Single Room Occupancy Hotels

An overview of SROs managed by the Vancouver Community Non-Profit Partners

Over the past year, the provincial government has bought 17 SROs in the Downtown Eastside. This was an important step to preserve this vital stock of housing and non-profit groups have been selected to manage the hotels as well as to offer support services to tenants.

These hotels are all in need of substantial repairs. Some are currently vacant and cannot be lived in until upgrades have been completed. Once upgrades to the hotels are made, all of the rooms will be available for rent by people in greatest need and residents will be able to live in clean, safe rooms with access to support services. Therefore, once renovations are complete, not only will the housing be improved, there will be an increase in the rentable number of rooms.

Government-owned SROs

  • Seventeen SROs in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside are now owned by the provincial government and are being or will be managed by non-profit societies.
  • The following provincially-owned hotels are being managed in the interim by Atira Property Management: Marble Arch; Orange Hall; Park Hotel; the Rice Block; Savoy Hotel; Shaldon Hotel; Arco Hotel; Gastown Hotel; and St. Helen’s Hotel.
  • The non-profit societies will also offer support services to help tenants deal with issues they are facing such as addictions treatment or job skills training.
  • The government bought these hotels to preserve an important stock of affordable housing for low-income people at risk of homelessness.
  • The non-profit societies will also offer support services to help tenants deal with issues they are facing such as addictions treatment or job skills training.

Selection of operators for SROs purchased in February

The Province bought six more SROs in the Downtown Eastside in February 2008 in addition to the 10 purchased in April 2007:

  • Gastown Hotel, 110 Water
  • Shaldon Hotel, 52-60 East Hastings
  • Arco Hotel, 81-83 West Pender
  • Pender Hotel, 31 West Pender
  • Rainier Hotel, 307-315 Carrall
  • Marr Hotel, 401 Powell

Non-profit operators have been selected for three of these sites based on their management of neighbouring sites. RainCity Housing and Support Society manages a property directly across the street from the Shaldon Hotel; Vancouver Native Housing Society manages a site next door to the Pender Hotel; and Atira Women’s Resource Society manages Sereena’s Place which is next to the Marr Hotel.

Selection of the operators for the remaining hotels will be decided once target groups are determined. Operators will be selected based on who will make the best fit.

Tamura House

Ownership of the Tamura House SRO was transferred from St. James Community Services Society to BC Housing on March 28, 2008, allowing for the preservation of 110 more units of affordable housing stock in the Downtown Eastside. Lookout Emergency Aid Society, which had previously provided support services to tenants in about 35 of the units, assummed immediate property management services and has become the long-term operator of the building. Life and safety upgrades are underway, as is planning for long-term renovations to improve the conditions for the tenants. Click here to read the BC Housing news release. Click here to read the St. James Community Services Society news release.

Renovations

The provincial government has spent $1.5 million since April 2007 on immediate life and safety upgrades to the SROs it owns including fire and life safety, exit lighting, and fire escapes. Long-term renovations that are more substantial are now underway or in the planning stages.

Additional renovations at The Shaldon thus far include a new vinyl floor that will be much easier to keep clean and will be more hygienic for the tenants than the carpet that was there. All the rooms and corridors have been painted and improvements made to the bathrooms. Tenants were moved floor by floor to The Marble Arch then back to The Shaldon. Further renovations may be required once the building has been fully evaluated.

Tenant liaisons are working with tenants and construction companies to coordinate communication. Construction signs are being erected at those hotels undergoing renos. The Walton and Carl Rooms are the first two under construction.

Construction process

Most of the SRO hotels acquired by the Province require substantial repairs. There are several steps that must be taken which means this can be a lengthy process. As some of the rooms were vacant under their private owners, there will be a net increase in the number of rooms once the renovations are complete.

Phases required to renovate SROs to provide safe, secure affordable housing include:

Tentative construction schedule

The first two buildings (the Walton and Carl Rooms) are set to start renovations shortly, with other hotels to follow soon after. Work on all 10 hotels purchased in April 2007 should be underway by this fall. A similar planning process for renovations at the six hotels announced in February 2008 is happening. Life and safety improvements have already started for those buildings as well.

Please Note:
Renovating older hotels is a challenge at the best of times, particularly as we are attempting to do the renovations in phases so that we don't have to vacate all the tenants in the building. By doing the renovations in stages, the construction will take longer as we try to minimize the disruption to existing tenants. During this process, our top priority is the health and safety of the tenants. Given the scope and numbers of buildings involved, the following construction schedule may be subject to change as these renovations progress. Any changes to the construction schedule will be posted in a timely manner on the homepage of the www.vancouverhousingupdate.ca website.

Hotel Units Non-Profit Operator Anticipated Pre-Construction Period Anticipated Renovation Start Anticipated Renovation Completion
Marble Arch 145 City Centre Care Society January to March 2008 July/August 2008 March 2009
St. Helens Hotel 98 Coast Foundation Society March to June 2008 July 2008 TBD
Walton Hotel 51 Lookout Emergency Aid Society November 2007 to March 2008 April 2008 October 2009
Orange Hall 27 TBD TBD May 2008 TBD
Carl Rooms 47 Union Gospel (Heatley) Housing Society November 2007 to March 2008 May/June 2008 December 2008
Molson’s Bank Building 45 PHS Community Services Society April to June 2008 July 2008 TBD
Park Hotel 56 City Centre Care Society February to April 2008 May 2008 TBD
Orwell Hotel 55 Vancouver Native Housing Society April to June 2008 July 2008 TBD
Savoy Hotel 28 MPA Society March to June 2008 July 2008 TBD
The Rice Block 43 Atira Women’s Resource Society N/A May 2008 TBD

Frequently asked questions

Why are there vacancies at the government-owned SROs?

Every room (all 1,035 units) will be upgraded. In some cases, entire floors or the front or back half of a hotel need to be clear for major renovations. There are vacant rooms at most hotels so that residents will have a place to move during renovations. These vacancies are created mostly as residents leave.

Are tenants being evicted to allow for renovations?

Tenants are not being and never have been evicted because of the renovations. There have been a few evictions at the hotels, but those have all been for acceptable reasons, such as repeatedly not paying rent, or engaging in serious criminal activity.

Did you know?

A February 2008 poll found that more British Columbians were concerned about social issues (homelessness, housing, welfare, and seniors) than about health, environment, the economy, crime, education, or government. The poll, conducted by the Mustel Group, had a sample size of 500. Social issues were identified as a top concern by close to 20 per cent of respondents; a year earlier (in February 2007) social issues were identified as a top concern by less than 10 per cent of respondents.

A 2006 City of Vancouver study of the record of public complaints about its 148 Special Needs Residential Facilities (SNRF) had some interesting findings. SNRFs provide care to people with illnesses and disabilities and include 37 homes for people with mental disabilities, seven homes that provide alcohol and drug programs, and five shelters. Applications to establish SNRFs are often opposed by neighbours who express concerns about reduction of property values, disruption of a quiet neighbourhood, safety and crime fears, and additional social problems being caused by the presence of a facility. The City of Vancouver study found that these fears are not borne out once an SNRF is in operation.

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