Vancouver renters find a new home through co-ownership

Long-time renters Caroline Pippy and Ceilidh Munroe may have finally found a foothold on Vancouver’s onerous property ladder. The couple has lived in an iconic Vancouver building in the inner-city neighbourhood of Strathcona above the Wilder Snail café, at 795 Keefer St. where it meets Hawks Street.

The building, formally known as the Angiolina Court, includes seven apartments and four units in side-by-side duplexes fronting on Hawks Street built in 1910. The corner café has, for many years, served as a community hub in a neighbourhood that is more like a village. Now, the couple has the opportunity to buy into the complex, as part of a group of buyers who’ve made an offer, subject to financing, through a collective ownership model.