Almost-owners of troubled West Kelowna condo project get their deposits back

WEST KELOWNA – Investors in an almost-completed West Kelowna condo project that has run afoul of city building inspectors have began receiving their deposits back from the developer.

However, one would-be home owner who asked his name not be used to avoid legal repercussions, said many of the people who bought into the Gellatly Place project as long as three years ago would prefer to see the project completed rather than get their money back and are contemplating a class action lawsuit.

“Lots of them are pissed off. They would rather see it through,” he said. “They bought in three years ago when prices were much lower. Now the market has gone through the roof.”

There’s not much chance of that without serious remediation to the 33-unit project, according to a report from the City of West Kelowna.

It lists numerous B.C. Building Code deficiencies in the project caused by developer Stewart Smith ignoring requirements for a series of inspections during construction.

These include deficencies to a firewall and problems with water flowing through unsealed holes in a mechanical room, amongst others.

A stop work order was placed on the project last August and in November, 2017, West Kelowna placed a notice on the land title of the property advising would be owners of the deficencies.

The city has also recently been given a court injunction against Smith who they say has continued to defy the stop work order issued last summer.

City of West Kelowna communications supervisor Kirsten Jones said staff would not be commenting further while legal action is pending.

"There is a notice on title and process underway to seek compliance from the building's owner with respect to the building code,” Jones said in an emailed statement. "At all times, the city's interest is in protecting the safety of the future owners of the residences."

The unnamed source said he and other owners have been largely kept in the dark about the project by the developer and have been given conflicting information about closing sale dates.

He said some had already sold their homes in other places, forcing them to live in short-term rental housing while waiting for their units to be completed.

But those getting their deposits returned will lose out on any extras or upgrades they might have paid for before construction.

“That’s not covered by the deposit and there’s no recourse to get it back,” he said.

It’s not clear how many prospective buyers wil receive their deposits back which ranged from approximately $17,000 to $50,000.

Some of the units in Gellatly Place were most recently listed at $459,000, up from the original list prices in the mid-$300,000 range when the project first began taking deposits.

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