Vancouver penthouse owner can’t keep amenity space to himself as city refuses to amend permit

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The Metropolis of Vancouver has refused an utility by developer Harmony Pacific to amend a allow so its president and CEO, Terry Hui, can hold a large amenity house for his sole use in a Yaletown luxurious condominium the place he owns the penthouse.

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The Erickson constructing strata has been wrangling with Hui since 2017 over who will get to make use of a 6,000-square-foot house on the second-floor of the 17-storey constructing on northern False Creek’s seawall.

In October 2021, after the strata tried to comply with a metropolis directive for the house to be accessible to all residents within the constructing, Harmony applied to town to amend the allow in Hui’s favour.

Harmony’s lawyer mentioned then it will additionally “pay for it” and was “assured that the problem will probably be resolved in that style.”

The unique growth allow submitted by Harmony and accepted by town for The Erickson in 2005 confirmed the huge space on the second ground as a typical amenity space.

However when the strata plan was later filed with the land title workplace after the constructing was completed in 2010, the identical house was proven as designated for the only use of the penthouse proprietor, who has at all times been Hui. This plan additionally confirmed a personal elevator that would run from the parkade to the penthouse, with a cease on this second-floor, which has a reception space and areas for a theatre and different rooms.

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Harmony’s utility for an modification final Fall after which town’s overview of it, which took over six months, is fascinating for the scrutiny it positioned on town’s negotiations and agreements with main builders corresponding to Harmony that personal vital parcels of land throughout town.

“On behalf of all of the residents, I can say that we’re very happy that town did the precise factor and refused the developer’s utility to amend the event allow for the unfinished second ground of The Erickson,” mentioned Michael Farmer, president of the strata council.

The subsequent step, he mentioned, is for town to “take steps to implement the event allow it issued, and assist (the) strata council return the beforehand accepted amenity house to the strata.”

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It’s not clear, nevertheless, if that can essentially occur.

“Earlier than the communication from town arrived, our shoppers have been within the midst of a authorized overview of the problem and course of. Now that they’ve town’s suggestion that they go to the Board of Variance, they are going to think about following that suggestion,” mentioned Harmony’s lawyer Hein Poulus.

The board hears appeals on selections about growth.

jlee-young@postmedia.com

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