As Vancouver unveils Granville strip revitalization plans, businesses struggle
Proposal includes car-free spaces, higher density, indoor and outdoor entertainment
A storefront is boarded up beside Dave Kershaw's Cabana Lounge on Vancouver's Granville Street. Across the road, posters are plastered on the front of what was once a Wings restaurant.
Kershaw, who has been running nightclubs on Granville since 1996, calls it a symptom of the times for all businesses on the historic street.
"It's incredibly slow," said Kershaw. "It was the worst December of all time, and now the worst January of all time."
Kershaw attributes the decline to cost of living challenges, street disorder and rising business costs.
"Downtown businesses need help now," he added.
For the past two years, the City of Vancouver has been working toward a Granville Street revitalization effort. On Wednesday, the planning team unveiled its proposed vision for a renewed Granville entertainment district. According to its report, the street will be transformed into "a welcoming, safe, diverse and vibrant entertainment district."
Highlights of the 20-year plan include increased building heights and density, improved use of public space and expanding hotel and commercial space where possible.
"We want to see new investment in the area," said Thomas Daley, lead planner for the Granville Planning Program. "The goal of the project itself is to bring new vitality and excitement back to Granville Street and essentially re-establish it as the cultural and entertainment hub in the downtown."
20-year plan
The proposed plan focuses on three different sub-areas: City Centre, Entertainment Core and Bridgehead.
City Centre stretches between Georgia and Smithe streets, with the goal fo transforming it into "a vibrant civic, retail, and commercial hub." The plan proposes improved SkyTrain access at the site, increasing building height density, and integrating video screens and public art into buildings.
Entertainment Core runs between Smithe and Davie streets, which is where most bars, restaurants and theatres currently operate. According to the report, development guidelines will encourage indoor and outdoor entertainment spaces, along with neon signs and marquees. The city would designate more space for patios.
At Bridgehead, from Davie street to the Granville Street Bridge, there would be mixed-use developments, including residential, commercial and social buildings with "high qualty" designs to contribute to the "eclectic architectural character" of the street.
The plan includes a long-term vision for a year-round pedestrian zone along Granville Street that spans the downtown peninsula from Granville Bridge to Waterfront Station.
The report says work on the 20-year plan would begin as early as this summer with improvements to public spaces and expanded patios for businesses.
Help needed now
The city is currently urging the public to share feedback until Feb. 23, but it has already drawn criticism.
In a statement earlier this week, transit advocacy group Movement Vancouver said taking away buses from Granville Street would pose barrier to riders, who would instead have to use stops at Howe and Seymour streets. The group says those stops have narrower sidewalks and are poorly lit.
Meanwhile, Kershaw said business owners on the street weren't aware of the plan's release and had little say in it.
"We were all kind of shocked," he said.
Kershaw said businesses have long been advocating for urgent solutions, including an overnight SkyTrain service and clamping down on street crime.
"We really need the city and the province to step up — get that transit solution, a late night SkyTrain, clean up the open drug use and turn Granville into what it's meant to be, which is an entertainment zone," said Kershaw.
"We need something before 10 years though, otherwise there won't be any bars left."
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