To Tisa Nowak, the writing’s on the wall.
The nine-year resident of 6280 Cassie Ave. is certain that her lowrise rental apartment building will be torn down to make way for Rize Alliance’s Gold House development: Two towers stretching 26 and 41 storeys into the Metrotown skyline.
“I’m not naïve, I know this is going through,” she said.
Nowak said when – not if – the building application goes through, she and her 200 or so neighbours will be displaced as the area densifies with more owner-occupied properties.
“This area has always been predominantly rentals, and now they’re taking that away,” said Nowak of the city, noting that a number of other apartment towers have sprung up in the area since she moved in.
“You’ve got one highrise here, you’ve got one highrise there, you’ve got another highrise there. Why not wait to see until they’re actually completed before you turn around and build two more?”
Nowak’s building is one of four properties up for rezoning, all of which will be demolished if the development is approved. While she estimated that her building has 52 units, she said the majority of the rental apartments have multiple people, and approving this development will put them out on the street.
“You’ve got a mother and father with two children in a one-bedroom because they can’t afford something more,” she said. “There’s not sufficient, affordable rental (housing) as it is, and now you’re displacing 200 to 300 additional people.
“I’m one of them – where are we going to go?”
Burnaby city council recently held a public hearing regarding the development, to which BFC supporters Rick McGowan and Helen Ward, as well as a resident of a neighbouring building, voiced their concerns. Nowak was one of about a dozen people to submit formal letters opposing the project.
“If you look in the City of Burnaby, there isn’t a large amount of rental apartment buildings, so we’re stuck trying to live in somebody’s basement,” she said. “Then you have to worry if it’s a legal suite, do you have any rental rights in an illegal suite, and if I do, what are those rights.”
Nowak cited Vancouver’s rental replacement bylaw, which requires developers to designate an equal number of units as rentals if they tear down a rental building with six or more dwellings.
“The City of Burnaby doesn’t have such a bylaw,” she said. “I think Burnaby is a little too lax when it comes to things like that.”
In contrast, the City of Burnaby collects density bonuses from developers to fund community benefits, including affordable housing. According to the city’s latest community benefit policy report, Burnaby has received $115 million from developers since 1997.
However, the report states only $4 million has been used to fund 19 affordable housing units and three housing grants, with $16 million set aside for future affordable or special needs housing. The rest of the money has been used or allocated for community amenities and various city projects.
Nowak also criticized the cost of the new apartments, noting that many are purchased by foreign investors and are left empty almost year-round. She also said she believes many of the tenants in her building are unaware of the development.
“The majority of the people in these buildings are immigrants – I don’t think they even understand what that application means to them,” she said. “They’re left in the dark, and when they get their notice to leave in three months, they’re going to be in utter shock.”
