The city’s Monday deadline for owners to evacuate tenants from their dilapidated Balmoral Hotel has come and gone but 14 people still have yet to find another place to live, according to deputy city manager Paul Mochrie.
Mochrie told the Courier Tuesday morning that city outreach workers, B.C. Housing and Vancouver Coastal Health continue to search for homes for the 14 tenants, some of whom have mental health issues and other challenges that are delaying moves to new accommodation.
On June 2, the city ordered the hotel be evacuated in 10 days for fear it would collapse. As of Tuesday morning, the city had found 137 rooms for tenants, some of whom will pay less than the $450 per month charged at the Balmoral.
“We need to make sure that the rooms that are available are ones that are workable for them,” Mochrie said of the 14 tenants. “We need to be able to place them into a setting where they’re going to be successful. So that’s not simply a matter of finding them a room. It’s got to be in the right building with the right kind of supports around it.”
Mochrie said the 14 tenants and about 30 others remained overnight in the hotel, which is near Main and Hastings. The majority have rooms to go to but were still awaiting relocation cheques from the owners – the Sahota family – before moving out. Ideally, he said, all tenants should be out of the building by Tuesday night.
“As long as people are working with us and packing and ready to move, then we’re going to keep helping them do that,” he said when asked about the owners not meeting Monday’s deadline to evacuate tenants. “One of the big challenges is just the logistics of moving that many people out. There’s one elevator in that building. It’s a large building and the elevator is very slow. That’s been a big part of the delay.”
Dozens of tenants lined up Monday outside the hotel to collect cheques from the owners to assist with relocation costs. The amount of money given to each tenant depended on how long that person lived in the building. Some tenants expected to receive cheques for up to $2,000.
Roberta Westenberg received a cheque Monday morning and was excited to move into another place near Oppenheimer Park. The recovering drug user, whose husband died recently, had lived in the hotel for a year. Her ceiling sagged, her walls were cracked and covered in black mould. Rodents and cockroaches were visible and drug activity and violence was a regular occurrence in the building.
“I have a place today, I have a home, I have a roof over my head – it’s pretty cool,” said Westenberg, standing outside the entrance to the Balmoral. “I was really scared there for a while. I thought I was going to be homeless. I’m 57 years old. If I get down, I’m not getting up.”
Reports on social media Monday night said at least two women were robbed of their money, after cashing cheques. Sgt. Jason Robillard, a Vancouver police media liaison officer, said police had no reports of robberies or thefts related to tenants’ cheques. He said the department has increased the number of officers in the area of the Balmoral to increase safety of tenants while they relocate.
“Citizens in the area are encouraged to speak directly to any officer, or call 911 should they feel unsafe or if they wish to report a crime,” Robillard said in an email to the Courier.
Mochrie said the city is also concerned about the risk to tenants, some of whom are regular drug users, to overdose. He said Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services and the B.C. Ambulance Service have contingency plans in place to deal with any spike in overdoses.
“I’m just waiting for updated data from Vancouver Fire – I understand it was a busy night,” said Mochrie, when asked about whether more overdoses were reported overnight. “Certainly, that was something that we were worried about. Certainly many of the advocates are saying the same thing, and other service providers on the Downtown Eastside have also expressed concern.”
The Sahota family has until July 14 to shore up the building so it doesn’t collapse. The city will then assess what other work has to be done before the hotel can welcome back tenants. Mochrie estimated the total bill for the repairs to cost several million dollars.
If the Sahotas don’t meet the deadline, the city has several options, including hiring a contractor to complete the work and bill the owners. The Courier has made repeated attempts to speak to the Sahotas but they have refused to comment. The family also owns the Regent, the Regal, Cobalt and Astoria hotels.
Note: The Courier received the following statement from the city Wednesday afternoon:
As of 8:30 p.m. yesterday evening, all occupants of the Balmoral Hotel have been safely evacuated. The building has been secured and is now considered an active construction zone. The City’s Chief Building Official has ordered the owners to install temporary shoring inside the building to mitigate the serious structural deficiencies that necessitated the evacuation. That order establishes a deadline of July 14 for that work and City inspectors will be monitoring compliance.
The City of Vancouver and BC Housing secured new homes for over 150 residents of the Balmoral Hotel. This includes securing additional housing for 10 women who were living at the Balmoral who did not have tenancy agreements. Finding safe, alternative housing for women living at the Balmoral Hotel was a priority for the City and BC Housing. BC Housing will continue to support the non-profits who are working with former Balmoral tenants, to ensure their housing placements are sustainable long term.
The City extends its thanks to all teams who worked hard to support occupants of the Balmoral Hotel through the evacuation, including staff from BC Housing and Vancouver Coastal Health, and to tenants for their cooperation in safely moving to new homes.
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