
Michael Geller's Blog
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Michael Geller is a Vancouver based architect, planner, real estate consultant and property developer with four decades’ experience in the public, private and institutional sectors.
Michael Geller's Blog
3w ago
I, and many others, appreciate the genuine interest and concern Vancouver journalist Kerry Gold has displayed in writing about the destructive aspects of the Broadway Plan. She has now written several articles about the failings of the plan, from the perspective of residents of more affordable rental buildings, and now property owners in the neighbourhood.
I hope you will read this article. But before doing so, I would like to elaborate on my concern with the city's requirement that 20% of the units be affordable. After all, this would seem most reasonable and important.
The problem is tha ..read more
Michael Geller's Blog
3w ago
Should the facade of the Vancouver heritage building at 500 Dunsmuir St. be retained?
The former Dunsmuir Hotel has been vacant since 2013.
By John Mackie Published Jan 16, 2025
Built in 1907, the Dunsmuir Hotel was initially a large tourist hotel and in recent decades has been an SRO. Vacant since 2013, the City of Vancouver has ordered it torn down because it's in bad shape.
The demolition of the red-brick heritage building at 500 Dunsmuir St. is to begin Friday morning, but unlike some earlier cases, the facade of the 115-year-old former hotel will not be preserved.
In the past, the city ..read more
Michael Geller's Blog
1M ago
At the end of each year, I like to offer predictions for the year ahead and share them with readers of the Vancouver Sun and this blog. Today, I came across12 Housing Predictions offered by MACLEANS Magazine. While some are truly predictions, others, including "BC will tax house flippers" are already known facts. But I will be interested to see which come true a year from now. Personally, I think all will turn out to be correct!
THE YEAR AHEAD 2025 - Ten Housing Predictions for 2025
Politicians will spar over how to tackle the housing crisis. Falling interest rates will draw young peopl ..read more
Michael Geller's Blog
1M ago
As far as year-ahead predictions go, industry observers say not much will change from this year to next in the Vancouver housing market, despite interest rate drops – though some trends standout.
Kerry Gold
December 30, 2024
As far as year-ahead predictions go, industry observers say not much will change from this year to next in the Vancouver housing market, despite interest rate drops.
Realtor and investor Bryan Yan, who has a solid record of market forecasts, said the prime rate must drop to below 5% for price escalations between five and 10%. Right now, at 5.45%, it’s not eno ..read more
Michael Geller's Blog
1M ago
When younger people see an old, bald, overweight man, it's often difficult for them to appreciate that he didn't always look that way. Yes, this is me when I arrived in 1974. I was 27.
When the Vancouver Sun invited me to comment on what might happen to Vancouver’s housing markets in 2025, I could not help but think back fifty years to 1974 when I arrived in Vancouver to become Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s assistant architect/planner for British Columbia.
My responsibilities included overseeing the initial planning for Granville Island and the city’s propose ..read more
Michael Geller's Blog
1M ago
In advance of preparing this article, I reread previous Westcoast Homes year-end columns and discovered Yogi Berra was right. It is tough to make predictions, especially about the future.
That said, here are observations from past forecasts and what to expect in 2025.
Car share and parking
In 2012, I noted that with the success of Car2Go, Modo and Zipcar, more people discovered car-sharing to be a convenient and cost-effective way to get around. At the same time, there were growing concerns about traffic congestion, pollution, climate change and unaffordable housing. I therefore proposed that ..read more
Michael Geller's Blog
1M ago
This year's card was inspired by my longstanding interest in flexible housing designs and the benefits of sharing when it comes to making homes more affordable. Some will notice that the card incorporates several ideas included in last year's and previous years' cards.
I should add that I am currently working on a District of North Vancouver project that incorporates a variety of ownership and rental units incorporating both flex-unit designs and lock-off suites. Hopefully it will be approved in 2025 ..read more
Michael Geller's Blog
2M ago
For the past decade I have sent out a holiday greeting 'card' offering 12 housing related ideas for the 12 Days of Christmas. Before sharing my 2024 card, here is what was sent out last year. I hope you find some of these concepts of interest ..read more
Michael Geller's Blog
2M ago
It seems that as I get older I get crankier.
Perhaps this is why I became quite upset when I read that Vancouver's Chief Building Official (CBO) was recommending that the owner of 500 Dunsmuir be required to demolish the building for safety reasons. While I have not had any involvement with this property in the past, I am interested in the city's heritage, and knew that this was one of the few significant heritage buildings in the downtown. I also knew that the owner, Holborn Properties had no interest whatsoever, in heritage, or good urban planning for that matter.
If the owner ..read more
Michael Geller's Blog
2M ago
While I have been expressing concerns about the negative impacts of certain aspects of the Broadway Plan, I am by no means alone. Indeed, many former City of Vancouver planners, as well as private sector architects, planners, and other experts in planning and urban development also have concerns. However, for various reasons until now, they have chosen not to speak out.
However, with the approval of the first towers replacing older rental apartment buildings and duplexes and triplexes on low-scale leafy residential streets, and forthcoming Council consideration of modifications to the plan ..read more