Orchard House lessees were notified in November 2023 of four pending maintenance projects, which letter can be read here:
Because Westsea does not tell us what the per-suite cost of these things will be, either separately or added together, your Association of Orchard House Lessees does the job. Three of the projects are costed, but the main-floor water piping and drains are not, so we’ll ballpark $200,000 for that, adding up to $1,610,000 roughly estimated for all four projects.
Applying the three suite size percentages, the coming expenses for these four projects will be: studio suites $5,500; one-bedroom suites $7,300; and two-bedroom suites $10,200. The actual billings to us will be done as each of the projects is completed, but knowing your suite’s total allows you to work toward funding your share of all of this planned maintenance.
Not mentioned in the landlord’s letter, so perhaps still 10 or more years off, is modernization of the elevators. It could also be that as long as they function, and as long as building codes do not require that electronics replace original relay switches, these changes would be a prohibited upgrade, as opposed to maintenance. We’re good with that.
The numbers above are big, but not as big as what lessees incurred from 2010 through 2016. The second phase of exterior glazing replacement, re-roofing, re-decking the parking garage roof, etc., totaled $36,000 for studios, $47,000 for one-bedroom suites, and $66,600 for two-bedroom suites. Not to minimize our bills, but at some Westsea-owned developments, such as Surrey’s Sun Creek Estates, wood-frame building refurbishments are costing lessees well over $100,000 each, which has some of them considering bankruptcy.
OrchardHouseLeaseholder.ca 