The site of the former Hudson House is back up for sale, sparking questions about when new housing will go up where one of the town's most affordable places to live used to stand.Realtor Roger Dhir said the owners, Davoud Mir-Taheri and Mohammad Shidfar of West Vancouver, are assessing the changing market rather than moving ahead with their original plans, which included 57 residential units and a $44,800 contribution to the district's affordable housing fund."The market is kind of stagnant right now. They are thinking of waiting and sort of sitting on the project," Dhir said. "Nothing's been moving so we'll wait."A development permit had to be approved for the demolition to take place. The building's 2007 closing put an end to approximately 40 apartments, leaving a hole in the town's affordable rental market and pushing many local residents out of the last apartment they could afford in town.The idea of the development falling through after such an ordeal has not sat well with some community members."I'm more upset that they forced all those people out. Some of them ended up homeless," said Mini Flea employee Lyndia Denner. "Council should have made sure they had the money to build on that site."Planning director Cameron Chalmers said anyone who buys the property would be bound to follow the development permit approved in 2007. However, with a two-year life span of validity, the permit would expire next year.The permit could be amended or another one could be submitted, which might skip residential units altogether."Future developers would develop in accordance with the policies in place and prevailing market conditions at the time," said Chalmers. "As an area identified for mixed use, the project could include a residential component on the upper storeys, but that is not a requirement."According to the original development permit, half the affordable housing contribution, $22,400, was contributed when the permit was issued.While the rest of this sum sits in limbo, Denner is not holding her breath that any of the money will help the people she saw displaced.Council is yet to determine how money in the affordable housing fund will be spent. Furthermore, draft polices have tended to support affordable housing ownership rather than rentals - -an approach Denner objects to."It just seems unfair that they tear all the affordable rentals down then pay for affordable buyers," she said. "Council should be thinking of the people who have to work and live in Squamish."
