Aren't some condo units sitting empty for the same reason (one of the reasons) why new condos aren't selling like they used to? (everywhere, not just in Victoria) Because they used to be an affordable alternative but now they often tend to be too expensive to justify? And especially with how crazy the strata fees can be nowadays?

Call me an insightful SOB but methinks we could take many factors into account and make a credible case that there was a broad program to make condos less and less appealing as an option for home ownership.

Lest we forget, during the ~25 years when condo mania was in full swing there was a ton of ongoing political resentment against it. Politicians everywhere had mysteriously embraced the exact same self-evidently absurd premise, that 550 square feet of owner-occupied living space was a destructively ostentatious manner of living and therefore it should be resisted and/or maligned at every opportunity, because it had the potential to sully communities above and beyond every other possible concern. At its most absurd moments, the mission to make it difficult for ordinary working people to buy a centrally-located condo was seemingly a much higher priority than preventing vandalism, street crime and break-ins, drug dealing and addiction, etc.

I'm not joking. For maybe 10 or 15 years there at the height of it you could have based a political career on nothing but smearing and resisting condo projects.

Anyway, it's really quite a crazy thing that this property, the grounds around Bank Street school, and the spare property at Oak Bay United church remain empty in the year 2026.

"There's no available land!"

"Desirable neighbourhoods are completely built out!"

"We need to tear down houses ASAP!"

And so forth.

I'm not joking. For maybe 10 or 15 years there at the height of it you could have based a political career on nothing but smearing and resisting condo projects.

Yes, indeed. They were also called luxury condos for a good while.

Anyway, it's really quite a crazy thing that this property, the grounds around Bank Street school, and the spare property at Oak Bay United church remain empty in the year 2026.

"There's no available land!"

"Desirable neighbourhoods are completely built out!"

"We need to tear down houses ASAP!"

And so forth.

Yes, exactly.