Empty Vancouver lot where fire twice gutted apartment building is now selling for $20M

The empty lot of a Vancouver apartment building that was gutted twice by fire and was the subject of a series of bylaw infractions by its owners is now up for sale for $20 million.

The building at 414 E. 10th Ave., in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood,was demolished in August after a fire earlier that month and just over a year after a blaze displaceddozens of residents there.

The building's assessed value by B.C. Assessment as of last year was about $8 million, but the sale listing lauds the site's redevelopment potential under the city's Broadway Plan.

Over the next three decades, Vancouver hopes to add new housing and amenities around the expanded SkyTrain line underneath Broadway in parts of theKitsilano, Fairviewand Mount Pleasant neighbourhoods.

The property is designated for rezoning for towers up to 20 storeys either as rental apartments or condos, according to the listing.

The site's owners, husband and wife Fu Ren and Feng Yan, are currently in court in relation to allegations they failed to protect the building against the risk of another fire after the July 2023 blaze, which displaced about 70 people and sent five people to hospital.

They declined to comment on the sale of the lot when asked by CBC News on Wednesday, deferring the matter to Goodman Commercial, which is marketing the property.

Mark Goodman, real estate broker and principal at Goodman Commercial, described the events that had plaguedthe property as a "nightmare" for the displaced tenants and the city.

"It's been an unfortunate process," he said in an interview with CBC News on Wednesday.

"A buyer stepping into this, a developer, is going to be focused on the land and they're not going to inherit any of the other issues that are going on."

Goodman said it's possible the displaced tenants could have the right to move into a new building on the lot at below-market rents.

In a statement to CBC News, the City of Vancouver said the Broadway Plan aims to minimize displacementand ensurerenters can stay in their neighbourhood affordably.

"The city may encourage developers to let tenants displaced by the fire return to new below-market or social housing units through rezoning," the city said.

It said the site's current zoning requires aone-for-one replacement of rental units if the site has hadunits rented within the preceding threeyears of a rezoning application.

Fire bylaw charges

The July 2023 fire was determined to have been accidentally started by candles, according to Vancouver Fire Rescue Services, which also found that fire codes were not being followed in the building.

In 2021, Ren had been taken to court over five fire bylaw charges pertaining to the building. He pleaded guilty and was fined $13,000, according to court records.

In 2023, the couple was charged with 20 separate counts under the fire bylaw, including failure to maintain the fire alarm/voice system and failure to inspect, test and maintain the fire protection system.

Ren pleadedguilty to six of those charges and fined $4,500.

WATCH | Owners face more legal woes:

Landlords to appear in court following building fires

3 months ago

Duration 1:52

The owners of a Mount Pleasant building that caught fire in early August are accused of failing to protect the building. This recent fire comes almost a year after flames gutted the building in an earlier blaze, forcing 70 people from their homes. As Yasmine Ghania reports, the owners are due in court later this month and are facing bylaw charges in connection with the earlier fire.

Ren and Yan are scheduled to appear in court in December over their current legal troubles.

They are facing bylaw charges of failing to provide 24-hour security patrol for "exterior Fire Watch" and failing to take precautions to "remove or reduce any hazard or risk of fire, explosion, or danger to life and property."

The charges arose from the July 2023 fire. None of the allegations have been proven in court.

Ren and Yan were also ordered to pay about $2.7 million to the family of a boy injured in a 2009 fire at their apartment building in Burnaby, B.C.

The boy, 10 at the time, suffered burns to 45 per cent of his body, according to court documents. The family's lawyer has confirmed to CBC News that Ren and Yan paid the money.