The Vancouver Business Thread

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Amazon copies Tsawwassen Mills in bid to attract employees from Surrey

By Sandor Gyarmati, Delta Optimist | September 5, 2019

Now hiring for its new fulfillment centre at the Tsawwassen First Nation, Amazon is taking a page from neighbouring Tsawwassen Mills and offering prospective employees a shuttle service from Surrey.

Amazon several weeks ago began the hiring process for 800 full-time, permanent jobs to help pick, pack and ship customer orders at the centre set to open later this year.

...

https://biv.com/article/2019/09/amazon-copies-tsawwassen-mills-bid-attract-employees-surrey

Amazon must be having a hard time attracting employees to an out-of the-way location, I hear radio ads that they're offering a $1,500 signing bonus and $19/hr for these jobs. I'm surprised they didn't do more research into the local job market.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Amazon must be having a hard time attracting employees to an out-of the-way location, I hear radio ads that they're offering a $1,500 signing bonus and $19/hr for these jobs. I'm surprised they didn't do more research into the local job market.

Same thing as how the mall is ferrying workers from King George Station to work there. Maybe they should join hands with the Mills mall to bring everyone to work in the neighbourhood via a regional bus shuttle service. It's more efficient that way.

[whatnext]

Pretty generous settlement for the striking hotel workers but given the skyrocketing cost of housing in Metro Vancouver not unreasonable.

About 1,500 striking workers at the Hyatt Regency, Westin Bayshore, and Pinnacle Harbourfront hotels voted October 16 to ratify an agreement that provides raises up to 25% over four years, as well as other perks, the union announced October 17.

The contract also applies to workers at the Four Seasons Hotel as those workers are in the same bargaining collective but were not striking because the hotel is slated to close at the end of January.

Workers at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia remain on strike because they are in a separate bargaining collective....
https://biv.com/article/2019/10/strike-ends-hyatt-westin-bayshore-and-pinnacle-hotels

[misher]

Sad to see whats happening to businesses across Vancouver, a 5-10%+ hike in property taxes just kills the industry.
https://www.vancourier.com/news/south-gr...s-of-jobs-hang-in-the-balance-1.23981046

South Granville businesses are leaving en masse and scores of jobs hang in the balance
Vancouver’s high property taxes, labour costs and exorbitant leases are forcing smaller, independent business out of the neighbourhood

Taxes and the minimum wage increase have been Ramin and Sons’ death knell. Clientele is down, overhead is up and hiring staff is impossible.

“It is really sad what is happening here,” Rahim said.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Pretty generous settlement for the striking hotel workers but given the skyrocketing cost of housing in Metro Vancouver not unreasonable.

About 1,500 striking workers at the Hyatt Regency, Westin Bayshore, and Pinnacle Harbourfront hotels voted October 16 to ratify an agreement that provides raises up to 25% over four years, as well as other perks, the union announced October 17.

The contract also applies to workers at the Four Seasons Hotel as those workers are in the same bargaining collective but were not striking because the hotel is slated to close at the end of January.

Workers at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia remain on strike because they are in a separate bargaining collective....
https://biv.com/article/2019/10/strike-ends-hyatt-westin-bayshore-and-pinnacle-hotels

Need to read this story about some housekeeper complaining about people not getting daily housekeeping

https://www.straight.com/news/1313551/st...ghts-horrors-marriotts-green-choice-room

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by misher

Sad to see whats happening to businesses across Vancouver, a 5-10%+ hike in property taxes just kills the industry.
https://www.vancourier.com/news/south-gr...s-of-jobs-hang-in-the-balance-1.23981046

It is going to leave a real hole in South Granville. Some other takeaways from the article:

..Circumstances differ slightly in each case, but there are common talking points uniting them all: skyrocketing property taxes, fractured lease negotiations and minimum wage increases are killing them...

...Rob Clarke has owned the Ouisi Bistro since it opened on Granville and 14th in 1994. The area’s lone live music venue goes silent on Oct. 26 as a result of lease negotiations that would have doubled his costs.

Sixteen people are out of job, all of whom live in Vancouver.

Clarke said every cost in his world has gone up beyond a point that can be recouped: property taxes, food costs, insurance, utilities and garbage pickup. Even televising sports on the bar’s TVs has become more expensive, after Bell and Rogers increased fees for establishments with liquor licenses...

