I wish the government would subsidize some of my mortgage.

The fire ripped thru 1 unit and caused smoke damage to the rest of the 26 units affected.

And there was no water damage from fighting the fire? Very strange.

I think they discovered that no one had maintained the rest of the units, just like the city does not maintain its buildings.

In the meantime, buildings like the Scotia Building has totally new interiors, enhanced mechanical systems and totally new exterior.

It is called slum housing. We are starting to get lots of it as the buildings get older in the city.

10 million dollars on social housing. The tenants probably think its their rights for the rest of us to provide this to them. Little do they no if it was private enterprise, their rent will be $700 minimum
for their suite.

In this land of so much opportunity, there is so much social safety net. These are likely the same people that are protesting against LNG and Enbridge, not being able to make connections.

The way I see it, is the rent in the form of govt assistance goes right to the caretakers and right back to the govt. im with ya momesso, cheers

A lot of apartments in this city have LOTS of mold in them….very unhealthy!

Yes, it would be $700 or more for moldy suites!! And that is in good parts of town.

They damn well better not let the SOB who’s kids caused this damage to return.

So everyone in social housing is scamming the system?

The people living in these units obviously don’t give a crap either.

Bane smoking in the place will help, all new so look after it

One of the major expenses that hold people back from bettering their lot in life is a place to live. Even on welfare if you try to find a cheaper place to live, or try to share rent with someone, they penalize you by deducting your savings from your check. Where is the incentive to not abuse the system when that happens. Maybe these types of accommodations should go hand in hand with some sort of job placement program, or education/training program, instead of just supplying it for people to continue living in poverty.

Amazeing, the gov. spent almost $100,000. per suite. Then the gov will subsidize
the tenant on top of this. Question?
How many if any of these renters work?

Huh: “Where is the incentive to not abuse the system when that happens.”

The incentive is having a basic level of respect and being a decent human being instead of someone who just takes, takes, takes. Crazy talk, I know.

As far as smoking goes, I can’t see how anyone living in this apartment building could afford to smoke. Shouldn’t they be taking care of their basic needs first? Again, more crazy talk.

“I think they discovered that no one had maintained the rest of the units, just like the city does not maintain its buildings.”

And you want a PAC Gus so the city can neglect it too?

As a Landlord they can have monthly inspections of the suites. That way the landlord could look for neglect and report any suspicious activity. If the tenants aren’t looking after their suites then out you go! Making it smoke free is an excellent idea.

After the young lady jumping from the top floor, they have now sealed the building so people can no longer step out on a balcony. The previous landlord was a slumlord. They would not allow the maintenance man nor the manager to buy proper fixtures or materials to maintain the place. They owed huge debts to every service company in town. The manager was very poorly paid. The kid who started the fire comes from a very poorly parented family. Dad is so stoned all the time. Just a lot of reasons the building had its fate. Now it is properly repaired and likely will be properly managed so lets give it a chance. As far as the family that caused the fire, yes I hope they cannot move in there. They will just ruin another persons home and smoke pot instead of buying food or paying their full rent. Yeah subsidies! It is called enabling in cases like this.

@gus: “In the meantime, buildings like the Scotia Building has totally new interiors, enhanced mechanical systems and totally new exterior.”

FYI, if you’re referencing the ScotiaBank building on Victoria you’d be incorrect. The facade was updated, and some of the mechanical things might have been upgraded. That said, the interior is virtually untouched and couldn’t be further from ‘totally new’. Bathrooms throughout the building are original to when the building was built. Ceilings are drip-stained, lobby looks tired, elevators brake down regularly, etc. Not new, not close.

“The incentive is having a basic level of respect and being a decent human being instead of someone who just takes, takes, takes. Crazy talk, I know.” .. so lets say you find yourself on welfare and getting $500/mnth with $325/mnth being for shelter only. You find a place that rents for $600/mnth so you find a friend to share that place so you only have to pay $300/mnth your share. In the current system your welfare has now gone from $500/mnth down to $475/mnth because you took steps to have a few dollars more for food. You think that is showing a basic level of respect and being a decent human being? Not reporting that $25 you save would make you a take take take person? Lets not confuse the people who need assistance with those who have generations of family who use the system as a career. There should be different rules for different levels of assistance use, just like they changed the EI rules to reflect frequency of claims.

Huh: “Lets not confuse the people who need assistance with those who have generations of family who use the system as a career. There should be different rules for different levels of assistance use, just like they changed the EI rules to reflect frequency of claims.”

Nicely put. I couldn’t agree more!

@Summit.

So tell me, did you ever work in he building?

I had an office on the top floor for 3 years starting 2003. At the time we went through the building and we had our pick of spaces. The lease was $15/sf/year, all inclusive, including janitorial services.

We had an “incentive” to move in through payment for tenant improvement. I had an office with a 2 bays of windows facing west. I designed the space. It was a simple but effective layout for 7 of us.

During our stay there, the elevators were totally replaced and they started working on creating an additional HVAC zone per floor since the shoulder season in spring and fall were difficult to give everyone a comfortable temperature on demand.

I was later involved with another, smaller office. That would be about 5 or 6 years ago. At that time they were also paying a component of tenant improvements and were creating common entrance standards and providing the services of an interior decorator to make sure that tenant improvements were done to an acceptable standard.

I am not sure about lower floors which were occupied in part or entirely by Scotiabank at one time. They may still have been in a mess. I have not set foot in the building for about 3 years, so perhaps the building has started to deteriorate.

However, I have not had anything but good experiences there. Both times the price was certainly right.

@Summit …

Office buildings are different than retails spaces. Retail malls such as Pine Centre prefer if tenants update their storefront as well as a significant portion of their interior preferably on a 5 year cycle, but no more than 10 year cycle.

Much of that can happen as retail stores expand or contract or totally move out over time. As result, some stores will be able to move to a more convenient location than they had when they first moved in. No matter which mall you look at, if they are large enough, there is a constant renewal, especially over a 10 to 15 year time frame.

I suspect that offices remain more constant with respect to location.

So crack tower opens for business once again , sad as this was a very nice apt. building when Stewart Ross built it , whatever happened .

Subsidized housing has more rules and stricter enforcements then standard apartments so it should be a welcomed addition and upgrade to the neighbourhood.

“this was a very nice apt. building when Stewart Ross built it , whatever happened”

As they say, location, location, location …..

When we first came here we were looking at buying a house just to the south of Connaught hill. Very nice old heritage houses, close to downtown. Being newcomers, we did not know any better.

Sure glad we did not. Too bad that what would have been a nice neighbourhood has gone to pot. :-)

As long as no well paid politicians live in it, I’m good. Slum housing, buildings getting older, subsidized housing, etc. Which begs the question. Where are our future heritage properties gonna come from?

If there is any heritage property left in Prince George the City will tear them down and erect a sign,. That’s the way we do it, in good old PG.

Another project that is a year behind schedule and over budget. Hmmmmm.

Will the Wood Innovation Building be next??

If we build a Wood Innovation Building, for use by some Engineering students, on low income, could this be construed as some form of welfare? How about subsidized University, and College education??

Western2 on todays news they were standing on a balcony many floors up.