Metro Vancouver Restaurant News thread

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by djh

I don't understand how we (as a city bureaucracy) didn't learn from the last time we went through this with the Canada Line in 2008-2010. The damage to businesses along the route was severe, those companies just died and never came back, and City Hall was lambasted for their lack of empathy and low-effort attempts to help.

You would have thought that somebody there would have written a report about how the debacle occurred - we all know how City Hall loves a nice long expensive consultant's report! - and therefore would have been better-prepared for the Millennium Line extension disruption. Apparently, little was learned, the same mistakes were repeated, and again, more small businesses will disappear.

It also seems like this time around there is way less media discussion and little public outrage is getting any momentum, unlike last time.

Hopefully, the businesses along the corridor will file a Class Action Lawsuit against the City, so that they are forced to implement definite procedures to help businesses affected by the disruption directly resultant of the City's acts. At the very minimum, they should expect massive tax cuts during construction, but ideally there should be a fund to compensate them for lost average sales, and/or a fund to equally cover their rent or leases. And/or the City should be forced to help disrupted companies to temporarily relocate - help them break their leases without consequences, or find them new locations, or whatever.

We need small businesses in the city, and watching them die due to city lack of caring is immoral.

The City and the Province should have learned.

You'd think that since Eby's riding runs to Arbutus he'd be a little more sympathetic to nearby businesses. Ditto Minister George Heyman. Will these locations benefit when it is completed? Sure, if they survive until then and/or their landlord doesn't jack up the rent or sell the building for redevelopment.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by djh

I don't understand how we (as a city bureaucracy) didn't learn from the last time we went through this with the Canada Line in 2008-2010. The damage to businesses along the route was severe, those companies just died and never came back, and City Hall was lambasted for their lack of empathy and low-effort attempts to help.

You would have thought that somebody there would have written a report about how the debacle occurred - we all know how City Hall loves a nice long expensive consultant's report! - and therefore would have been better-prepared for the Millennium Line extension disruption. Apparently, little was learned, the same mistakes were repeated, and again, more small businesses will disappear.

It also seems like this time around there is way less media discussion and little public outrage is getting any momentum, unlike last time.

Hopefully, the businesses along the corridor will file a Class Action Lawsuit against the City, so that they are forced to implement definite procedures to help businesses affected by the disruption directly resultant of the City's acts. At the very minimum, they should expect massive tax cuts during construction, but ideally there should be a fund to compensate them for lost average sales, and/or a fund to equally cover their rent or leases. And/or the City should be forced to help disrupted companies to temporarily relocate - help them break their leases without consequences, or find them new locations, or whatever.

We need small businesses in the city, and watching them die due to city lack of caring is immoral.

I don't think the City of Vancouver has any jurisdiction over what's being built along Broadway. It's a Provincial Government Project, on behalf of Translink.

Last time there was a class-action lawsuit over the similar situation due to the construction of the Cambie Line, (against the builders of the line, and TransLink) it was thrown out by the judge. Another case did generate some compensation, but "members of the class action couldn't sue for lost revenue. Instead, they could sue for lost value of the property in which they ran their businesses." So tenants coulodn't get anything - and that case was purely based on the choice of cut-and-cover, rather than tunneled construction, causing greater disruption over a longer period. That doesn't apply on Broadway, where they've managed to maintain access (albeit inconvenient for some businesses) throughout the construction.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Changing City

That doesn't apply on Broadway, where they've managed to maintain access (albeit inconvenient for some businesses) throughout the construction.

Are you saying that during Canada Line construction, there were some businesses that were totally inaccessible? I seriously doubt that.

It's clear that people are staying away from Broadway during construction.

[mcj]

Originally Posted by djh

I don't understand how we (as a city bureaucracy) didn't learn from the last time we went through this with the Canada Line in 2008-2010. The damage to businesses along the route was severe, those companies just died and never came back, and City Hall was lambasted for their lack of empathy and low-effort attempts to help.

