Shooting holes in the sky - METROPLACE - Prices that give local buyers pause, don't scare wealthy Chinese. But should they?

METROPLACE - PART TWO

"Sustainable" this, "sustainable" that, "sustainable" everything. Sustainability... it's the most annoying catchphrase in B.C. since NDP Premier Glen Clark had EVERYBODY in the province mouthing his pat phrase at every interview, "At the end of the day". Well now, doesn't it begin to look like some of our condo developers and our municipal governments are counting on BIG Chinese money, or rather an endless stream of Chinese real estate Buyers, to become a "sustainable resource"? It seems obvious that the Chinese are becoming a natural resource to be exploited, right up there with mining and forestry.

I don't want to pick on the folks at Intracorp, but their 46 storey METROPLACE Tower will be the next venue for a feeding frenzy. I'm sure they can rationalize their pricing a dozen different ways - "Quality", "Demand", "Location", "Development Fees"...take your pick. But what they can't explain away is the fact that they are squeezing people into ever smaller units, while jacking up the prices. Bottom end units in METROPLACE tower are 491 sq ft and 500 sq ft, with one open room shared as a kitchenette and living room. Townhouses at the base, are another matter. How about putting in one less unit per floor, and giving people some leg room?

METROPLACE Type B - 491 sq ft "All starting from the $250's". Well.... yeah, there will be a dozen of these given away, if only to make the advertising legal. But for most bottom end units, teensy weensy units you can expect to pay a cool $300K when you've covered everything, including your lawyer and other incidentals.


What do super towers like SOVEREIGN and METROPLACE do for us in Metrotown, besides shooting holes in the sky? They offer us fewer chips in the bag, while boasting of the flavour.

I call it the "Cherry Blossom Syndrome". Few immigrants know it, but Canada once used Imperial measurement, as the Americans still do. One of the economic "legacies" of the Trudeau Era was the imposition of the metric system. Canadian children suffered the metric conversion even more than adults, because it allowed the greedy businessman to victimize us. Candy, potato chip and pop makers were very quick to reduce our favorite treats to much smaller sizes (offered in grams) but not one reduced their sell price. My weekly sugar fix was the Lowney Cherry Blossom, a delicious mound of chocolate with a whole cherry in its centre. The metric Cherry Blossom was a pitiful thing, and I never bought another one. With real estate being what it is, an added advantage to current runaway prices is, the kids won't notice you made the candy smaller.

Ten years ago 700 - 730 square foot units were the average sized, one bedroom condos being sold in Metrotown. I do fear the arrival of these 490 -500 sq ft units at SOVEREIGN and METROPLACE are establishing a benchmark low, which will persist. We'll soon see, as new designs for shorter towers will be approved over the next 36 months. This morning I had a look at measurements for the MONARCH, a popular condo tower on Hazel Street. BOSA built it, and it has one of the best reputations in Metrotown. For one thing, it's not a "leaker". The MONARCH was built in 1999 and its one bedroom units averaged 712 -722 square feet. A one bedroom and den usually measured 769 square feet ("All measurements subject to Buyer verification.") The point is, the shaving down of unit size is just a significant factor in repulsing local Buyers as the sky high prices fueled by offshore money. Chinese VIP customers brought in on purchasing junkets may not care, but the rest of us have to. If you are at all curious about Price History to go with the MONARCH floor measurements, you can have a look. [MLS Search result]

I suppose we can consider another time, what government-imposed costs (GICs) are doing to drive up local condo prices. That's also a scary subject. Now on the lighter side...

Here we see Metrotown, Burnaby as depicted in Microsoft's Flight Simulator X. That is Deer Lake down slope, (the redeveloped site of the former Oakalla Prison), and the runway shaped Burnaby Lake in the distance.
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The Ghosts of Oakalla and our Heroes in Kandahar

Gas masks for horses? Too surreal, and yet very real. The old OAKALLA PRISON was also HQ of the mounted troop of the B.C. Provincial Police between WW1 and WW2. The BCPP equestrian troop did practice for crowd and riot control, [I've hefted one of their 4 foot leather truncheons] but did not have teargas hoods for their mounts.

