Notorious former Vancouver SRO to house Road to Recovery patients, after Beedie purchase – BC [Video]

After sitting empty for more than two years, the more than century-old London Hotel on the edge of Vancouver’s Chinatown will soon be housing patients in St. Paul’s Hospital’s Road to Recovery program, Global News has learned.

Members of the local business community said they are hopeful the new tenants will be a good fit for the neighbourhood.

“I’m feeling optimistic,” Vancouver Chinatown BIA president Jordan Eng said in an interview Friday.

In January 2023, Vancouver city council approved a $720,000 grant to the notorious SRO’s operator, Atira Women’s Resource Society, for renovations to the 71 rooms at 208 East Georgia Street.

The City of Vancouver said the grant was never disbursed to Atira as its conditions were not met. The non-profit is no longer the operator of the former London Hotel it said, and Atira’s previous tenants were relocated to other permanent housing.

Atira confirmed to Global News that renovation work was done, but its …