condos at this site would be a gentrification bomb in the heart of the DTES.
The Pantages site is an opportunity to create a project that works for the low-income community in the heart of the city. Will all stakeholders come together to preserve the site for the low-income housing in the DTES?.
For more information on the Boycott Pantages Condos Coalition, see http://dtesnotfordevelopers.wordpress.com
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