By Nono Shen
So, when he observed an official BC Evaluation valuation of about $6.4 million on the location of a former heritage resort in downtown Vancouver — a few third of its true worth for tax functions, by Geller’s reckoning — he felt he needed to act.
“The purpose is all of us undergo life, and after we see issues that aren’t honest, some individuals say: ‘Oh, I’m not going to get entangled.’ I often get entangled after I don’t suppose one thing’s honest, in order that’s why I did it,” mentioned Geller.
His third-party enchantment in opposition to the valuation of the location at 500 Dunsmuir Avenue, owned by developer Holborn Properties Ltd., yielded settlement from B.C.’s property evaluation overview panel, which elevated the valuation to $18.9 million, in step with Geller’s estimate.
He mentioned which means property taxes on the location of about 12,000 sq. toes will enhance by not less than $130,000 for Holborn.
“I used to be happy,” mentioned Geller upon seeing the brand new valuation. “We obtained some satisfaction.”
Observers of Metro Vancouver’s actual property scene say the location of the 115-year-old Dunsmuir Resort, which was demolished in January after falling into what the town referred to as “extreme structural deterioration,” is way from distinctive.
Retired appraiser Derek Holloway mentioned B.C. may very well be shedding a whole bunch of tens of millions in property taxes on account of underassessment, whereas retired Burnaby metropolis planner Robert Renger mentioned municipalities appear to take little curiosity fixing underassessments that may be obscured by loopholes.
They are saying the usage of firm possession adjustments to dodge property switch taxes make it troublesome for BC Evaluation to do its job, and the company must be strengthened to provide appraisers energy to compel house owners to answer requests for info.
Geller mentioned he appealed to the overview panel in February after noticing the “ridiculously low” valuation of $6,375,000, which labored out to a few third of the per-square-foot valuations of 5 surrounding properties.
As an illustration, Geller wrote in his enchantment, the land at 570 Dunsmuir Avenue subsequent door had been assessed at $1,572 per sq. foot, in comparison with about $540 per sq. foot at Holborn’s website.
He mentioned he was significantly aggrieved by the therapy of the resort by Holborn main as much as its demolition, “after which they obtained rewarded by getting a decrease evaluation.”
The agency has additionally been criticized for years over the sluggish tempo of growth at its Little Mountain website in Vancouver that it purchased off the provincial authorities in 2008, a sale that resulted within the displacement of a whole bunch of residents from social housing.
“So, I appealed it,” mentioned Geller.
Holborn mentioned in an announcement that it obtained the reassessment and its precedence for the location was working with the town on a redevelopment to ship housing, “activate the road” and contribute to downtown Vancouver’s financial revitalization.
Holloway, who was an appraiser with BC Evaluation for 28 years, mentioned he had recognized a whole bunch of under-assessed properties lately, calling them “the tip of the iceberg.”
As an illustration, Holloway pointed to 2 websites on the 4400 block of Kingsway in Burnaby, offered for $145 million in 2022. However their assessed values have by no means come near that, peaking at $69.7 million in 2024.
In 2025, they have been assessed at $58.2 million.
Then there’s the 14-acre former Oakridge Transit Centre on West forty first Avenue in Vancouver, which transit supplier TransLink offered for $440 million in 2016. Holloway mentioned its evaluation has by no means neared the gross sales value, and BC Evaluation presently has it valued at $271.1 million.
The location was resold to developer Grosvenor, which says it plans to construct 1,630 properties there.
Holloway mentioned he suspected BC Evaluation had by no means seen a replica of both gross sales settlement.
He mentioned BC Evaluation usually accepts the property proprietor’s place when assessing such websites as a result of the company is afraid to train its “very restricted energy” inside the Evaluation Act, and it lacks dependable market info.
“They’ve very restricted experience for the valuation of enormous, subtle properties, and at last and most significantly, their different buyer, the taxing jurisdiction is just not . They will all the time say that they have been simply counting on BC Evaluation, (and say) it’s their fault, not ours” mentioned Holloway.
‘That’s how medians and averages work’
BC Evaluation mentioned in an e-mail that it could possibly’t touch upon any particular person case.
However Bryan Murao, the Crown company’s assessor for residential Decrease Mainland, mentioned in an interview that it’s straightforward for critics to choose gross sales that exceed assessed worth. Others may level to gross sales under evaluation.
“I imply, that’s how medians and averages work,” mentioned Murao, “I feel it’s been handy for individuals to go and decide the gross sales they wish to attempt to show one thing that they’re attempting to show.”
He mentioned an assessor seems into each single sale that comes via, though he was conscious of practices wherein business properties are traded with out precise title transfers.
“We do our greatest to attempt to discover each single kind of sale that happens available in the market, and to have the ability to embrace that in our evaluation that we use to find out how a lot properties are value.”
The authorized switch of properties by use of firm possession is a effectively established technique to keep away from the property switch tax that’s incurred when title adjustments palms. The change of helpful possession is as an alternative achieved by promoting an organization that owns a website, so title doesn’t really change.
Renger, a retired senior growth planner for the Metropolis of Burnaby, B.C., applauded Geller’s intervention within the Dunsmuir case, calling him “a hero.”
However he mentioned he was disillusioned the Metropolis of Vancouver didn’t achieve this first.
“They don’t seem to be attempting to guard the little man,” mentioned Renger, “Mainly, they might have performed the enchantment that Michael did.”
He mentioned many gross sales in B.C. contain naked belief corporations, wherein authorized possession of a website is separate from true helpful possession, making it harder for authorities to hint data.
When it comes time to promote the property, the naked belief firm is offered to the brand new proprietor, with out triggering any property switch tax since there isn’t a change in title.
“It makes it a bit more durable for individuals, each the general public and BC Evaluation, to trace gross sales which might be occurring as a result of they’re not well-documented,” mentioned Renger.
Holloway agreed, pointing to reveal trusts and deferred sale completion dates as methods to maintain BC Evaluation “at nighttime.”
He mentioned sections of the Evaluation Act have been “toothless,” permitting some property house owners to disregard BC Evaluation requests for info with out penalty or severe penalties.
Holloway mentioned his personal critiques have revealed “a whole bunch of under-assessed properties” and extrapolating this throughout B.C. may imply “a whole bunch of tens of millions of misplaced property taxes.”
The Ministry of Finance mentioned in an announcement that it’s necessary that business property house owners pay their fair proportion, and the province “intently follows stories of under-assessed properties.”
It mentioned the ministry additionally audits property switch tax funds, which helps guarantee transparency from business property house owners.
The Metropolis of Vancouver mentioned it “respects and depends” on BC Evaluation’s experience in property evaluation, and the town usually doesn’t provoke appeals or apply for intervener standing until they pose “vital precedent-setting implications.”
Geller mentioned large builders are often armed with skilled consultants to enchantment to BC Evaluation and its “comparatively small quantity” of execs, placing the assessor in a “David and Goliath” scenario.
He mentioned that if business assessments are too low, the burden of tax paying could be shifted to the residential property house owners.
“And that’s why I did go round to my buddies and mentioned: because of this enchantment, I’ll have knocked a few cents off your property taxes,” mentioned Geller.
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Final modified: June 12, 2025
