Hats off to the Molnar Group for thinking of the community

I couldn’t believe it when I read Carlito Pablo’s article in the Georgia Straight about the proposed Molnar development at Renfrew and East 10th.

Normally, I really challenge developers, but in this case I’m applauding the Molnar Group. They’re building 96 rental units, 19 of them dedicated to households earning moderate incomes.

The bottom line is that a studio will rent for the very low price of $950 per month and a one-bedroom apartment for $1,200 a month. If a couple were to share a one-bedroom unit, each of them would only have to chip in $600 a month, That’s the kind of rent I paid as a student back in the late ’70s and early ’80s when I shared a 4-bedroom house.

But there’s more good news to this story. The Vancouver-based Molnar Group, which has been run by the Molnar family since 1969, didn’t ask the city for an exemption from paying development cost levies (DCLs) that they’re eligible for!

DCLs are used to pay for city amenities we all use, such as community centres and libraries. Under the previous Vision Vancouver council, developers were exempted from paying DCLs as long as the development contained market rentals. “Market”, of course, does not mean affordable, so in those days the precedent was set for rental amounts in the neighbourhood of $2,000 a month for a one-bedroom apartment.

In the case at hand, 20 percent of the units will be truly affordable using the standard that you should pay no more than 1/3 of your income for rent. That means someone earning $38,000 a year could afford to rent a studio in the proposed development.

I have never been opposed to development per se; I’m only opposed to development when it’s primarily for the benefit of the developer. When the developer puts the community first, as Molnar is here, I’m all for it.

If the Molnar Group can be this progressive, so can other developers — and I challenge them to do so! As my mentor, Harry Rankin, used to say, if it wasn’t for development we would all be living in caves.

 

Have you signed and shared my petition on the Empty Homes Tax? Please do, so that Vancouverites can find the housing they need!

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Daily atmospheric CO₂ [Courtesy of CO2.Earth]

Latest daily total (Dec. 3 2019): 411.13 ppm

One year ago (Dec. 3 2018):  409.18 ppm

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