For over 5 years now Unit #107, the largest 2-bedroom unit in the co-op, has been unoccupied due to water and mold damage that nobody could find the source of.
Last year we had Metro Restoration strip the unit down to the concrete floor and timbers of the walls.
While extreme, this let us find the source of the problem.
Now the rebuilding is underway. Metro Restoration and Western Development are working together to first rebuild and re-seal the structure up to the standards of a full envelope remediation.
This includes putting a kitchen window in to brighten up the lower unit.
Once this first piece of work is complete, there will be several days of testing the new seal to ensure it properly stops water ingress and will be an adequate barrier for years to come.
Then Western Development will be done and Metro Restoration will come in to re-floor/furnish/cabinet/build the interior of the unit. The refurbishing will turn the unit into the best unit in the whole co-op and it will be ready for occupancy starting in January, 2013.
Thursday 4 October 2012
Wednesday 3 October 2012
Save the Co-op - Work Begins!
It has been years in coming but, on Tuesday October 2nd, a construction crew broke ground on Unit #107 and began the first small step in the long road towards building remediation.
Unit #107 has been uninhabited for over 5 years due to water ingress issues that lead to rot and mold. The repair work on the unit started last year when Metro Restoration gutted the unit to lay bare the underlying structure so the source of the water ingress could be found.
The problem turned out to be the seal between the building foundation concrete and the concrete wall. It was letting water seep in every time it rained, or the plants were watered.
Now the work has shored up the unit so the damaged wall can be repaired.
The best part of this work is that the fine folks at Terra Housing and Social Purpose Development are on-board, working with us on this project and they are committed to the full remediation of the building.
At this point we are in the very early planning stages. These will last a while as we finish our Capital Plan and nail down financial arrangements that will move us forward. Some of these won't take effect for years, but we are underway and they will carry on.
Unit #107 has been uninhabited for over 5 years due to water ingress issues that lead to rot and mold. The repair work on the unit started last year when Metro Restoration gutted the unit to lay bare the underlying structure so the source of the water ingress could be found.
The problem turned out to be the seal between the building foundation concrete and the concrete wall. It was letting water seep in every time it rained, or the plants were watered.
Now the work has shored up the unit so the damaged wall can be repaired.
The crews are also digging up the surrounding soil to expose the foundation. This will let a more thorough examination be done so we can make sure the repairs will last a long time.
At this point we are in the very early planning stages. These will last a while as we finish our Capital Plan and nail down financial arrangements that will move us forward. Some of these won't take effect for years, but we are underway and they will carry on.
Friday 21 September 2012
Save the Co-op - Capital Plan Roughs
This meeting had Rob and Zimel from Terra Housing come out to present the rough details of the Capital Plan and what needed to be done to move forward.
The plan outline was explained and we established some communication processes and guidelines to help us move forward.
There was also a lot of good news from the co-op and things we had been doing!
We had all the budget details Terra Housing needed to help fill in the Capital Plan and, with our Annual General Inspections starting later the same day we were able to plan for some extra things to look for.
More than that, we had lined up the quotes for starting the work on Unit #107 and had a clear winner. Rob and Zimel had a few suggestions about how to proceed with that to ensure the work got done properly.
All things considered, a good meeting with a lot of progress happening on both sides.
The plan outline was explained and we established some communication processes and guidelines to help us move forward.
There was also a lot of good news from the co-op and things we had been doing!
We had all the budget details Terra Housing needed to help fill in the Capital Plan and, with our Annual General Inspections starting later the same day we were able to plan for some extra things to look for.
More than that, we had lined up the quotes for starting the work on Unit #107 and had a clear winner. Rob and Zimel had a few suggestions about how to proceed with that to ensure the work got done properly.
All things considered, a good meeting with a lot of progress happening on both sides.
Friday 14 September 2012
Save the Co-op - Capital Plan Planning
On Sept 14, 2012 we had another meeting with Terra Housing about the state of the Capital Plan.
Terra Housing sent out Rob O'Dea, Stuart Thomson and Zimel Magallano. Also pictured is Adrian Estergaard, trading camera duties with Cherise Craney this time.
This meeting was full of good news - Social Purpose Development had approved the plan to develop a Capital Plan for Aaron Webster. This allowed Terra Housing to officially commit Rob and Zimel to the plan and get started on it.
Moving forward Rob and Zimel would create the roughs for the plan, letting us build it and be ready to present it to VanCity and other agencies as needed to show our commitment to the remediation process.
Terra Housing sent out Rob O'Dea, Stuart Thomson and Zimel Magallano. Also pictured is Adrian Estergaard, trading camera duties with Cherise Craney this time.
This meeting was full of good news - Social Purpose Development had approved the plan to develop a Capital Plan for Aaron Webster. This allowed Terra Housing to officially commit Rob and Zimel to the plan and get started on it.
Moving forward Rob and Zimel would create the roughs for the plan, letting us build it and be ready to present it to VanCity and other agencies as needed to show our commitment to the remediation process.