Like others, Haisell says property taxes and the B.C. Assessment model of “best and highest use” for a plot of land is having devastating effects on locally-owned, independent business. The national and multi-national companies in the area — Starbucks, McDonald’s and the Brick, for example — are largely unaffected, or have a higher threshold to absorb the myriad of cost increases.

“The situation is critical,” Haisell said. “It’s not just in my area, it’s across the city. It’s just starting to hit South Granville and it’s really hard to do business.”

Haisell has looked into who owns the land in her area and suggests it’s largely the children of offshore investors. That second generation lives in the city, while their parents don’t, and those young people are making a living by running their parents’ investment properties....(bold mine)

https://www.vancourier.com/news/south-gr...s-of-jobs-hang-in-the-balance-1.23981046

What kind of idiot landlord thinks having an empty storefront is better than having a long term tenant?

[Prometheus]

But neglecting to raise rent to reflect the higher property taxes being charged by the city doesn’t make much business sense either.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

But neglecting to raise rent to reflect the higher property taxes being charged by the city doesn’t make much business sense either.

I thought most commercial tenants are on triple net leases, where they are responsible for paying the property taxes? If the landlord raises the rent as well, then the article suggests a number of businesses just close down (although sometimes they move to more reasonably priced premises). Ironically, the landlord then gets hit with no rent coming in, and the property tax bill that they then have to pay.

[djh]

Originally Posted by whatnext

It is going to leave a real hole in South Granville. Some other takeaways from the article:

What kind of idiot landlord thinks having an empty storefront is better than having a long term tenant?

I'm genuinely curious as to how aware all levels of City Hall are, on how this taxation policy is affecting small businesses? Surely the people who make the zoning decisions live in neighbourhoods? Surely they have noticed solid longstanding businesses disappear in droves over the years? And surely they have noticed empty storefronts that go unoccupied for years, or have high turnovers of businesses that can't make it work?

Seriously, the answer is not as simple as one party shifting the tax burden to homeowners, and then the next party shifting the tax burden to business owners. If nobody here can think up a better model, can they not take examples of similar-sized cities elsewhere that have thriving high streets?

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by Changing City

I thought most commercial tenants are on triple net leases, where they are responsible for paying the property taxes?

Yes, that seems to be the case. Thank you.

I have now read the full article and the two major factors cited by the business owners as crushing their ability to keep their businesses going seems to be 1) rising property taxes (which, as you pointed out, they must pay) and 2) the provincial government’s increase in the minimum wage, which according to one business owner has increased his fixed costs by 40%.

The issue regarding lease agreements seems to be not so much about landlords raising rents but rather their resistance to lowering them in order to subsidize the merchants’ rising costs of business, the worst of which, according to the business owners, are higher taxes and the new government-mandated minimum wages.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

Yes, that seems to be the case. Thank you.

I have now read the full article and the two major factors cited by the business owners as crushing their ability to keep their businesses going seems to be 1) rising property taxes (which, as you pointed out, they must pay) and 2) the provincial government’s increase in the minimum wage, which according to one business owner has increased his fixed costs by 40%.

I'd love to see the math on that 40%. How on earth does that make any sense.

It's getting more expensive to operate in Vancouver, no doubt. And retail is already facing an uphill battle these days. But until we get ghost towns, I think it's just the market reacting to progress, and it's not necessarily "bad" in the grand scheme of things.

I'd wager Vancouver commercial property still has a lower vacancy rate than say, Tsawwassen Mills.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by misher

Sad to see whats happening to businesses across Vancouver, a 5-10%+ hike in property taxes just kills the industry.
https://www.vancourier.com/news/south-gr...s-of-jobs-hang-in-the-balance-1.23981046

Another Vancouver street retail neighbourhood biting the dust. "It's a broken system". With that said, I still don't think the Courier is painting an accurate picture of what is really happening here. Just like other street retailing failures in Vancouver, this is a result of a combination of those reasons stated in the article, as well as other factors such as lack of anchor retailing in the area, bad retail synergy (retail along a long street), a general unwelcoming atmosphere for the traditional shoppers of street retail (a decrease of vehicle-driving shoppers who drive who want free, or at least non-hassle parking), and lack of high-density population in the immediate area. All these contribute to the failure of South Granville Street retail. The City should have seen this coming decades ago, especially with the reluctance of CoV to renew City plans, improve on the business environment, create more high density residential and shopping nodes, etc.


