fits LOOKING FOR an apartment? You might try the Park Royal Towers. But be prepared to pay top bucks, which is why a lot of people have quit those West Van landmarks and others will follow. The story is yet another exam- ple of.the joys of the new-style immigrant investment money, which the politicians keep telling you is good for you. But don’t tell that to the pen- thouse renter whose rent has gone up recently from $1,800 to $2,400 ~— with a further increase expected ~— or to others who have faced similar hikes. One chap living on the i7th floor of the Stuart Building was paying $594. His rent was raised to $698. He died. The price of the apartment then went to $800. An acqaintance of mine was paying $1,000 for a three-bedroom apartment. That went up Lo $1,180 on Jan. 1. He quit and went to Burnaby. The rent on his apart- ment went up to $1,450. The pen- thouse man, meanwhile, is going to Kelowna. Call it a diaspora. All this has resulted from a change of ownership that took place Jan. 18, with residents being notified of increases by the pro- spective new owners over three rnonths before that. The Towers are now owned, | am told, by three Iranian brothers, and initial across-the-board rent hikes were from tS to 27.5 per cent. That was on top of 1988 in- creases under the old owners of eight per cent. (There had been no increases in 1987.) Former Towers property man- ager Erling Maberg told me the old owners — Lord Realty — had planned an increase of only 5.4 per cent for 1989. The price paid for the Towers was $42 million, and it appears it was a greatly inflated one. Accord- ing to Mr. Maberg, when the Capilano Indians looked into the possibility of buying the buildings three years ago, their value was about $26,000,000. Assessed value on the buildings for tax purposes in 1988 was $15,876,550. The land is owned by the Capilano Indians. Lord Realty had no idea of sell- ing, but in a letter to tenants dated Sept. 20, 1988, Mr. Maberg in- formed tenants that Lord had ‘received an offer they couldn’t refuse.” The Iranian who concluded the $42 million purchase, | am told, was Amin Lalji. [ have not been able to talk to him. The present manager of the Towers, Jeff Nightingale, told me the new owners are ‘Toronto based”’ and that he is not at liberty to disclose who they are. “It has been made clear to me that the owners do not want to be directly involved in anything,’’ he said. Calls to the lawyers representing Park Royal Ventures Ltd., the holding company, were not returned. It is understood, though, chat some members of the Iranian family live in West Van. $100,008 given to restore house From page 5 The unique home, which Miss Lawson occupied until a few months before her death, at 96, was recently threatened with dem- olition because the municipality did not initially meet the price of- fered the house’s inheritors by a developer. Located in 1600-block In- glewood Avenue, the property has great devefopment value. But the municipality later went against the wishes of focal tatepayer’s groups and decided to meet the developer’s price, their purchase made possible by the . Lawson family’s decision to cancel the earlier deal. In making the subsequent $100,000 donation to the municipality, Wilson has required that the building be known as the Gertrude Lawson House, rather than the Lawson house. Miss Lawson was one of John Lawson’s two daughters (a son was killed in the First World War). According to Wilson, it was Lawson's wish that her house become a ‘‘people place’’. An English-style pub was one proposal for the site, but Lawson was known to be ‘‘against the drink.” “We have a. staff committee headed by cultural coordinator Kathy Matheson looking into various possible uses of the house,’’ West Vancouver municipal manager Terry Lester told the News last week. Lester said there is a need for space for archival material as well . as the West Vancouver Historical Society and North Shore Counsell- ing Services. Lester acknowleded the usefulness of Wilson’s $100,000 donation towards renovation of the house, adding that future oc- cupants of the building may be ex- pected to contribute to the extra funds that would be required. A teport into the possible uses of the house is expected at West Vancouver District Council within the next few weeks. In addition to the historical significance of the Gertrude Lawson house, it could be incor- porated into the proposed expan- sion of West Vancouver’s mun- cipal hail. Public comment on the civic centre scheme is welcome and should be submitted to council by Sept. 15. PERSONAL BANKRUPTCY ... Yequires professional help “FREE? copy ‘of our booklet. “Assignment in Bankruptcy”, available upon request. 291-9151 WESTGEEST & ASSOCIATES TRUSTEE IN BANKRUPTCY (Aeros the tnd Nanows Bridge of Brentwood Mafi ct Wiltingdon Ave. & Lougheed Hwy, NBumaby) 9 ~ Sunday, June 25, 1989 - North Shore News “A Place To Go When’: } You're Pregnant And Need Support: GIRTHRIGHT | I CaM 997-7513 « Free Pregnancy Test © f i 229 lonsthle In Vanco Gl & > 986-4263 Free home estimates The new owners have ar entirely different philosophy from the old ones. Lord Realty, with Maberg doing day-to-day management, had good relations with the te- nants. Sixty-two per cent of them had been there ‘‘since day one.’ (The Towers were completed in 1966.) The old owners also believ- ed it was better to have modest rent increases and keep all apart- ments occupied. The new philosophy is to take everything the market can give, and Maberg says there were some heart-rending scenes when older people on fixed incomes learned of the increases in store for them. In October, a round-robin protest was signed by 421 tenants, and 82 wrote personal letters. The protest spoke of ‘*an over- valued investment" leading to in- creases designed to recover it, and tenants who could not pay would have to make way for people who could meet the inflated demand. Manager Nightingale claimed that the Towers apartments had been below market price, and that “rents in all of West Van had gone up significantly.’ In addition, ex- pensive renovations were under way. The tenants’ letter, however, 1959 1989 WEST VANCOUVER HIGH SCHOOL 30 YEAR REUNION Dinner Dance, Sat., Sept. 16 Hollybum Country Club Yacht Cruise — Brunch Sun. Sept. 17 MORE INFO: Sharryl 980-3101 Avis 266-7389 Coloured Intartocking concrete pointed out that the buildings and cingstones and slabs fittings were old, and that renova- ar f, economical and perfectly tions were carried out a few years prac % All sizes of work undertaken ASI work fully guaranteed BEAUTIFY YOUR HOME! * Free Estimates * 984-3237 HIGHLAND PAVESTONE {Highland Pavestone Products (1989) Ltd) ago. Certainly, the Towers were prof- itable before the new owners arriv- ed. Documents in my possession show that total income for 1988 was $4,206,600, with a net profit of $2,076,435 @ Sylvan this summer. Better grades next fall. eptember essays, reports and test papers — school the very thing he’s graded on. 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