Friday, July 12, 2013

Mayor’s house has sold for asking - Frances Bula



The latest on our Mayor's housing saga is that his Cambie area house has not only sold... but sold for the asking price, at least according to this from Frances Bula's blog:
Okay, this is Friday fluff, but whatever. I feel I must contribute to the ongoing deep investigations into Mayor Gregor Robertson’s change of abode by reporting that his Douglas Park-area house has apparently sold, for the asking price of whatever it was, $1.95 million or something...

No one seems to see Robertson’s move, from a single-family house near Emily Carr elementary in central Vancouver to a smaller place in Kits near the beach, as symbolic of the prototypical Vancouver downsizing. Instead, it seems to have turned into massive theory-building about how it has something to do with the Point Grey bike lane. Or his federal-election ambitions. Or something.
Readers of this blog know we have focused around the former of those two angles to this story.  The latter we touched upon Wednesday when we hilighted this Georgia Straight story:
What's intriguing about the move is that Robertson now lives much farther away from his workplace at Vancouver City Hall.

Normally, cyclists like to live closer to the office.

Perhaps this suggests there could be federal political implications for Robertson, who is sometimes viewed as a future candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada.

His old residence is in the proposed new riding of Vancouver-Granville, which is being carved out of parts of other ridings in the city. There is no MP for this riding yet.

His new home is likely in Vancouver Quadra, which is represented by Liberal MP Joyce Murray. That's because most of York Avenue is west of Arbutus Street, which is the boundary for the riding. East of Arbutus is within Hedy Fry's riding of Vancouver Centre.

Murray ran against Justin Trudeau in this year’s federal Liberal leadership race.

Whoever becomes the Liberal candidate in Vancouver Quadra is likely a shoo-in to get elected to Parliament.

Could Robertson be planning a challenge against Murray for the Liberal nomination after he wins a third term as mayor in 2014? Stay tuned.
In case you missed it, the Georgia Straight did follow up on this story.

 In an article titled Mayor Gregor Robertson says he can't imagine seeking a Liberal nomination in Vancouver Quadra, the Straight reported:
The Mayor of Vancouver says his decision to sell his house and move west has nothing to do with federal politics.

In a scrum with reporters at the corner of Yew Street and West 4th Avenue, Gregor Robertson said he intends on remaining mayor as long as the citizens of Vancouver keep electing him to that position.

When the Straight asked if he would categorically rule out running for Parliament in the next federal election, he replied: “I can’t imagine that happening right now. As I’ve said, I’m looking at running for a third term as mayor.”

He also said: "We have a duly elected MP in Vancouver Quadra [Joyce Murray] who serves the city well."
The picture above was taken by the Straight as part of the media scrum that lead to the Straight's follow up. Looks like the media and our Mayor were having a cordial, folksy chat.

But there was a disturbing development affecting some of the very media coverage on this story that seems to have gone unnoticed by the esteemed members of our local fourth estate.

We're still trying to track down some information about it. We may have more for you Sunday afternoon.

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12 comments:

  1. Come on, Whisperer. I really don't see a big story here related to the buying and selling of a house nor how that may impact on bike lanes, future profits, or even Federal politics. Normally I enjoy your site but this is a bit much because it attempts to leave the impression of some sort of impropriety on the part of the mayor. This is just childish when reviewing the history of provincial political antics or the good work he has done in the past. Vander Zalm and his paper bag of cash in a back lane sale of Fantasy Gardens comes immediately to mind. The mayor is a stand up guy in my opinion and does not deserve your postings that attempt to suggest ambitions or sneaky shenanigans that cannot be proven except by inference and innuendo. Why don't you give this one a break. There are ACTUAL crooks out there in the real estate world that are in need of your attention. The mayor is NOT one of them.

    Farmer

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    1. Don't you have better things to do than post Gregor? At least identify yourself first. I can't imagine anyone with sane mind standing up for innocent Mayor Moonbeam. Everyone has a right to buy property for themselves, but only the Mayor can do it at under market price.

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    2. One word: Hollyhock

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  2. Politics make me sick in BC. Even Gordon Campbell after stepping down as a leader of Liberals is now....honorable Gordon Campbell Canadian High Commissioner in the UK - WTF ?. How does a drunken vacationer from Hawaii and lying to voters ( HST ) disgraced "leader" becomes honorable representative of Canada in UK ? Now we have Kispy Clark back at it....even if she couldn't win a seat in the original riding. The political set-up is a joke with "post turtles" in charge. I guess that makes the mayor with record city debt, bike lanes and chicken coop "success" a perfect candidate for a next government job. I can't wait.

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  3. I totally think there is something "up" here. This story has legs it will be become clear over time what the mayor has planned. He may just be keeping his options open Federally. The bike lane thing seems obvious to me. Politicians never do things randomly and without a self-serving plan in mind.

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  4. Who ever bought that house for asking is a complete moron. Its not even worth half of that. What is wrong with Vancouver R/E, we're in for a major correction and rude awakening.

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    Replies
    1. @ Anonymous

      Ok, so house apparently sold this weekend for the full asking price, but not a penny more (or less), which is very odd IMHO especially considering how lukewarm this market is at present. It's also cute how this listing was removed at the snap of a finger as removal of listing info normally takes several days. When you factor in time for closing, paperwork, subject removal etc, I am thinking this must have sold long before this wknd's open house ever happened or deal was rigged with a prearranged buyer already lined up. I am guessing the Vanc Sun, Global news etc will likely be in there like a dirty shirt reporting on this come next Sat with a full featured spread on the transaction and how he was able to sell this in ONE day (with the RE market being red hot and all that...) unless, of course, he puts a muzzle on these folks and we never hear about any of this ever again.

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    2. Yeah....cause he is such a Third World dictator. The guy has unlimited scope to muzzle everyone who cower in fear of exposing the truth....

      HaHaHa!!!

      Give it break man. This is not a story.

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    3. Haha! Nothing to see here folks, move along.

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  5. Anonymous @ 10:52 AM:

    My thoughts exactly..... the REAL story here is how you can buy a dump of a house for $450k in 2005 and then flog it on for almost TWO MILLION DOLLARS eight years later...WTF???? No wonder *everybody* in Vancouver believes buying real estate is an easy path to wealth and prosperity.

    Yeah, no bubble here folks...nothing to see, now just move right along...that's it.....

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  6. LOL I bet the bears wished the house sold for way under asking!

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  7. oaky, your last post was July 17th. Lost interest????

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