On the other hand, City centre malls are still doing so well by comparison, and they are totally opposites of what is happening here.

And why is a previously secondary shopping street of Toronto: Bloor, doing so well as time goes by while all our secondary shopping strips in Vancouver are failing? Time to re-examine our municipal and provincial policies. Maybe the Village concept just doesn't work anymore.

[Galaxy]

I do wonder how much loss of business is also a result of the loss of the 98 B-Line that use to be routed through south Granville? The bus passing through the area served to give free advertising for people riding the bus to stop in and spend money at the stores and restaurants in the area as well. I myself use to frequent the area more when the 98 was in service and now tend to just frequent the area around Broadway City Hall as I can get everything I need there. Just another nail in that coffin!

[Migrant_Coconut]

Condon-land aside, I seriously doubt that the number of impulse alightings is high enough to make a difference.

Originally Posted by whatnext

What kind of idiot landlord thinks having an empty storefront is better than having a long term tenant?

It's the circle of strife: landlord jacks up rent, tenant gives up and closes/relocates, landlord freaks out and quickly lowers rents back to normal, new tenant moves in, rinse and repeat. Same thing with Shabusen Granville and the Robson Square Chapters (now SportChek).

[misher]

400,000sqft of Wework's pre-leased space is iffy so its good to see more stable companies taking up office space.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/microsoft-vancouver-office-155-water-street-gastown

Microsoft is opening another major office in downtown Vancouver

The company will be taking over all 75,000 sq. ft. of office space at the under-construction office building at 155 Water Street, according to a new market update by NAI Commercial.

This is a significant office location, roughly half the size of Microsoft’s 2016-opened, 142,000-sq-ft office within the CF Pacific Centre building at 1111 West Georgia Street. Close to 1,000 people work at the company’s office location above the Nordstrom department store.

[casper]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

I'd love to see the math on that 40%. How on earth does that make any sense.

It's getting more expensive to operate in Vancouver, no doubt. And retail is already facing an uphill battle these days. But until we get ghost towns, I think it's just the market reacting to progress, and it's not necessarily "bad" in the grand scheme of things.

I'd wager Vancouver commercial property still has a lower vacancy rate than say, Tsawwassen Mills.

To quote the provincial website on minimum wage:

Liquor servers must be paid the liquor server minimum wage rate for hours worked, in addition to any tips or gratuities they receive. The rate does not change from shift to shift – even if liquor is not served on every shift.

September 15, 2017 – $10.10 per hour
June 1, 2018 – $11.40 per hour
June 1, 2019 – $12.70 per hour
June 1, 2020 – $13.95 per hour
June 1, 2021 – $15.20 per hour (this rate is the same as regular minimum wage)

----

Traditional Tip positions used to have a lower minimum wage that non-tip positions. By 2021 that disappears and we move to a system where it is same.

I for one would love if we moved to a culture similar to Europe where employees are expected to pay a living wage and can pass that along to customers while customers are not expected to Tip.

In addition to all of this if the employer have move the $500,000 in payroll then starting in the new year there is a MSP employer tax that adds another 1%.

[SpongeG]

Slack is opening a new office in downtown Vancouver

Kenneth Chan | Oct 18 2019

Slack is expanding its presence in Vancouver, where it all started a decade ago.

The San Francisco-based messaging platform, popularly used as a workplace communications tool, will be opening a new office at the Bentall 5 office tower at 550 Burrard Street in downtown Vancouver.

According to NAI Commercial’s latest market report, Slack has recently leased 34,000 sq. ft. of space in the tower, but it is unclear whether this will replace the company’s current local office at 1028 Hamilton Street in Yaletown.

...

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/slack-vancouver-office-550-burrard-street

[WarrenC12]

Nice, great to see Slack re-investing here. How big is their Hamilton office? I can only guess it's an expansion, even if they are moving.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Nice, great to see Slack re-investing here. How big is their Hamilton office? I can only guess it's an expansion, even if they are moving.

21,000 square feet in Yaletown

[officedweller]

Daiya Foods to open 400,000-sq-ft production facility in Burnaby
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/daiya-foods-burnaby


3100 Production Way, Burnaby. (Blackwood Partners)
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/daiya-foods-burnaby