Prices for condos at Vancouver's former Olympic Village are set to be slashed by 30 per cent, according to a receiver's report, but the city's taxpayers still stand to lose hundreds of millions of dollars.
Ernst & Young has submitted its report on the former athlete's village, and 230 of the 474 units in the newly branded "Village on False Creek" will hit the market later this month with lower prices.
"It's an average of a 30-per-cent discount. We're priced extremely competitive with the market, and it's going to be a very orderly sale," marketer Bob Rennie told reporters Thursday.
"The pricing was wrong. The 30 per cent brings it in line with where the market is, and then we start selling."
The first phase of sales will begin on Feb. 26, with 59 condominiums listed under $500,000, 61 between $500,000 and $750,000, and 51 between $750,000 and $1 million. Only 59 units are priced at more than $1 million.
But 244 units are being held back. Half will be offered for rent and the other half -- all high-end units -- won't be listed until sales start to pick up steam.
Even if all of the 230 units for sale in the first phase find buyers, the city stands to make back just $200 million of the $740-million debt on the development.
Developer Michael Geller says the city stands to lose about $150 million from the development, and Tsur Somerville of the UBC Sauder School of Business told CTV News that losses could be even higher.
"I think the likely scenario is that the $170 million that we're owed on the land, we're not getting and so the taxpayers lose $170 million," he said.
But Mayor Gregor Robertson says it's too early to estimate returns on the new marketing strategy.
"As to whether we'll get it all back, it remains to be seen. It depends on the market and it will be a real challenge," he said.
"The important thing is to see some sales and some activity and people moving in."
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Shannon Paterson
