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The group building the UBC-Okanagan tower in downtown Kelowna, B.C., has legally responded to a civil claim that blames the construction project for structural damage and subsequent displacement of dozens of people.
In that response, UBC Properties Trust is not taking full responsibility.“It is like a slap in the face once again,” said Monique Saebels, a former Hadgraft-Wilson Place resident.It was March 2024 when cracks started to appear throughout the building, which was not even a year old.Several other buildings in the area reported similar damage, which occurred during the construction project’s excavation phase.“I was pretty surprised to read UBC Trust defence to our civil claim…the sheer lack of accountability,” said Megan Beckmann, who also lived in Hadgraft-Wilson Place. The response filed this week states, “UBC Defendants admit that some damage was experienced by Hadgraft-Wilson Place, the CoLab Building, and the Legion Building, but denies the nature and extent of damages alleged, and further denies that all such damage was caused by the excavation and construction activities on the Lands, and put the plaintiffs and putative class members to the strict proof thereof.”
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The UBC defendants went on to state that, “all material times they reasonably relied on the professionals and contractors they had retained to complete the excavation and construction activities safely on the Lands.“The UBC Defendants further deny that any other neighbouring buildings sustained any damage as alleged or at all.”“To not accept responsibility and to speak of your contractors…this is your building. This is your project and you are responsible to get appropriate contractors,” said Saebels.The response comes about nine months after affected residents filed a lawsuit claiming they suffered financial hardship and personal injury including depression, anxiety and stress.
UBC Properties did provide $12,000 per unit to help the displaced tenants secure new housing.“$12,000 does not go far in Kelowna,” Beckmann said. “That money went pretty quickly with moving costs, first month, last month rent. I feel within first couple months it was gone.”According to the two women, some of the residents are still struggling to find permanent places to live almost a year after being forced out of their homes.“We currently have one person at a women’s shelter. She has not been able to find appropriate housing, as well as a gentlemen in a wheelchair that cannot find accessible housing for himself as well,” Saebels said.March 31 will mark one year when the building was deemed unsafe to occupy and residents still don’t have any answers when or if they will ever be allowed back home.“I miss Hadgraft, my kids miss Hadgraft, it was comfortable, it felt like home,” Beckmann said. “It’s heartbreaking.”
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