Thursday 19 July 2012
Save the Co-op - Terra Housing
A quick meeting with Zimel Magallano of Terra Housing on July 19th reviewed our progress with the Capital Plan and getting repairs started on Unit #107.
We were on-track getting the necessary audited financial statements to Terra Housing and decided to move ahead with CRS's help to get quotes to repair Unit #107.
We were on-track getting the necessary audited financial statements to Terra Housing and decided to move ahead with CRS's help to get quotes to repair Unit #107.
Thursday 12 July 2012
Save the Co-op - Terra Housing and Bob Nicklin
Our meeting with Terra Housing on July 12th had a surprise when Bob Nicklin of Affordable Housing Societies showed up unannounced. He brought a great deal of enthusiasm and experience and was very keen on reviewing our plans and looking into Unit #107. Stuart Thomson and Zimel Magallano of Terra Housing also showed up as scheduled to discuss our plans.
By this time we had received feedback from BC Housing about the roof work. Unfortunately their plan started with us having to pay several thousand dollars for yet another building inspection before any work could be done.
Stuart pointed out that repairing the roof would also cost most of the co-op's cash reserves and do nothing to improve our situation moving forward. Instead, it would help CMHC meet their goal of having us pay off the rest of our mortgage, then we would no longer be their responsibility.
This would leave us broke and without government support while not addressing our other issues:
- Unit #107
- Closed-off Decks
- Degraded Building Piping
Stuart's alternate suggestion was to keep the roof tarped for now and invest in restoring Unit #107 to a livable state instead. This would increase our revenue and give us a better financial picture when the time came to remortgage.
To help with this, Stuart and Zimel were going to contact Social Purpose Development (SPD) and apply for help developing a Capital Plan for the co-op's future. To pay for this project they were going to ask SPD for a deferred payment plan - the first of it's kind from SPD!
Moving forward this would have Aaron Webster, primarily Adrian Estergaard and Cherise Craney, work with Terra Housing on developing the Capital Plan.
By this time we had received feedback from BC Housing about the roof work. Unfortunately their plan started with us having to pay several thousand dollars for yet another building inspection before any work could be done.
Stuart pointed out that repairing the roof would also cost most of the co-op's cash reserves and do nothing to improve our situation moving forward. Instead, it would help CMHC meet their goal of having us pay off the rest of our mortgage, then we would no longer be their responsibility.
This would leave us broke and without government support while not addressing our other issues:
- Unit #107
- Closed-off Decks
- Degraded Building Piping
Stuart's alternate suggestion was to keep the roof tarped for now and invest in restoring Unit #107 to a livable state instead. This would increase our revenue and give us a better financial picture when the time came to remortgage.
To help with this, Stuart and Zimel were going to contact Social Purpose Development (SPD) and apply for help developing a Capital Plan for the co-op's future. To pay for this project they were going to ask SPD for a deferred payment plan - the first of it's kind from SPD!
Moving forward this would have Aaron Webster, primarily Adrian Estergaard and Cherise Craney, work with Terra Housing on developing the Capital Plan.
Thursday 5 July 2012
Save the Co-op - CHF BC
On July 5th CHF BC's representative Darren Kitchen was finally able to make it out to the co-op to review our progress to-date and plan for the future.
Unfortunately, Darren pointed out that CMHC was wrong about the mortgage and we could not extend it. We discussed the value of the land and options for remortgaging it for the money to repair the building, or more drastic actions like selling it and relocating the entire co-op. None of these were ideal, but we wanted to review all our options.
After reviewing our financial options setting up a 2nd mortgage through VanCity with a 50-year amortization sounds like the best option. We may even be able to start before our 1st mortgage is paid off by arranging for lower payments until the 1st mortgage is done. However it is done, the bank will need a financial plan that indicates our long-term viability. Co-op unit rents will also go up.
Moving forward the plan is for us to contact Terra Housing for quotes on roofing work and other necessary work to let us survive long enough to pay off our mortgage. Then we can get a lump sum with our 2nd mortgage and, hopefully, be able to do a full remediation.
Unfortunately, Darren pointed out that CMHC was wrong about the mortgage and we could not extend it. We discussed the value of the land and options for remortgaging it for the money to repair the building, or more drastic actions like selling it and relocating the entire co-op. None of these were ideal, but we wanted to review all our options.
After reviewing our financial options setting up a 2nd mortgage through VanCity with a 50-year amortization sounds like the best option. We may even be able to start before our 1st mortgage is paid off by arranging for lower payments until the 1st mortgage is done. However it is done, the bank will need a financial plan that indicates our long-term viability. Co-op unit rents will also go up.
Moving forward the plan is for us to contact Terra Housing for quotes on roofing work and other necessary work to let us survive long enough to pay off our mortgage. Then we can get a lump sum with our 2nd mortgage and, hopefully, be able to do a full remediation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)