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FIRST READING: B.C. turned a $56 million hotel into a low-barrier shelter. It's now an unliveable biohazard

It's one of nine hotels purchased for $221 million subjected to similar fates

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FIRST READING: B.C. turned a $56 million hotel into a low-barrier shelter. It's now an unliveable biohazard Back to video

Just six years after B.C. spent $56.5 million transforming a Vancouver hotel into a low-barrier homeless shelter, it has been revealed as an unsalvageable biohazard.

Luugat is the name given to a former Howard Johnson in Vancouver that in 2020 was repurposed into a 110-room full-service homeless shelter.

Pets and even on-site drug use was welcome. In fact, there was a vending machine onsite dispensing free needles, crack pipes and other drug paraphernalia.

“Luugat primarily caters to low-income individuals and operates with round-the-clock staff, ensuring that residents receive comprehensive support and care at all times,” reads the shelter’s still-active website. Residents were also promised free meals, free housekeeping and “timely maintenance.”

Now, with the Luugat being evacuated after years of constant fires and floods, the interior has been described as an unliveable nightmare of collapsed ceilings and hoarded garage.

Last week, Global News obtained video showing one of the Luugat’s rooms stripped of furniture and piled with an estimated four feet of garbage, all of it soaked by an overflowing toilet. The video was shot by Allan Goodall, the owner of a nightclub on the........

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