You would have thought that somebody there would have written a report about how the debacle occurred - we all know how City Hall loves a nice long expensive consultant's report! - and therefore would have been better-prepared for the Millennium Line extension disruption. Apparently, little was learned, the same mistakes were repeated, and again, more small businesses will disappear.

It also seems like this time around there is way less media discussion and little public outrage is getting any momentum, unlike last time.

Hopefully, the businesses along the corridor will file a Class Action Lawsuit against the City, so that they are forced to implement definite procedures to help businesses affected by the disruption directly resultant of the City's acts. At the very minimum, they should expect massive tax cuts during construction, but ideally there should be a fund to compensate them for lost average sales, and/or a fund to equally cover their rent or leases. And/or the City should be forced to help disrupted companies to temporarily relocate - help them break their leases without consequences, or find them new locations, or whatever. There's 10 of them listed on Google Maps within the Broadway Plan area, we can afford to lose a couple.

We need small businesses in the city, and watching them die due to city lack of caring is immoral.

Seems like the fact people are glossing over in that article is that rent was being raised by 50% for that business location.

It would make sense to have a moratorium on rent increases prior to and during construction of a major project for all businesses. After all, once the project is completed the landowners will likely experience a massive increase in property value.

Also, the business in question here is a Subway location, it's not like it was some unique business that held any material community value. People go there only because it is convenient, and in this case there's another at 12th and Cambie only 3 short blocks away, and yet another a short distance after that, and yet another another short distance after that.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Are you saying that during Canada Line construction, there were some businesses that were totally inaccessible? I seriously doubt that.

It's clear that people are staying away from Broadway during construction.

No, I'm saying they didn't switch to cut and cover, which led to all of Cambie Street having extended periods of limited access. The places that are more difficult to access on Broadway are all near the station sites, not the full length of the street. It was the choice to inconvenience more of Cambie Street than was 'necessary' that the judge identified as the reason there could be compensation - and then only for lost rent by property owners, not for lost business.

[officedweller]

Sushi Aboard: Vancouver restaurant serves sushi "Kaitenzushi" style
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/sushi-aboard-vancouver-inside

Gotta post this bullet train pic:


https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/sushi-aboard-vancouver-inside

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by mcj

Seems like the fact people are glossing over in that article is that rent was being raised by 50% for that business location.

It would make sense to have a moratorium on rent increases prior to and during construction of a major project for all businesses. After all, once the project is completed the landowners will likely experience a massive increase in property value.

Also, the business in question here is a Subway location, it's not like it was some unique business that held any material community value. People go there only because it is convenient, and in this case there's another at 12th and Cambie only 3 short blocks away, and yet another a short distance after that, and yet another another short distance after that.

The original business in question was the Heritage Asian eatery, not the Subway. It also appears that the Korean restaurant that took the place of Joeys at Broadway and Granville was driven out of business by the disruption. Joeys was smart to get out.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by whatnext

The original business in question was the Heritage Asian eatery, not the Subway. It also appears that the Korean restaurant that took the place of Joeys at Broadway and Granville was driven out of business by the disruption. Joeys was smart to get out.

"The Korean restaurant" was actually Japanese, and doesn't seem to have been all that good, from the online reviews. Maybe having a station built in front of the building helped the restaurant's demise, but maybe it would have gone under anyway. The location was bought for redevelopment, so whatever was there wasn't going to be able to stay for ever, and possibly not for long. The business was for sale before it closed.

[logan5]

Originally Posted by Changing City

"The Korean restaurant" was actually Japanese, and doesn't seem to have been all that good, from the online reviews. Maybe having a station built in front of the building helped the restaurant's demise, but maybe it would have gone under anyway. The location was bought for redevelopment, so whatever was there wasn't going to be able to stay for ever, and possibly not for long. The business was for sale before it closed.

