Owner decides to rent out seventeen suites, and will use eleven studios as short-term rentals at the former Ritz Inn
(By News Desk)
The owner of the Gibsons Landing Inn has decided to make 28 of the 30 suites available for rental by the end of summer. The Inn has stood empty for five years.
Seventeen 330-370 square feet studio apartments will rent for around $1,800 a month unfurnished and “a bit more” if furnished. “It’s more than just a studio, the tenants have a nice lounge, and it’s close to everything, including the Public Market,” the owner, who does not want to be identified, said.
He bought the two buildings in 2016 for $2,023,000 and says they have cost him more than $3 million. He put in an elevator and new patios and decks; the studios have new bathrooms and kitchens.
The studios will initially be available with one-year leases to see how things go, he said. “We’ll see what the market brings us. Ideally, everybody is rich, and happy to live there, right?”
Re/max will lease out the studios and select the tenants. There will be no age restrictions. Advertising will start soon on Facebook and other social media platforms.
The other eleven studios will be short-term rentals with a minimum stay of a week and a maximum of a month. A month will cost about $3,000, a week around $980. He expects to rent primarily to workers from out of town.
When he bought the Inn in 2016 he expected to rent it to the construction team for the George Hotel and Residences, with a two-year contract. “But they never showed up,” he said.
The owner is surprised that BC Housing was not interested in leasing or buying the property; he thought the premises would be ideal for people who come out of hospital and have no place to live, or as a seniors residence. He does not want the place to be used as a rehab centre for drugs or alcohol.
“But I had one conversation with BC Housing and they never phoned back. But if they asked me, I’d think about working with them.”
BC Housing did not comment before the deadline. But after this story was published, BC Housing contacted the Coast Clarion with the following statement:
“BC Housing is not currently in negotiations to purchase or lease the Gibsons Landing Inn, nor do we plan on purchasing or leasing the site in the future.
“BC Housing staff did consider the site and concluded that its recent renovations would have to be redone for the building to be operational as supportive housing. As these recent upgrades would be included in the purchase price, and then would take substantial time and additional funding to redo, it was determined that a purchase was financially untenable.”
BC Housing added that is is partnering with Kiwanis Club of Sunshine Coast to build 75 new affordable rental homes for seniors at 824 and 840 Kiwanis Way in Gibsons.
Rich and happy to live in approx. 350 square feet? Sounds cognitively dissonant to me.
Too bad the guy’s not making something affordable for restaurant workers, etc.
I wonder if the reason BC Housing wasn’t interested is because they were talking to someone who seems to live in an alternate universe.
The owner bought a hotel for a song and hopes to gain revenues in bars of gold.
Whaaaaaat
Thats even more than in Vancouver. And if he does rent to out-of-town workers that will eat up most of their pay check.
If all suites are rented at $2,000 a month and if the owner spent just over 3 million it will take about 4 or 5 years to see a return on the investment. Not a property mogul move.
I am shocked! $1800 a month for 330 to 370 sq ft! It sets the wrong precedent for the Coast and it won’t help the rental shortage that we have.
I didn’t see anywhere in the article that the owner bought it to “help the rental shortage”???
There are so many people out there who cannot afford this kind of ridiculous rent. Why not help them out?
Well holy smokes. His price for studios ( an average size of 350 sf) is $1,800 min) or $5.14 per sf. I wanted to compare to Vancouver prices on this one and immediately found a brand new building in Kitsilano at 3767 West 1st with a 2 bedroom plus one bath which measures 730 sf for $2500 per month. That’s $3.42 per square foot in which what I suggest is much more desirable location than Mr. No-name’s property which seems to have the enviable amenity of being close to a very solitary market. (Granville Island be damned).
One of the respondents above seems to think that bringing in upwards of $408,000 per year is not a mogul move but there are tax issues and other costs that affect this figure, and anyway regardless of the book-keeping issues. This is not a good deal for anyone except the owner since this building will make lots of money beyond the 4-5 year payback suggested.
Lol. . . If it’s cheaper and better to live in Vancouver, then do that. As often touted, we live in the best place in Canada… but should it cost the same as the worst or even average places in Canada? You get what you pay for. When I was a kid first making it on my own, we all had roommates.. sometimes lots of roomies, and powdered milk for the Kraft dinner. Sucks, but so does lots of stuff. Blaming an investor for not being Santa Claus is juvenile. Manitoba is pretty inexpensive.
Yup..
Most wouldn’t live where I lived in the oil patch in the 70s.
I know the building well. . . As a pensioner I couldn’t consider living there but two of us could. . . The problem is it’s a rental and rents rise faster than pensions. . .
Rental rates rise… but at very low increments due to heavy regulation (part of why many owners don’t want to be landlords), not true for commercial though.
Rental properties get sold and tenants are left scrambling, which is a shame too.
Apartments are a safer bet for long(ish) term stability…
The municipal/provincial/federal governments could step up and help subsidize all kinds of things at home… but they won’t. Perhaps there’s a way to strata the building and you could partner in on a deal.
Gee thanks for providing housing for high income people…super needed on the Coast ?….why would they choose to live on the Coast when they could rent a 1 bedroom apartment in downtown Vancouver with in-suite laundry and a pool in the building for less money?
https://vancouver.craigslist.org/van/apa/d/vancouver-131-regiment-square-bedroom/7347182841.html
The Town of Gibsons needs to establish an empty homes tax and the developer should have been taxed for the last 5 years.
I have lived on the coast and owned four businesses, contributed to the economy, supported artists and artisans, and now sadly, I can not afford this kind of rent! I still work hard, and can not afford! Perhaps the owner thinks it will discourage people who would ruin it? There are many who do not have an abundance, yet are classy individuals, caring about their home, and the landlords!
I take great pride in having good taste and decency. I wonder if he is interested in that kind of person, with affordability? I would assist him with the cleaning, lounge etc etc for tiny room!? People need places here, I would sooner live in a cardboard box on the beach, than a dump! This is sad after all the people who have put heart and soul and hard work into their community!