‘Not good enough’: Downtown Van calls for action on Granville Street - BERITAJA

The non-profit statement representing 8,000 business and spot owners successful Vancouver’s downtown core, said it’s captious authorities addresses the challenges facing the city’s intermezo district.

“Downtowns matter and they are perfectly worthy fighting for,” Downtown Van CEO Jane Talbot told BERITAJA pursuing the merchandise of the 2026 State of Downtown report.

While Granville Street’s vacancy complaint dropped to 24.9 per cent successful January aft hitting 29.4 per cent successful 2025, it’s still higher than mean and about 1 successful 4 storefronts stay empty, according to Downtown Van.

The Business Improvement Association (BIA) information besides shows that connected average, 50 per cent of each work calls for its Downtown Vancouver Community Safety Team hap connected Granville Street.

Calls accrued crossed each class past year, pinch unfastened supplier usage up 33 per cent and use checks rising by 26 per cent.

“Granville Street is the bosom of our 90-block territory and until we meaningfully reside the challenges the thoroughfare is facing, our full territory and, I would argue, our full downtown halfway cannot recognize its afloat potential,” Talbot said successful an interview.

Talbot is optimistic the ‘Granville Street Pedestrian Zone’ during the FIFA World Cup will bring renewed power to the corridor while supporting businesses that person worked difficult to enactment resilient done respective challenging years.

Between June 11 and July 20, the intermezo territory betwixt Georgia and Davie Streets will beryllium closed to conveyance traffic.

When BERITAJA visited Granville Street Tuesday, respective group could beryllium seen smoking narcotics arsenic VPD officers walked the beat, stopping to speak pinch immoderate individuals extracurricular 1 of three problematic provincially-owned single-room occupancy (SRO) buildings.

“Right now, it’s fine,” said Rishab Chaudhary of Venom Convenience Store. “There utilized to beryllium a batch (of thoroughfare disorder), but now the cops, they are taking attraction of it.”

In June 2025, Vancouver politician Ken Sim announced the state was readying to modulation the supportive lodging units in the 110-room Luugat aliases erstwhile Howard Johnson hotel, the 93-room St. Helen’s SRO astatine 1161 Granville Street and the 77-room Granville Villa astatine 1025 Granville Street – retired of the city’s intermezo district.

The state is moving pinch BC Housing to relocate all Luugat tenants and adjacent the SRO at 1176 Granville Street by the extremity of June, the BC Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs confirmed Tuesday.

“They gave america a caller place,” Luugat resident Kyle Vipond told BERITAJA. “They told america we’d beryllium moving like, a week agone and they told america coming (Tuesday) there’d beryllium movers.”

Vipond past said his woman became sick and was admitted to hospital.

“The mould and everything successful this building, it’s conscionable a horrible spot to live,” Vipond said of the Luugat.

The erstwhile Granville Strip edifice has seen thousands of constabulary and occurrence calls and been the taxable of galore thoroughfare upset complaints since the state purchased it for $55 cardinal successful June 2020 and transformed it into supportive lodging during COVID-19.

“Just stepping done the halls makes you sick,” Vipond told BERITAJA.

“We person to make judge the group who request the attraction are receiving it,” Talbot said.

While the state said 30 tenants person moved retired of the Luugat arsenic of April 7, 50 others remain.

It’s still unclear erstwhile residents of Granville Villa and the St. Helen’s Hotel will beryllium relocated to subsidized and supportive lodging extracurricular of the Granville Entertainment District (GED).

“That’s not bully enough, we request a timeline for each three,” Talbot told BERITAJA.

B.C.’s Housing Minister was unavailable for an question and reply earlier this week.

In a statement, Christine Boyle’s ministry said, “We don’t have a timeline for when supportive lodging operations will come to an end at St. Helens or Granville Villa, but will supply an update erstwhile timelines are established”.

The BC Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs said the province, BC Housing and the City of Vancouver are moving together arsenic portion of a broader statement that will switch the 3 SRO sites pinch about 280 self-contained units extracurricular of the GED.

“I understand these things return time, but we request urgency connected the thoroughfare and connection from the state connected this issue,” Talbot said successful an interview.

When asked if the downtown halfway is fresh for the FIFA World Cup successful position of the two-kilometre “beautification zone” aliases Controlled Area about BC Place stadium that is required nether the big metropolis agreement, Talbot said she understands location are nary plans to displace immoderate unhoused aliases susceptible people.

“We’ve asked that mobility and we person been told that the thoroughfare will not beryllium changing – it’s an inclusive arena and everyone is welcome,” Talbot told BERITAJA. “And that’s the attack that we’re taking for the 39-day pedestrianization of the street, everyone is welcome.”