West End apartments operating as hotel finally seek city approval
Carmana Plaza looks to convert 96 suites to hotel units after operating for years without permits
The Carmana Plaza was opened in 1998 in a busy commercial district as a rental apartment building, but since 2009 12 floors of the 34-storey building have been operating as a hotel.
Now after years of operating the units without proper permits, the building's operators, the Peterson Group, have finally decided to apply to the city of Vancouver to officially convert 96 of the 245 suites to hotel rooms.
The owners originally applied to the Development Permit Board in 2011 for approval to convert the suites, but the application was rejected primarily because of concerns over the lack of rental housing in the city.
Despite the rejection, the Carmana Plaza continued to operate as a partial hotel, with reviews on Trip Advisor going back several years.
Vancouver planning director Brian Jackson says in 2014 there was a complaint.
"The city immediately acted on it and was in the process of taking court action when the applicant came in submitting an application for reconsideration of the issue, in light of the changes that had been happening since the last time they applied."
City says changes favour new application
Jackson, who sits on the Development Permit Board, says those changes include the creation of more than 4,000 units of rental housing since 2009, combined with a growing need for mid-range hotels downtown.
Since the original application, one downtown hotel (Pacific Palisades) has converted to rental housing and another (Coast Plaza on Denman Street) has been granted approval.
City staff is recommending the Carmana's current proposal be approved, with a recommendation to retain 145 suites as rental housing.
That doesn't sit well with Randy Helton.
He runs what he describes as a watchdog website called CityHallWatch, He is also the director of the West End Neighbours, a neighbourhood advocacy group whose members spoke out against the original application.
"The people who do hear about this are outraged that the city would look the other way while a major company is violating the permit," said Helton, who would like to see the permit violations dealt with before the new application is considered.
"Does it mean anybody can violate a permit without penalties being imposed?"
Brian Jackson says that no penalties have been assessed to date, and that any penalties will be determined by the city's legal department.
The proposal goes before the Development Permit Board, June 22, 2015.