A spotlight on our advocacy and partnership work.

Partnership is critical to successful advocacy on behalf of our business members. Some of these partnerships have recently been in the media spotlight. In this post you’ll find:

• Details on what we’re doing to address street disorder on the 700 & 800 blocks of East Hastings and what a new parklet on Princess Avenue has to do with it.

• How activating empty storefronts in Chinatown leads to big wins for Strathcona businesses.

• The lowdown on Oppenheimer Park and everything we know about its path to re-opening.

East Hastings Street Disorder

In Strathcona, the path to how we arrive at a healthy and safe commercial district is complex. In partnership with the City of Vancouver, Portland Hotel Society, VANDU, Vancouver Police and other stakeholders, we’ve been working towards a solution to help address public drinking in front of the Astoria Hotel on East Hastings and at adjacent bus stops. After almost nine months of conflict, difficult conversations, trial and error, meetings with city engineers, and hard advocacy work, a pilot project has emerged. 

The full scope of the pilot project was captured by Dan Fumano, in his article last week and includes quotes from his interview with Strathcona BIA Executive Director Theodora Lamb. The article also dives into more detail about the harm-reduction model behind the parklet.

About the Pilot Project

The pilot project involves a city-sanctioned parklet on Princess Ave where folks who have been occupying the bus stops in front of the Astoria Hotel can go to drink safely and legally. A city-sanctioned parklet means there are social service supports on-hand, medical attention on site, and more attention from the City, the VPD, and the SBIA in ensuring that drinking activity is monitored, people are supported, and business concerns are addressed. What comes next will be efforts to move activity from the Hastings bus stops to the parklet (where the PHS-run Drinker’s Lounge has been operating for 10 years) and ensure businesses and property owners around the parklet are fully heard and supported. If that’s you, stay tuned for more from the SBIA and the City of Vancouver.

We’ve heard loud and clear that more consultation is required and that our members, time and again, end up having to support the solutions to Strathcona’s complex social challenges on their own.

While we believe that Strathcona businesses will play a big role in solutions, the SBIA is doing everything in its power to ensure the advocacy work and heavy lifting does not rest on your shoulders, but on ours.

Additional Safety Measures

Meanwhile, our safety patrol team will be increasing their checks of the parklet starting this week and up to four times a day, seven days a week. Regular meetings will be scheduled with the VPD regarding parklet activity. Additional street cleaning resources will be directed to the area and, for those members in and around the parklet and who desire it,  regular communication will be set up. 

The Parklet is an imperfect solution. But we believe this group of unlikely allies, who first came together to address the concerns of businesses, have the attention of the right decision makers and a vision for a safer community.

If you’re a business or property owner operating in and around 111 Princess Ave and you want to ensure we don’t miss you in our outreach, please email us at info@strathconabia.com to be added to the parklet impact listserv.

Activating Vacant Storefront Spaces

You may have heard about Kam Wai Dim Sum opening up in Chinatown a couple weeks ago. Their reopening is part of a pilot project that the Strathcona BIA sponsors called the Community-Serving Retail Project. This project was launched to address vacant space in Chinese Benevolent Society Buildings, of which about 50 or so remain spread out evenly across both Strathcona and Chinatown BIAs. The first successful pilot landed in Chinatown, and there are several future locations underway, including in Strathcona. 

How This Initiative Works

This initiative is a partnership between the Strathcona BIA, Dunefield, and Youth Collaborative for Chinatown where the aim is to partner with Chinese Society Buildings and other non-profit buildings in Strathcona and Chinatown that have underused commercial space.  The project team supports the non-profit building owners with property management challenges, building and space improvements, and assists them with finding reliable tenants including restaurants, eateries, retail, and production businesses. It’s a remarkable story of storefront activation that is helping create affordable space opportunities for community-serving retail businesses in both Strathcona and Chinatown.

The funding for this project comes from the City of Vancouver, specifically, the DTES Capital Grants program which awards funds annually to community projects just like this. As an organization, we’ve had tremendous success in applying for these funds. As project sponsor, the funds flow through, not from, the Strathcona BIA – a registered non-profit society – to the project team for the pilot locations.

Do you want to start or expand a community-serving business in Chinatown or Strathcona, and are in need of affordable space and other support? Does your society or not-for-profit have underused commercial space that could accommodate community-serving business? Get in touch with us at info@strathconabia.com to learn more about the program.

Oppenheimer Park Reopening

Both Oppenheimer and Strathcona Parks have had their fair share of newsworthy headlines over the last few years. The work to de-camp Strathcona Park and house the residents currently living in its homeless camp is happening right now. 

If you’re wondering about Oppenheimer Park, when it will reopen, and what the plan is to ensure it remains the public green space it was always meant to be, you’re not alone. The Strathcona BIA reached out to Parks Board staff to get the low-down on what businesses in and around the park can expect in the coming weeks and months. According to Ian Stewart, Manager of Park Development with the Vancouver Parks Board, there is no firm reopening date set yet.

Stewart’s team is responsible for park development. They’ve been busy implementing a number of restoration improvements since the Park’s decampment last May. “We have embarked on a series of conversations with park users to determine how to ensure that a park reopening can be conducted safely, and best serve local residents who desire access to the park’s amenities” says Stewart. 

The Strathcona BIA has requested a meeting with Stewart and his team to discuss how local business members will be consulted about the Park’s re-opening. As soon as we know more, we’ll be reaching out to members regarding that engagement. 

If you’re a business or property owner operating in and around Oppenheimer Park and you want to be directly looped into the Park reopening news, please reach out to us at info@strathconabia.com to be added to an outreach list.