The City of Vancouver could launch a pilot program that would permit temporary occupancy of empty ground-level stores on the Downtown Eastside.

City council has approved a motion from Coun. Mike Klassen calling for the proposed pilot.

Council must still approve the proposed program, which city staff are now looking to set up.

The effort is designed to boost permanent DES retail leasing. Klassen aims to reduce delays in enabling organizations from opening new locations in the poverty-stricken area, which ranks among Canada’s poorest.

If approved, the pilot program would apply to empty storefronts along Hastings Street and in Chinatown. Landon Hoyt, executive-director of the Hastings Crossing Business Improvement Association, told Business in Vancouver that DES vacancy rates currently sit above 30%, although the area has some of the lowest rents in the city.

“Now that number is coming down—I’m happy to say—but we still face this crisis,” Hoyt told BIV. “These vacancies aren’t just missed economic opportunities. They add to public safety issues, deter investment and reinforce the perception that this neighbourhood has been abandoned.”

Meanwhile, he told his BIV interviewer, entrepreneurs, artists, non-profits and community groups seeking to lease space are “blocked by red tape, high costs and complex permitting, in addition to all the challenges of opening a business these days.”

Pictured: Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

Photo: Shutterstock