2528 and 2468 E Broadway

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What You Need to Know about this East Vancouver Condo Building

Have you recently seen listings for these two East Vancouver condo buildings on the market? At a surprisingly good price? One that seems too good to be true? Well unfortunately, that’s the case with this building, known to be a leaky, poorly managed building.

Both 2528 and 2468 E Broadway, along with a handful of other addresses (see below), make up a massive complex called “Gardenia Villa”. Built in 1994, this concrete building has 250 units in total. The building sits on E Broadway between Nanaimo and Penticton St in the Renfrew area of East Vancouver. The units have in suite laundry, larger floor plans (compared to many other 1, 2 and 3 bedrooms condo units) and balcony’s. The building offers underground parking, storage, gym, outdoor pool, hot tub, clubhouse, guest suite, bike storage and gardens.

With a 907sqft 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom unit recently for sale for $307,900 and another 1007sqft 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom unit recently for sale for $329,000 you might be thinking that you finally found a good deal in Vancouver. Unfortunately it is too good to be true. This complex needs to undergo a MAJOR exterior renewal to fix old and ongoing leaky condo problems. This major project will not only cost owners tens of thousands of dollars, but it will make mortgage financing unattainable for most Buyers. Though the project scope is still in the works, this exterior project will likely include a full envelope repair (i.e. a rainscreen) in addition to new balconies, windows and roof, potentially more (and potentially less depending on the scope). Thanks to this massive exterior project, the CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp) will not finance mortgage loans on the building, which means Buyers will need at least 50% down and enough cash to cover the special levy, which will be in the high tens of thousands of dollars, potentially over a hundred thousand dollars for a larger unit. Not only that, but you’ll have to live through the repair, which for a building this size, could be over a year long and should the building not complete the needed repairs, you’ll be the owner of a unit in a terrible building.

This is a major exterior project so it can take a few years to organize trades, scope and costs, but 10 years is a long time to be talking about this project. I imagine elements in the building have degraded further in that time which can increase the costs of the repair.

With 250 owners in the building, there is sure to be a number of units coming up for sale – both regular sales and court ordered sales – in the next few years, as the project gets underway. We’ll keep you posted on the status of this building, but for now, keep your eyes open to other possibilities as this is not a building I would suggest anyone buy into. In addition to this exterior problem, I have heard a few stories of the building being poorly managed and poorly maintained. Not only will it cost you to live in this building, but you’ll be risking a pleasant lifestyle to do so.

UPDATE: Judge orders Vancouver strata to impose $16 million levy to repair leaky condo problems. This problem was such an issue that the Strata was forced into the repair. That’s (on average) $64,000 per unit, which when done, likely doesn’t cover all of the issues.

The addresses included in this “Gardenia Villa” complex are:

  • 2468 E Broadway Ave
  • 2438 E Broadway Ave
  • 2428 E Broadway Ave
  • 2418 E Broadway Ave
  • 2588 E Broadway Ave
  • 2528 E Broadway Ave
  • 2533 Penticton
  • 2583 E 10th Ave
  • 2533 E 10th Ave
  • 2483 E 10th Ave

Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.