[Surrey] The Urban Village | 102m| 35fls | Completed

[officedweller]

That's what I mean, the strata owners may have to bear a lot of costs before any lawsuit recovery.

[Abii]

Originally Posted by Cypherus

In all honesty, Ultra pricing is about 20% less than surrounding towers due to the issue with the building not utilizing the more stringent BC code for seismic loading. This sounds concerning. However, engineers in 2019 did conclude, after a thorough analysis, the tower was safe for occupancy and there were no issues in its current state with seismic and wind load bearing. They just cannot guarantee how the tower will perform in a major earthquake. This is where the new engineering team will use performance modelling to see if any work is actually needed to shore up the building so it can respond accordingly to a major seismic event.

In the meantime, litigation is commencing against the developers, City of Surrey, and any contractor who touched the building, for potential settlement in the future for loss value and to recoup engineering costs to study the building. Buying now would mean you obtain a unit at a cheaper price with the potential of a large settlement in the future. If you do not plan to sell the unit in 10 years, and just rent it out, you really cannot go wrong here.

Thanks for giving me your take on this. My brother is an engineer and I sent him the reports. He said the same thing you said essentially. But he's cautious so he told me he wouldn't mess with it. I'm willing to take the risk. Thankfully still working on my mortgage so I still have time to think.

I noticed there were two large special levies. Have they already been collected? What were they for?

Originally Posted by djmk

Why would they file a lawsuit before this new engineering report? Seems like a lot of costs are still unknown or even necessary

When you file a Notice of Civil Claim you don't write down the amount of damages you're seeking. You just ask for the type of damages.

Fault will need to be proven first, then the amount will be dealt with after. By the time they get there at least 2 years will have gone by. Probably more. The Court will determine the amount of damages based on evidence from both sides.

[Cypherus]

Originally Posted by Abii

Thanks for giving me your take on this. My brother is an engineer and I sent him the reports. He said the same thing you said essentially. But he's cautious so he told me he wouldn't mess with it. I'm willing to take the risk. Thankfully still working on my mortgage so I still have time to think.

I noticed there were two large special levies. Have they already been collected? What were they for?



When you file a Notice of Civil Claim you don't write down the amount of damages you're seeking. You just ask for the type of damages.

Fault will need to be proven first, then the amount will be dealt with after. By the time they get there at least 2 years will have gone by. Probably more. The Court will determine the amount of damages based on evidence from both sides.

Special levies were already collected in 2020 for purposes of the engineering modelling study. You are also very accurate with the Notice to Claim. The whole point is to get the legal process started before an accounting is done to recover the total costs for the engineering studies plus potential loss of value. It is highly likely this will be settled out of court, similar to the leaning tower of San Francisco which was in far worse condition for the owners to bear than what Ultra owners are facing. As to what retrofits are needed, at this time it is speculation. This has included the possibility that no work is needed based on the performance of the building under computer modelling, to simple FRP wrapping being needed to address the areas where there are deficiencies (i.e. northern parkade transfer slap and central elevator core).

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by Cypherus

Special levies were already collected in 2020 for purposes of the engineering modelling study. You are also very accurate with the Notice to Claim. The whole point is to get the legal process started before an accounting is done to recover the total costs for the engineering studies plus potential loss of value. It is highly likely this will be settled out of court, similar to the leaning tower of San Francisco which was in far worse condition for the owners to bear than what Ultra owners are facing. As to what retrofits are needed, at this time it is speculation, which has included that no work is needed based on the performance of the building under modelling, to simple FRP wrapping being needed to address the areas where there may be a deficiency (i.e. northern parkade transfer slap and central elevator core).

Do you know if there are any issues for owners in obtaining insurance in the meantime, until the situation is resolved?

[Abii]

Originally Posted by Changing City

Do you know if there are any issues for owners in obtaining insurance in the meantime, until the situation is resolved?

That's a good question. It was on my mind as well. I did not notice any mentions of it in the minutes I looked at. Plus, cost of insurance for the building itself actually went down in 2021 if I recall correctly.

But as far as individual unit insurance goes, it is definitely on my mind as well.

[GMasterAres]

Originally Posted by Abii

That's a good question. It was on my mind as well. I did not notice any mentions of it in the minutes I looked at. Plus, cost of insurance for the building itself actually went down in 2021 if I recall correctly.

But as far as individual unit insurance goes, it is definitely on my mind as well.

Individual unit insurance only covers you for content and deductibles. Earthquake, flood, etc. insurance is overall Strata so you would want to check the minutes for strata insurance renewal and look at the deductibles. Typically though it is things like flooding that is more the risk than an Earthquake. It is a lot harder to prevent idiots above you from flushing kitty litter down their toilet and blowing pipes out. An Earthquake also would likely affect the entire building so you're less likely to take a hit individually that is high if one happens as the burden would fall to the majority of residents as a whole.

People see a $250,000 levy and go OMG THAT IS SO HUGE!! but if you have say 400 units in a building and it is broken out evenly (which it isn't since they are calculated by sq foot for each strata lot), that is $625 per unit average. If that is going to break the bank for someone that owns their own home, they have some bigger problems imho financial management wise.