You seem to be arguing that the subway construction isn't affecting businesses.

For every business that goes under, there are probably 10 more businesses that hanging on by a thread.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by logan5

You seem to be arguing that the subway construction isn't affecting businesses.

For every business that goes under, there are probably 10 more businesses that hanging on by a thread.

Yeah it's bad. A lot worse than what was expected. Timelines gone to shit, the sewer project conveniently done at the same time exacerbating everything.

[madog222]

I don't see any justification for the project itself let alone the city to compensate businesses.
Should they be compensated any time the street parking is closed for street sweeping or sidewalks are closed for repairs?

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by logan5

You seem to be arguing that the subway construction isn't affecting businesses.

For every business that goes under, there are probably 10 more businesses that hanging on by a thread.

I'm arguing that the Broadway Line construction is generally affecting fewer businesses than the Cambie Line affected, and I'm explaining that it seems unlikely that any class action lawsuit would succeed, based on what I've read of the Cambie lawsuits that were brought (but I'm not a lawyer).

Businesses come and go along Broadway all the time - and while the construction may be the catalyst for some to close, there's no guarantee that any business that closes (like Subway) would have continued successfully. There are new businesses that have opened since construction started at Main and Broadway station area, for example.

At Cambie it's not just the construction that's affecting businesses - many City Hall staff are still working from home more than they're working in the office. To illustrate the turnover, the unit that Heritage were in was a Chronic Tacos five years ago, (and one franchisee closed and it reopened under another, so effectively two businesses), and a Pho restaurant 12 years ago.

That short stretch of the block with three businesses has definately been harder to access than other parts. I'm not against the idea of compensation for the few businesses adversely affected, but overall I think the builders have done a reasonable job of maintaining access, and I can't think of what else they could have done in terms of maintaining access and still safely digging a huge hole in front of the businesses.

[jollyburger]

Redevelopment of the area will cause more businesses to close down than anything to do with the actual construction.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Changing City

"The Korean restaurant" was actually Japanese, and doesn't seem to have been all that good, from the online reviews. Maybe having a station built in front of the building helped the restaurant's demise, but maybe it would have gone under anyway. The location was bought for redevelopment, so whatever was there wasn't going to be able to stay for ever, and possibly not for long. The business was for sale before it closed.

It was Japanese cuisine but Korean run.

Operating an independent business is difficult at the best of times as others have noted businesses come and go. However that doesn’t mean they should expect various levels of government to make it more difficult.

[WarrenC12]

Forgiving property taxes for the duration of the worst construction would be reasonable.

[theKB]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Forgiving property taxes for the duration of the worst construction would be reasonable.

Would the landlords actually pass that forgiveness on is the question.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by theKB

Would the landlords actually pass that forgiveness on is the question.

Don't tenants pay property taxes with the usual triple net lease?

[Klazu]

Is The Dolar Shop relocating from Station Square to the old Earls location on Kingsway? They have been renovating it for ages and now a sign has gone up. It cannot be a second location, as the current one is almost always empty. I wonder what will take its place?

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Is The Dolar Shop relocating from Station Square to the old Earls location on Kingsway? They have been renovating it for ages and now a sign has gone up. It cannot be a second location, as the current one is almost always empty. I wonder what will take its place?

A 1 minute google search...

The Dolar Shop is opening a second Burnaby location soon - Dec 2 2022

The Dolar Shop – which currently operates at 2-6078 Silver Drive in Burnaby and at 5300 No. 3 Road in Richmond – has shared that a new spot is in the works.

The chain revealed in a job posting shared on its Canada-specific Instagram page that the new location will be at 4361 Kingsway – remarkably close to the Silver Drive spot.

It didn’t share an exact opening date, nor did it remark on the close proximity to its existing location, but suggested that this new spot will be “opening soon.”

...

[Klazu]

Pretty spectacular failure for them having to relocate so quickly. I am really curious what will replace them at this prime location.