Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Olympic Village: Vancouver's White Elephant

Commentary

According to the CTV news report, the Olympic Village will cost 875 million dollars at $1200 per square foot.

If this is accurate, then something is terribly wrong with the contracting process, as wrong as the Pentagon paying $50 for a hammer, and $1000 for a toilet. Somebody is ripping off the taxpayers, and a complete audit is needed to find out where all the money has gone.

Most private condominiums cost less than $200 per square foot to build and sells retail for less than $500 per square foot. Any unit that costs more than $500 per square foot is considered luxury.

Montreal had its monumental Olympic Stadium, which we all know in hindsight was a mistake, but at least it was due to architectural and engineering mis-calculations while producing a work of art, where every concrete pillar was unique and a work of art. What is the reason for the ridiculous pricing for this gargantuan white elephant?

According to the Vancouver Sun, the project will produce 1000 units - that's at a COST of $1,000,000 per unit (including the cost of the land). That's outrageous. Either the developer is stealing from the government, or someone is skimming a whole lot of money from the $875 million.

CTV News Report

Vancouver Sun article

Vancouver Sun: NDP requests Auditor General review of project

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