Displaced tenants call for work to stop at UBC construction site

Displaced residents of a subsidized housing complex in Kelowna, B.C, are calling on the city to issue a stop-work order on the University of British Columbia-Okanagan (UBCO) downtown campus construction project after they were forced to evacuate.

Eighty-four residents of the Hadgraft Wilson Place building were ordered by Kelowna's fire chief to leave their homes due to safety risks in their building last week.

"It has been very difficult, everybody is nervous. There is tension," said resident Monique Saebels, who shares an apartment on the fifth floor with her 89-year-old mother.

The apartment building, which houses people on low incomes and includes residents with physical and mental disabilities, is just metres away from a construction site where developer UBC Properties Trust has excavated an entire city block, several stories down to build a four-level underground parkade for UBCO's $263-million Downtown Kelowna project.

The excavation is the largest in the history of Kelowna, according to the city, and in recent months the project's impacts on neighbouring buildings have become apparent.

There are several visible cracks on the inside and outside of the Hadgraft Wilson Place building which started to appear soon after the construction project began last November, according to residents.

There are cracks on the inside and outside walls of the subsidized housing apartment complex that is less than one year old. (Brady Strachan/CBC)

UBC Properties Trust, a private corporation owned by UBC, has not responded to questions by CBC News about the project.  A spokesperson for UBCO said work on the site will resume this week, subject to the city's approval.

'Serious structural damage'

B.C. Housing said recent geotechnical and structural engineering reports showed a shoring wall at the university site is unstable, and a slip "could cause serious structural damage" to the apartment building.

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Ground shifting has also caused damage to other nearby buildings, according to the city, including the Okanagan coLab and the Kelowna Royal Canadian Legion Branch.

The UBC Properties Trust construction site is just metres away from a subsidized housing apartment complex, which has now been evacuated because of safety concerns in the building. (Brady Strachan/CBC)

Last week Pathways Abilities Society, which operates the apartment building, moved residents into three hotels in Kelowna. On Friday it informed tenants the evacuation order was extended at least two weeks.

"Everybody is anxious," Saebels said. "We try to be positive and support each other."

The apartment building is less than one year old. Saebels said she and other tenants are worried they won't be allowed back home.

She wishes the city would put a stop to work at the construction site so that repairs can be made to the apartment building, making it safe for residents to return.

"I just find it really hard to stomach that they can continue building," she said.

LISTEN | Hadgraft Wilson Place resident calls on UBC to halt construction

Pathways Ability Society had been notifying UBC Properties Trust for months about the damage, according to executive director Charisse Daley.

"We hoped they would take some responsibility for the damage being done to the building and it is not being clarified that they are," she said.

Daley agrees that it's time for the city to step in.

"I'd like to see the construction stopped at the site," she said.

"Full stop. Let's get our building sorted out and then let's move forward."

Work resuming this week 

The city of Kelowna said in an email that work on the UBCO site was "voluntarily stopped" a number of times, but would resume this week.

"This is the first of many stages which will have to be taken to help stabilize things before moving forward on the project," a city spokesperson wrote.

UBC Properties Trust has not spoken publicly about the impacts the construction site is having on neighbouring buildings.

CBC News has sent multiple emails and made phone calls to the company, none of which have been returned.

The company is actively promoting the project on its website, and recently posted about the scope of the developement and the expected impact it will have on the area.

"UBCO Downtown will be an iconic landmark and innovation hub, breathing new life into the growing tech and culture districts of Kelowna, and enriching the future of the region for years to come," the website reads.

None of the posts on the website mention the challenges the company is having with ground shifting in the area or the impacts to neighbouring buildings.

According to a Facebook post, the Okanagan coLab building had to be evacuated for safety concerns and following damages, including a crack in the exterior wall, from ground settling as a result of nearby construction. (Ponderosa Education Community/Facebook)

A spokesperson for UBCO told CBC News the university is handling communications for UBC Properties Trust.

Spokesperson Patty Wellborn said starting Tuesday, UBC Properties Trust would begin work to raise the excavation depth by spreading gravel throughout the site over the next two weeks.

"We are advised by professional engineers that the shoring wall remains stable and that raising the excavation depth will also mitigate future soil settlement on adjacent land, including Hadgraft Wilson Place," Wellborn wrote in an emailed statement.

"The project team continues to remain in contact with [Hadgraft Wilson Place], Pathways and the City of Kelowna regarding construction activities."

The university and development company have a lot of work to do in repairing relations with their neighbours, according to Saebels.

"Care about our building and please reach out and help us.  We need to know that they care and one day we can all go back to our home."