Vancouver council votes to revitalize Granville Strip into Times Square experience

Vancouver city council voted on Wednesday on a 20-year plan to revitalize the Granville Entertainment District.

The plan envisions the area as a leading cultural and tourist destination, providing a Times Square experience with large digital billboards at Robson Street.

It proposes gradually working towards a year-round pedestrian zone and also calls for more rental housing and hotel spaces, along with replacing aging SRO buildings with self-contained housing units.

4:00 Vancouver bar owners ask for help to deal with SRO damages

It also proposes relocating bus service to Howe and Seymour Streets eventually and new residential uses will be restricted to minimize noise conflicts with expanded entertainment activities.

“I believe this report is the first step towards opening doors to our creative communities, turning the lights on in empty buildings,” Laura Ballance, executive director of the Hospitality Vancouver Association said.

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Vancouver coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung said this will bring an exciting future to the area.

“Bring life to Granville Street daytime, nighttime, weekdays and weekends,” she said.

The vote comes as the neighbourhood struggles with public safety issues and a storefront vacancy rate of nearly 30 per cent.

2:39 B.C. government responds to claims Granville strip is in crisis

In March, bar owners on the Granville Strip claimed the province’s decision to purchase a former Howard Johnson hotel to house the homeless changed Granville Street overnight.

In June 2020, the province bought the former 110-room hotel at 1176 Granville St. for $55 million to house people who’d been living in encampments, including individuals with serious substance use and mental health challenges.

Open drug use, street disorder and violence have ensued and according to the six operators of multiple nightclubs on or near the Granville Strip, hospitality traffic is down approximately 60 per cent.

B.C.’s housing minister maintains it was not a mistake to buy the Howard Johnson in Vancouver’s entertainment district for individuals with complex needs because they were struggling to find housing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

— with files from Kristen Robinson