The CBC has reported late last night that 11 purchasers at the Olympic Village, otherwise known as Millennium Water, have contacted a lawyer to get out of their agreements. The details are not exactly clear but some of the reasons given by their lawyer were: The buyers are unhappy that there’s a parking lot where [...]
Olympic Village Taking Possession… or Not?
Friday, June 25th, 2010Laneway Housing Update
Thursday, October 29th, 2009Another great update from Helen O’Toole of H.O.T Architecture: The grey areas for connecting a Laneway House are slowly being ironed out. There has been an amount of misinformation out there with regard to the connections that BC Hydro require for Laneway Housing. Initially BC Hydro were requiring that all Laneway houses have an expensive [...]
Laneway Housing Update
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009Just a real quick update from Helen O’Toole on the hot topic that is hydro. BC HYDRO BACKS DOWN FROM HIGH CONNECTION FEE FOR LANEWAY HOUSING – They are now going to allow the overhead/upgrade option (i.e. the cheaper option) where clearances and capacity make it feasible – In some cases (i.e. corner lots) we [...]
Laneway Housing Update
Thursday, September 17th, 2009Helen O’Toole is back with another update for us on the evermore complex world of Laneway Housing construction in Vancouver. The latest twist, as many of you know, is that BC Hydro is gouging folks with a laneway hook-up. What once was to cost a few hundred dollars is now being quoted at up to [...]
The Vancouver Convention Centre’s Green Roof
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009The new convention centre that we have sitting right downtown near Coal Harbour is a true masterpiece in every sense of the word. For those who haven’t been down to see what our tax money went to I suggest you go and see it for yourself. It’s the kind of place that requires (and will [...]
Laneway Housing By-laws and Design Guidelines are Here
Saturday, August 8th, 2009Here’s the latest information courtesy of Helen O’Toole of H.O.T. Architecture. The guidelines were posted Aug 6th on Vancouver City Hall web site and the By- Laws have just been posted. In the By Laws for RS-1 and RS-5 it tells you to go to Section 11.24 of the General By-Law. This section 11 has [...]
Laneway Housing is Approved!
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009Latest update from Helen O’Toole of H.O.T Architecture is: Laneway Housing was approved by City Hall Council this evening July 28. Only one parking space required for large or small lots. vancouverlanewayhousing.com for design options or custom plan. Woohoo! I am all for this idea. Now, I am not saying that we’ll see a whole [...]
Laneway Housing Update
Friday, July 24th, 2009Here’s another update from Helen O’Toole of H.O.T Architecture on the ongoing Laneway Housing issue. Wednesday July 22nd Laneway Housing Public Hearing – No Decision Yet ! And into the night it went….The Mayor and council have great stamina and paid attention to every speaker. About 28 people spoke last night and there are about [...]
Laneway Housing Update
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009It is my pleasure to introduce Helen O’Toole of H.O.T Architecture (how is that for a name?) as the guest writer of this post. Helen first started coming to the site when I did a small post about the laneway housing proposals in Vancouver and she did an absolutely superb job of keeping us all [...]
Vancouver, BC 