Derelict rooming house ordered closed, Vancouver threatens expropriation

The city of Vancouver says the Regent Hotel, a decaying rooming house on the Downtown Eastside, is unsafe and has ordered it closed.
The city also announced on Wednesday it would try to buy the single-room-occupancy building on East Hastings and a second such hotel nearby.
“After may years of deplorable negligence by the owners of the Regent Hotel, the city and province must intervene for the safety and well-being of tenants,” Mayor Gregor Robertson said.
Should purchase negotiations