The ghosts of Oakalla are alive and still waiting to be caught on camera. When I began the OAKALLA Doc project I understood its potential, but could not guess so much worthwhile material would emerge or that scores of fascinating people would call me with great stories. After many consultations by phone, email or visits, I have chosen more than a dozen candidates for on-camera interviews. Script development is going well and I'm sure that most of what will appear on screen has never been seen or heard by the general public. Where my initial film, OAKALLA, was largely historical in content, the feature will delve into cases and issues which will make some uncomfortable. Several ex-staff who worked at Oakalla Prison have mentioned the "gag" provision of their employment contract, while others don't care. It is clear we have a common need to get these stories out.

OAKALLA : This is the DVD cover printed for distribution of a preview disc. Only a few copies are in circulation and a few were produced for legal deposit in B.C. and Ottawa. I have been offered a first screening at a Burnaby theatre.

Many unique photographs and artifacts have turned up, and generously offered for my use in the feature documentary. They will amaze even those who worked inside Oakalla, because it is a graphic record which is simply not supposed to exist. That it does exist is a credit to the foresight of a few individuals.

TF 3-09 KANDAHAR BOUND - One of the interests around the Jack household is following Canada's war in Afghanistan. Our daughter, Capt. Elizabeth Jack, left this week with the current rotation of troops which is designated TF 3-09. We are very proud of her and we fervently wish all of the brave men and women of the Task Force the best of luck and great success in their work.

To improvise or to modify? Student director Philip Jack has been spreading cash at TOYS R US, the HOME DEPOT and anywhere he can find bits and pieces needed to assemble props needed for his grad-film. He loves making props. (This bullpup is half completed, and will get a longer barrel and target designator.) The script for his Science Fiction story IMMINENT CONTACT is tweaked, the film is cast, and his crew at Simon Fraser University begin shooting later this month.

Oakalla Prison Documentary - story buried in the heart of Metrotown

Film school kept me busy all summer, resulting in neglect to my Blogs and websites. This Blog article was published in RUNAGATE PICTURES, yesterday. There is no harm cross-posting because Iit's one more chance that other documentary filmmakers in the Lower Mainland might stumble upon my work, and perhaps make contact.
It has only been a week since the BURNABY NOW published a feature on my documentary OAKALLA, and the reporter included a list of minor mysteries which needed solving. For example, the Burnaby City Archives, the Museum nor the Library had a photo or knew of JUBILEE HALL, a landmark I needed to pin down for a location shot.

Much to my delight, a Mr. John Komm nominated an old wooden building he believed is the hall. I had thought the building torn down because it was already described as being "ramshackle" by a Vancouver SUN reporter in 1953. Though the property has passed through a half dozen owners and as many name changes, a few minutes in old City Directories confirmed that Jubilee Hall still exists in Burnaby Metrotown, near the Skytrain line. It seems an amazing example of survival in an area that has been very heavily redeveloped. This squat structure was the site of high drama in the 1950s, when Doukhobor men and women were moved from Oakalla by the busload, to be processed by a magistrate and then sent back to prison. (Photograph by John Komm)

In the photo (above) a Freedomite Doukhobor male and a woman are attempting to disrupt court proceedings by stripping in front of the magistrate. Doukhobor women also conspired to created chaos at nearby Oakalla Prison by burning their mattresses and refusing to eat.

I have enjoyed this very productive week. Well over twenty people got in touch to share stories or simply offer research leads to aid the next project, THE GHOSTS OF OAKALLA. I'm really getting a sense that people in the community want this film to be made. There has actually been a stunning development which has redirected much of my research time and must impact what I choose to shoot and how the story will be crafted. Unfortunately I cannot "give away" the discovery, as making key elements common knowledge would blow the dramatic impact I plan to build into the film.

Dylan Innes directing on the set of his film MANDROID, September 2009. His DOP is Felix Oltean. [Production still - Elaine Gebert]

Yesterday I had some fun playing a minor character in a scene for a futuristic film called MANDROID, written and directed by Dylan Innes. The crew was a talented bunch from S.F.U. film school and the set was located inside the busy headquarters of the B.C. Lung Association on Oak Street in Vancouver. It was only my second opportunity to "act". The first experience was in August when student director Jonathan Pon invited me to play an unfriendly Mall security guard in his comedy REBEL WITHOUT A CLUE. Jonathan's parody of film school actually reflects some of the "stuff" some of us went through at Broadway campus. REBEL will be screened at Langara College on September 27 at 3pm.