[Wamvan] DTES Continues Fight for Social Housing Not Condos, Despite Pantages Hoax

[Harsha W.]

http://dtesnotfordevelopers.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/occupy-pantages-hoax/


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DTES Continues Fight for Social Housing Not Condos, Despite Pantages Hoax
“Occupy Condos: Take Pantages” on Tues Nov 29th at 4 pm 150 East Hastings

Vancouver, Unceded Coast Salish Territory: This weekend the Downtown
Eastside received the happy news that developer Marc Williams was throwing
in the towel and selling his property at the Pantages site to the city for
100% social housing. Within two hours of the hoax release Marc Williams,
developer of the gentrifying Sequel 138 condo and commercial development
project on the 100-block of East Hastings, denied that he was selling the
site to the City.

Beatrice Starr, member of the DTES Women Centre Power of Women Group and
thirty-year resident of the neighbourhood is angry that the City and
developers are complicit in escalating rents and gentrification. “The
priority should be building social housing not condos. Marc Williams and
all other gentrifying developers, real estate speculators, and greedy
investors, as well the corporate-controlled City Council, should know that
we will not abandon this fight,” she says.

On Tuesday November 29th at 4pm, an action “Occupy Condos: Take Pantages”
will be taking place to reclaim the site for social housing. Organizers
say that condo developers represent “the elite 1%” and must be exposed for
their role in gentrification and displacement in the Downtown Eastside and
for maintaining Vancouver as one of the most unaffordable cities in the
world. They are demanding a moratorium on all condo development in the
Downtown Eastside until no one is homeless, in SRO’s, or in shelters. They
are also calling on Marc Williams to sell the site to the City at the 2010
assessed value for 100% resident controlled social housing and community
space.

Contrary to William’s claims of ‘support’ by artists and DTES social
service agencies for his project, public statements have been issued by a
number of artists including Art Space Action Society who has severed its
relationship with the project. Non-profit social housing providers have
joined artists, saying “We would not want to be complicit in a project
that will further displace, impoverish, and police residents of the
Downtown Eastside and make people feel more unwelcome in their own
neighbourhood. Over 40 organizations and 1200 DTES residents have signed a
similar DTES Community Resolution opposing condos at the old Pantages
Theatre site.

Jen Allan, founder of the survival sex worker support group Jen’s Kitchen
and Downtown Eastside Neighbhourhood Council board member says, “The city
talks about safety for women and for survival sex workers, but safety
means safe and affordable housing for sex workers and their children.
Condos in the DTES will not help survival sex workers, they will hurt
them.”

Mona Woodward, Executive Director of Aboriginal Front Door Society, is
concerned about the impact of condos on the vital services in the
100-block for the low-income community “The 100-block includes important
services like AFD which represents off-reserve Aboriginal people. For us,
the fight against gentrification is also against colonialism.” Herb
Varley, Nuu-chah-nulth youth and SRO resident agrees, “Who is this
government making the city liveable for? We need justice not charity.”

According to Dave Diewert of Streams of Justice “Dropping market housing
onto this block is a gentrification bomb with increased rents, land
speculation, more condo projects, upscale businesses, and enhanced
security and police presence. We have witnessed these impacts on the area
due to Woodward’s, and projects like Sequel 138, 21 Doors, and Paris Annex
will unleash similar forces. These condos projects are unethical, which is
why we have called for a boycott on condos in the Downtown Eastside.”

-          30 –

Website: http://dtesnotfordevelopers.wordpress.com/
Media Contacts: Ivan Drury 604 781 7346, Harsha Walia 778 885 0040.


-- 
Harsha Walia

https://twitter.com/HarshaWalia
https://www.facebook.com/nooneisillegal
http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/author/dtes-power-women-group