March 9. A special date in my professional life. Narod goes into receivership
Michael Geller's Blog
by Michael Geller
2w ago
In March 1981, I left CMHC after working ten years in Ottawa, Vancouver, and Toronto and joined Narod Developments. Before taking the position, I had been talking to a headhunter conducting a search for BC Place's Vice President-Development to work under Alvin Narod. (Alvin had sold Narod to David Mooney in 1978 and retired before becoming BC Place Board Chair.)  David Podmore got that job and started work on the 21st floor of Scotia Tower at 650 West Georgia. I started work in Narod's offices on the 22nd floor of the same building, directly above Dave. We have stayed friends ever ..read more
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Letter to Vancouver is Awesome re: need for changes to the Broadway Plan March 8, 2024.
Michael Geller's Blog
by Michael Geller
2w ago
Behind every story there's a story. A few weeks ago, several people living around West 14th Avenue near Yew Street wrote to me to ask if I had seen what they considered to be an atrocious new 18-storey apartment building proposal in the middle of their block, surrounded by 2 and 3 storey duplexes. I took a look at the plans and agreed.  As a retired architect I should not really criticize another architect or his work. But in this case I had to agree that not only was the building form wrong as a result of a flaw in the City's Broadway Plan, but the design was totally inappropriate ..read more
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Vancouver high rises home to few children - Kerry Gold - Globe and Mail March 8, 2024
Michael Geller's Blog
by Michael Geller
2w ago
Last week I had a call from Globe and Mail journalist Kerry Gold who asked whether I had any thoughts on the appropriateness of highrise apartments for families with children. Did I ever! For years I have been thinking about this since my days at CMHC when we generally designed highrises for seniors but tried to accommodate families with children in townhouses, or low and midrise apartments generally not highter than the sixth or seventh floor. That is because social planners reminded us that parents wanted to be able to see their children playing outside and call out to them when necessary ..read more
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A Night in the Catskills - Jewish Humour Then and Now - JSA 20th Anniversary Gala - March 17, 2024
Michael Geller's Blog
by Michael Geller
3w ago
The following is an account of a forthcoming Jewish Seniors Alliance (JSA) Event as printed in a recent edition of the Jewish Independent, the community newspaper. I am proud to be one of the organizers and sponsors. It will take place on St. Patricks Day since St. Patrick was probably Jewish. How do I know? Because he liked green.  The room has a capacity of about 200 people and as of today I am told 150 tickets have been sold. So if you are interested in attending, please reserve soon. And of course, you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy Jewish humour, and you most certainly don't ..read more
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Co-living: another type of housing needed in Vancouver.
Michael Geller's Blog
by Michael Geller
1M ago
According to Vancouver Is Awesome North Vancouver is now the most expensive city in which to rent an unfurnished one-bedroom unit in Canada, with its new-to-market units averaging $2,802 a month in February; it also had the highest prices for two- and three-bedroom units. I am therefore hoping District staff and Council will welcome our Maplewood Village Centre 5-storey building proposal offering 33 co-living suites designed for sharing, thus accommodating up to 88 residents. If you are not familiar with co-living, as distinct from co-housing, or cooperative housing, it is what many of us ex ..read more
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Some More Musings on Property Taxation Globe and Mail January 27, 2024
Michael Geller's Blog
by Michael Geller
2M ago
In June 2014, I wrote my very first Vancouver Courier column. I recall it well since it upset many of my neighbours. That's because I live in Vancouver's Southlands neighbourhood where many residents live in very expensive homes on large acreage lots. I'm not one of them. I live in what my next door neighbour once described as the poor part of Southlands.  The column, which you will find below, addressed a provision in the property assessment system which allows some homeowners to significantly reduce their property taxes by growing and selling vegetables on a small portion of their lot ..read more
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Vancouver Sun - Metro Vancouver Population to Hit Three Million - January 20, 2024
Michael Geller's Blog
by Michael Geller
2M ago
For many reasons, the Vancouver Sun's John Mackie is one of my favourite journalists. I appreciate his interest in the history of the city and I always look forward to his Saturday historical accounts. He's also a delightful guy to talk with. So I was pleased when he called this week to ask what I thought about Vancouver's population reaching three million this summer.  My first thought was to tell him about Jas Johal's special program on CKNW at the end of last year titled 'The Next Million' which examined how Vancouver is going to manage going from three million to four million resident ..read more
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Storeys.Com article by Kerry Gold on What Might Happen in Real Estate in 2024
Michael Geller's Blog
by Michael Geller
2M ago
  Thanks to Vancouver Journalist Kerry Gold for deciding to write about my 2023 Year-end Holiday Greeting Card and inviting me to offer some additonal thoughts on what might happen in the year ahead. Here is her Storeys.Com article Predicting what lies ahead for the year, whether it’s trends or prices, is a matter of knowing what factors are at play, including the economy and government policies. As a developer, real estate consultant, planner, retired architect and former Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation official, Michael Geller has about 50 years of experience behind him. Each y ..read more
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January 14. Sam Geller would have been 112 years old today!
Michael Geller's Blog
by Michael Geller
2M ago
My father was born in Bristol, England on January 14, 1912 and died on July 17 2004. Today he would have been 112. While it is customary in the Jewish religion to remember the anniversary of someone's death or Yahrzeit https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/yahrzeit-remembering-on-the-anniversary-of-a-death/ by lighting a candle, since birthdays were always celebrated in our family, I have continued to celebrate my parents' birthdays. Last year, my dad's birth date fell on a Saturday and I decided to sponsor a Kiddush or luncheon in the synagogue to which he once belonged (and to w ..read more
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Should BC Homeowners Grant be scrapped? Katie Darosa - Vancouver Sun January 3,2024
Michael Geller's Blog
by Michael Geller
3M ago
  The annual B.C. government grant that knocks a chunk off most homeowners’ property taxes unfairly gives land-rich homeowners more of a tax break than renters and should be overhauled or scrapped, some real estate analysts say. The grant amounts for 2024 will be the same as last year, which gives homeowners in the Capital Regional District, Fraser Valley Regional District and Metro Vancouver up to a $570 property tax break while homeowners outside those areas get a $770 tax break. Homeowners must use their property as a principal residence to qualify for the grant. Seniors, veterans or ..read more
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