Low-rent Vancouver hotel under scrutiny

A city building inspector is taking a close look at a hotel inVancouver's Downtown Eastside on Thursday toassess whetherrenovations and evictions are underway illegally.

Housing advocates say the owner of Golden Crown Hotel, across the street from the former Woodwards building, has issued eviction notices to the 28 tenants with plans to rent the renovated rooms for $1,000 a monthto Woodwards and Olympic construction workers.

The Carnegie Community Action Project says the building is the site of the first Olympic Games-related evictions.

Barb Windsor, the city's deputy chief licence inspector, said officials at city hall want to find out what's going on.

"What we have heard is there is some construction work going on, so we want to verify that, because we don't have any permits for work being done there," said Windsor.

"And we have also heard tenants are being evicted, so we want to ensure if they are being evicted that it's being done legally and appropriately."

CBC reporter Terry Donnelly, who visited the hotelbefore the inspector, said he found a yellow eviction notice on the front desk, and "an employee told me 28 tenants had been given those notices."

Windsor said there have been no permits issued for the Golden Crown for any renovations.

Permits are not required for cosmetic repairs like new carpets or painting, and tenants cannotbe evicted for that kind of work.

Windsor also noted that what the owner does with his rooms after a renovation is up to him, as long as he continues to rent them out on a monthly basis under the city's single room accommodation bylaw.