Low assessment of Concord Pacific lands remains unchanged

If you own a piece of property in the city, you likely received your assessment notice in the past couple of weeks.

That means developer Concord Pacific learned how much its nine-acre chunk of asphalt between Carrall Street and the Telus World of Science parking lot is worth.

As faithful readers will recall, I wrote about this property in a series of articles in April and May of 2010. What prompted me to write the stories was the seemingly low assessed value of the land, which was $400,000 last year.

This year, it’s valued at $400,000 again.

Previously, the property was assessed at $192,000-a value that dates back to 2001 and included an additional three acres of land until Concord subdivided its properties in the neighbourhood in 2009, according to assessment office records.

The value has translated to several years of low tax bills on the land, including a $4,347.43 tab in 2009. Twenty years ago, Concord struck a deal with the provincial government and the city to build a park on the property.

The deal was part of Concord’s plans to develop the former Expo lands from the north end of the Granville Bridge to the Telus World of Science. The park site has remained idle, except for a variety of events hosted on the property, including the Molson Indy, the Cirque du Soleil and Olympic pavilions, including the Maison du Quebec, which paid Concord $1.3 million to use the site.

Citing privacy concerns with Concord, the assessment office has declined to fully explain the reason for setting the value of the property at $400,000. But, as a deputy assessor told me when I wrote my stories, it has nothing to do with the contaminated soil on the site.

Last year, I asked city officials, including Mayor Gregor Robertson, whether the city would appeal the assessment. After all, the future Trillium park site on Malkin Avenue was assessed at $18.5 million last year.

The reply then was, no.

This year’s reply?

“The city’s position has not changed; there are no plans to appeal the assessment,” said city spokesperson Wendy Stewart in an email to the Courier.

Stewart didn’t elaborate, so I can only guess it’s because the city trusts the assessment office to properly assess values in the city. That’s basically what I heard from politicians and some officials last year.

But what about the park? When will it be built?

Here’s Stewart, again.

“In the spring of last year, a neighbourhood and stakeholder process began to look at options for the park site. That work continues. In the coming weeks and months, a broader public process will begin. In the meantime, an update on the park project will be provided to council in the coming weeks as part of a larger report on northeast False Creek.”

Concord wants to reconfigure the park site so it can build three highrises that would back up against the Georgia viaduct. If approved by city council, Concord would give up some of its waterfront property to accommodate a longer, narrower park.

Park board commissioners are on record opposing the idea, preferring a wider, deeper park site.

mhowell@vancourier.com

Twitter:@Howellings