A B.C. Supreme Court justice has refused to grant the sale of a large North Vancouver apartment and townhouse complex to a developer after a number of current owners said they'd suffer hardship if forced from their homes.
Justice William Ehrcke recently turned down a request from one group of property owners at Cypress Gardens who petitioned the court to force the sale of the 50-year-old complex. Those owners, including a former member of the management council for the complex, went to court last fall after Polygon Homes offered to buy the nine-acre, 177-unit property on Westview Drive for about $63 million.
That deal never got off the ground, because a number of the 135 owners refused to sell their units.
After the deal fell through, those in favour of selling the complex petitioned a judge to force the sale, arguing the aging buildings have fallen into disrepair that would cost too much to fix. They also argued owners would make more money if the entire complex was sold at once.
But many other people living in complex told the judge they didn't want to sell and would never be able find similar housing on the North Shore if forced out of their units. Those opposing the sale included owners on limited incomes, parents of small children and the elderly. They argued it wasn't right that other owners should be allowed to drive them from their homes.
The judge agreed, writing in his ruling March 28, "The evidence before me demonstrates that an order for sale would force particularly vulnerable people out of their homes, including young children, single parents, the elderly, the infirm and people of very limited financial means."
He added he was satisfied that "a substantial number of residents at Cypress Gardens would be unable to purchase comparable replacement homes on the North Shore for the amount of money they would likely realize from a court-ordered sale."
The unusual court case came about partly because of a rare ownership arrangement under which purchasers bought into the complex.
Originally built as an apartment complex in 1962, the project was converted into a condominium-like ownership arrangement in 1979.
Although it functions essentially like a strata title, Cypress Gardens is legally not set up that way. Instead, it was grandfathered under a "common law condominium" arrangement that has since been banned by the province. That's made it especially difficult to determine under what circumstances one group of owners could force a sale on others.
In court hearings this January, the owners who wanted to force a sale told the judge most of the other owners agreed with their position.
In his decision, however, Ehrcke noted that those in agreement with the sale appeared to represent less than one-third of the owners.
Many of the residents opposing the sale filed affidavits in court, explaining the hardship they would suffer if forced to sell.
One couple, Jiang Ni Qu and Joseph Gilles Brule, who have owned their three-bedroom home since November 2009, wrote that the amount offered by Polygon wasn't enough to provide for a replacement home in North Vancouver - and certainly none that would be comparable to their unit at Cypress Gardens.
Carlos Ruiz, current president of the owners' council, said most owners would have received no more than $350,000 if they had sold to Polygon.
"You cannot buy something else (comparable) on the North Shore for that kind of money," he said.
Others, including elderly residents and a single mother, said it would be impossible for them to even qualify for higher mortgages and they would be forced to move from the community.
Ruiz said now the court case is over, most of the owners are relieved, especially since some people had felt pressured to sign on to the development deal.
He said his priority is now managing the complex's finances so that needed repairs can be carried out at Cypress Gardens.
He said some kind of sale in the future is not out of the question, but only if it ensures current owners won't suffer hardship as a result. For that to happen, he said, "You have to offer a decent amount of money."
Peter King, one of the owners who petitioned the court for the sale, said he was "very disappointed" in the decision.
He said many condominium projects will likely face similar issues in the next few years. "There are a lot of units similar to ours in North Vancouver that are getting towards this age."
King said he doesn't plan to appeal the decision, but wants to work with the other owners "on a more co-operative basis" to get a deal everyone can live with. "We're going to try to make peace with the ownership," he said.
