A resident of the Kiwanis Seniors Housing complex in West Vancouver says redevelopment plans - which face a public hearing Monday - will push out low-income seniors.
"We're going to be like the wooly mammoths," said Michael Pope, 78. "We will not be able to live here anymore."
Pope's complaint is that accessibility features in the proposed building on the 900-block of 21st Street will lead to larger, and thus more expensive, units.
He says Kiwanis has done "a great job" housing seniors over the past 60 years, but felt he had to lobby Kiwanis to include smaller, cheaper apartments in the new building. The plans currently include 10 bachelor suites.
"But they're 500 square feet, not 400 like the old ones," he said. "I know the price of a rental unit is directly proportional to its size. They have displaced 35 people who were renting for about $500 a month. Those people will never be able to move back here."
Pope said Kiwanis won't give him an answer on what the new units will cost.
"They have refused to produce any figures on the rents," he said. "I've sat down and figured it out. I averaged out rental rates per square foot for different types and it looks like the 500-square-foot bachelors will rent for about $625 and the one-bedrooms will rent for about $938, something like that. That is beyond the capability of a lot of people who live here, certainly the people who moved out. It totally ignores the reality of the situation. We have people living here with as little as $12,500 per year income. We have a median income, based on my personal census, of about $18,900."
Pope acknowledged that some of his peers will need the larger units. But many, he argued, face financial rather than physical challenges.
"If we hired an expert consultant on interior finishing, wiring, lighting, carbon stability and energy efficiency and set them loose on an apartment, it would probably be 2,500 square feet. It would be a Taj Mahal," he said.
Calls to Kiwanis were not returned by deadline.