That said it isn't like the building was constructed to 1977 earthquake standards. It is still likely AOK in reality. And a point on your post on the previous page about are you crazy? Not entirely. it is a risk proposition and from a making money perspective it is the original owners most affected.

You as a second buyer would be buying the unit at a discount, and then possibly reselling at a discount compared to other buildings but the unit will still have a standard increase in value like other apartments.

That means while your sale price in 10 years may be lower than similar units, your buy price was also lower so you'll still potentially make a profit. The key risk I'd say to you would be any future special levies. Anything past needs to be settled if still outstanding by the current owner before you take possession. The levies would be paid out by the current owner during closing.

Again comes down to your risk appetite no different than buying a used car or foreclosure.

[Abii]

Originally Posted by jhausner

Individual unit insurance only covers you for content and deductibles. Earthquake, flood, etc. insurance is overall Strata so you would want to check the minutes for strata insurance renewal and look at the deductibles. Typically though it is things like flooding that is more the risk than an Earthquake. It is a lot harder to prevent idiots above you from flushing kitty litter down their toilet and blowing pipes out. An Earthquake also would likely affect the entire building so you're less likely to take a hit individually that is high if one happens as the burden would fall to the majority of residents as a whole.

People see a $250,000 levy and go OMG THAT IS SO HUGE!! but if you have say 400 units in a building and it is broken out evenly (which it isn't since they are calculated by sq foot for each strata lot), that is $625 per unit average. If that is going to break the bank for someone that owns their own home, they have some bigger problems imho financial management wise.

That said it isn't like the building was constructed to 1977 earthquake standards. It is still likely AOK in reality. And a point on your post on the previous page about are you crazy? Not entirely. it is a risk proposition and from a making money perspective it is the original owners most affected.

You as a second buyer would be buying the unit at a discount, and then possibly reselling at a discount compared to other buildings but the unit will still have a standard increase in value like other apartments.

That means while your sale price in 10 years may be lower than similar units, your buy price was also lower so you'll still potentially make a profit. The key risk I'd say to you would be any future special levies. Anything past needs to be settled if still outstanding by the current owner before you take possession. The levies would be paid out by the current owner during closing.

Again comes down to your risk appetite no different than buying a used car or foreclosure.

All valid points. I was actually talking about this building with my mortgage broker last night. She asked me to send her the building information to see if her underwriter is willing to accept a mortgage on a unit here. I don't see why they wouldn't. So I'm just waiting for her answer.

Since I made that post on the previous page I've warmed up to the idea a lot more. The final question is exactly what you said: future levies. But with 360+ strata units in the building, even a 10 million dollar retrofit is manageable.

My lease is up in May. I'm hoping that by April I can make the move out of my rental to my own place, wherever that is.

[Klazu]

I hope I am getting the building correct, but this must be the most ridiculously priced rental unit in Surrey.

https://vancouver.craigslist.org/rds...504754364.html

[seamusmcduff]

Yeah at that price whoever's paying that rent could definitely afford to buy, so it makes no sense to pay that. Unless they're targeting medium term renters like actors or athletes who will only be around for a year or two, but then they would likely live in Vancouver, not Surrey.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by seamusmcduff

Yeah at that price whoever's paying that rent could definitely afford to buy, so it makes no sense to pay that. Unless they're targeting medium term renters like actors or athletes who will only be around for a year or two, but then they would likely live in Vancouver, not Surrey.

The BC Lions have their training grounds between Gateway and Surrey Central stations and I'd be very surprised to not find other sports have similar type spaces SoF. It would make sense for a lot of them to live close to their main 'work' places.

But yeah that's a pretty ridiculous rental price.

[seamusmcduff]

I don't think any BC Lions players are affording 8000/month, considering most make like 60k a season.

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by seamusmcduff

I don't think any BC Lions players are affording 8000/month, considering most make like 60k a season.

yeah, I remember seeing a story about one of the players working at Home Depot in the Off Season and was glad that they allowed him to take off time to play for the season.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by seamusmcduff

I don't think any BC Lions players are affording 8000/month, considering most make like 60k a season.

I didn't suggest they were going to rent that particular place - it was about assuming athletes are only going to rent in CoV when their practice fields are elsewhere in Metro Van.

[Equinox71]

Originally Posted by Cypherus

Special levies were already collected in 2020 for purposes of the engineering modelling study. You are also very accurate with the Notice to Claim. The whole point is to get the legal process started before an accounting is done to recover the total costs for the engineering studies plus potential loss of value. It is highly likely this will be settled out of court, ...

Does anyone have an update on the litigation by Ultra against WestStone and the others against whom legals action was filed?

[Abii]

Originally Posted by Equinox71

Does anyone have an update on the litigation by Ultra against WestStone and the others against whom legals action was filed?

There is an action number on the top right hand corner of the Notice of Civil Claim. You can go to any courthouse registry and use that action number to get everything that has been filed so far. Including the response and the Notice of Trial to see when the trial is set for.