Lord Stanley

I found Lord Stanley. It has always been a quest for me to find it. Lord Stanley is the building which mom and aunt bought an unit, back in 1996 or so. It was supposed to be ready by end of 1997 and the plan was that I could live there in 1998 - my last year at SFU.

Unfortunately due to the Asian financial crisis back in 1997, it seemed like work has stopped on Lord Stanley. At that time, there were lots of construction going on along West Georgia. So when mom asked me to take a look at the progress, I only saw a hole covered by tarps and nothing going on while the other buildings were being constructed.

So mom and aunt decided to give up the unit, especially since the developer in Hong Kong was asking for another payment. I guessed you never know the risk. Whether it will really be built or not. So many companies went under then. Even when I left in late 1998, we drove past West Georgia, and it still was not being built. A friend, Ken (or rather his mom), has an apartment along West Georgia too, just a block away from Lord Stanley and so that was where we (the viva-gang) stayed on my last night so that they can take me to the airport.

So whatever happened, I do not know the details if the original developers really build it or it was sold to someone else during the crisis, but reading the website, it has become a boutique hotel and service apartment. It was originally supposed to be a service apartment, with concierge services and security. And the developer was to rent out the unit for the owners if they are not staying there.

So if mom and aunt had held on to the unit, they would have gained much as property prices have gone up so much over in Vancouver. And it will likely to keep climbing until after the Winter Olympics is over. But whatever it is, one can never foretell the future, plus with the crisis, I am not sure how badly they were hit by the stock market too. It might have been tough to keep coughing up the payment with no one to monitor the progress.

A pity but c'est la vie. Otherwise, I could be living in Lord Stanley, right in downtown area instead of this ulu Burnaby Mountain where having a car is so much more convenient.