Vancouver developer apologizes for housing scandal at Little Mountain

It’s arguably the biggest social housing scandal in Vancouver’s history and today the developer responsible for the Little Mountain project apologized for the multi-year delay that’s left a massive plot of land vacant during a housing crisis.

It’s arguably the biggest social housing scandal in Vancouver’s history and today the developer responsible for the Little Mountain project apologized for the multi-year delay that’s left a massive plot of land vacant during a housing crisis.

The 15-acre parcel on the east flank of Queen Elizabeth Park has been mostly vacant since the provincial government signed a controversial deal with Holborn Group in 2008, selling the property for just $334 million with an interest-free loan, in exchange for the redevelopment of 224 dilapidated social housing units.

Only 53 have been built.

Holborn CEO Joo Kim Tiah made a rare public appearance with Vancouver’s mayor and other dignitaries for a ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of 48 units of social housing, where CTV News asked him if he felt he owed an apology or explanation as to why it was taking so long to build.

“Obviously yeah, I feel bad about the whole situation,” he replied. “If it makes it better yeah, I would apologize for how it's taken so long. It was never the intention.”

He went on to say there was a “very long back story” as to why it’s taken so long, and had earlier thanked the current council for a concession to change the priorities for occupancy at the site, which allowed him to get the financing to break ground. Some 1,600 units of market housing are also planned for the land though they have not gone on pre-sale yet. 

Tiah is best-known in Vancouver as the entrepreneur behind the Trump Hotel; it has since rebranded to Paradox.