On Nov. 18, the day before Vancouverites went to the polls, a press release surfaced announcing the city had bought the controversial Pantages theatre site also known as Sequel 138 on East Hastings from developer Marc Williams; it would be used to create "100 per cent social housing."
The twitterverse went nuts with the news, including this tweet from Ivan Drury: "I never thought I would say this, but thank you @ Sequel 138. You've proven that developers CAN be human."
Within hours, however, it was discovered that the story was a hoax.
Ivan Drury has emerged as the most prominent street warrior in the latest battle in the Downtown Eastside to secure housing for that neighborhood's most impoverished folks. He is part of a group that opposes any development but social housing. They are calling for a moratorium on all new condo development and a boycott on existing condos.
His roots can be traced back to that troublesome and destructive Anti-Poverty Committee of Woodward's squat fame.
They have accelerated their campaign over this past week with increased demands on the city to buy properties and by "occupying" sites where relatively low-cost condos (under $250,000) are being built along the few blocks of Hastings Street west of Main. On Dec. 1, they planned another demonstration in front of the Pantages property featuring celebrity lefty Naomi Klein.
Marc Williams has become for Drury and his buddies the most vilified of all developers in the area. He has been assembling what is now a four-property package with about 150 feet of frontage in the 100-block East Hastings including the Pantages site since as early as 2005.
The Pantages, which was built in 1907, is or was before its demolition the oldest remaining vaudeville theatre in Western Canada and a remnant of a once thriving Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»theatre district. Williams' earliest plans included renovating the long abandoned theatre and turning it over to a non-profit art group for a nominal fee. He would build 136 units of social housing on the adjacent property and use the density bonus he got from the restoration for a property elsewhere in the city. That was to happen in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Over the next few years, the building continued to deteriorate mainly because the roof had been breached and water damage to the interior became significant.
On two occasions the city had deals in the works to buy the theatre, once under Sam Sullivan's administration and once during Gregor Robertson's first term. Both offers were withdrawn. As it turns out, they were in competition with the Portland Hotel Society. PHS backed by a deep-pocketed developer hoped to secure the property to build social housing. Those efforts proved unsuccessful.
In the past year, the theatre was further damaged by a fire and became a health and safety hazard. That caused the city to approve an application from Williams for a demolition permit. The building along with those on the adjacent property were taken down.
Last summer, Williams applied for a development permit and put forward a proposal for a mixed use commercial/residential project before the city's urban design panel. It included 80 residential units of which 20 per cent would be social housing as per the city's existing zoning requirements. The panel did not support the proposal. Williams now says he's modifying it and will be back before the city early next year.
Meanwhile, the city was pressured earlier this year by a group led by former mayor Mike Harcourt to suspend its plans to approve increased density and building heights in the Downtown Eastside. The city struck a new committee, including Harcourt's group and Drury and his pals, to spend two years to develop a new community plan. It shouldn't affect Williams' proposal, but don't hold your breath.
