What did BC’s $101,000 Luugat bill actually pay for as one tenant remained?

A $101,000 bill to keep a nearly empty Vancouver supportive-housing building open in July raised questions about the cost of housing one final tenant.

The Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs has since explained that the costs at Luugat were "not all related to housing the tenant."

The Ministry told Sitka Media the July bill, first exposed by Global News, included building maintenance, municipal taxes, insurance, utilities for fire and life-safety systems, security and services needed to maintain a commercial tenant at the property.

Many of those costs, the Ministry added, remain largely the same regardless of how many residents are living in the building, but that some costs have gone down as residents moved out, including staffing and support services.

Luugat is a 110-room building at 1176 Granville St. that until recently housed dozens of people. BC Housing bought the property in 2020, when it was operating as the Howard Johnson hotel.

The province is now working to close Luugat and, along with BC Housing and the City of Vancouver, relocate tenants from three buildings in the Granville Entertainment District.

The broader plan is to replace the three sites with approximately 280 self-contained supportive-housing units outside the district, although the Ministry said details are still being flushed out.

The BC General Employees Union told Sitka Media that only one of its members remains at Luugat. The union also said there are no external minimum staffing requirements for supportive-housing operations.

Previous staff reductions were subject to the union's collective agreement, which includes requirements around layoffs and recalls. BCGEU said it was difficult to determine how those provisions translated into Luugat's operating costs.

But the union says the situation also points to broader concerns about how supportive housing is funded and overseen in BC.

“Supportive housing often seems treated as an afterthought in this province. Unlike health care, there's no standard of care, no minimum staffing requirements, and almost no meaningful oversight,” BCGEU President Paul Finch said.

“Funding decisions often look arbitrary to our members, who are told there isn't enough money for fair wages, as they watch public dollars get diverted away from health and safety measures and other essential frontline resources. That lack of oversight and accountability is costing everyone — workers, residents, and the public alike.”

Atira CEO Sarah McIntosh, whose organization previously operated Luugat, said the cost of running a housing program and the cost of supporting its last resident aren't necessarily the same thing.

“Housing comes with responsibilities — to residents, staff and the building itself — that don’t all end at the same time,” McIntosh told Sitka Media. “I can’t speak to what made up the reported $101,000 at Luugat, but winding down a housing program is different from supporting its last resident. That distinction is important when we ask what this number actually represents.”

The City of Vancouver told Sitka Media that Luugat operates as supportive housing, but is not designated as an SRO under the City's Single Room Accommodation bylaw.

While the province and BC Housing oversee operations and tenant relocation, the City's role focuses on zoning, permitting and licensing.

According to the City, property owners must continue to meet applicable bylaws, building standards and fire and life-safety requirements during a transition. Once a building is vacated, minimum maintenance and safety standards also apply under the City's Abandoned and Vacated Building bylaw.

BC Housing is also developing a plan for the future use of the site, according to the City.

The Ministry did not provide Sitka Media with a line-by-line breakdown of the $101,000. While it identified the types of expenses included in the bill, it did not specify how much went toward security, taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance, commercial tenant operations or other costs.

Community Builders, the current operator of Luugat, did not respond to Sitka Media's request for comment in time for publishing.