Vancouver police are investigating after a man was stabbed and killed on Granville Street on Monday afternoon.
Police said they were called to Granville and Helmcken streets at approximately 3:15 p.m., after a man was reported to have been stabbed.
The victim, who is currently unidentified, died at the hospital.
Now, members of the Hospitality Vancouver Association (HVA) are expressing concern after the brazen daylight incident.
The man was stabbed and killed across from the Luugat single-room occupancy housing (SRO) on Granville Street.
“Today, our organization reiterates our ongoing concerns related to the situation on Granville Street, which is dangerous and unsustainable,” the HVA said in a statement.
“We recognize and appreciate the efforts of the Vancouver Police Department to keep the area safe but feel that it is increasingly clear that the BC Housing decision to locate over 300 SRO beds into a concentrated two block stretch of Granville Street is a failed experiment.”
The HVA says it has been calling for the permanent closure of SROs along Granville Street for years.
Get daily National news
Last week, the B.C. government announced that the Luugat will close by June 2026, but it is unclear where the residents will go.
The HVA said there are two other “highly problematic” SROs located within two blocks of each other on Graville Street that are “a real threat to public safety and need to be closed immediately.”
In June, the provincial government announced plans to transition supportive housing out of the Granville Street entertainment district, according to Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim.
This announcement came after a fire broke out in the Luugat building on the strip, leaving two people needing treatment for smoke inhalation.
The B.C. government bought the building at 1176 Granville in 2020, and controversially converted it to housing as it sought to shelter the city’s homeless during the COVID-19 pandemic quickly.
It has since generated thousands of emergency calls, with residents setting fires, pulling fire alarms and setting off the building’s sprinkler systems.
The announcement in June pertained specifically to three provincially owned supportive housing sites in the Granville entertainment zone: the Luugat (110 rooms), the Granville Villa (77 rooms) and the St. Helens (93 rooms).
The city said it will continue to work on a long-term strategy to replace SROs through the SRO Replacement Program. This initiative includes six SRO buildings in the core area and is contingent on securing funding from the federal government.
Meanwhile, no arrests have been made in the stabbing on Monday afternoon, which was the city’s 25th homicide of the year, according to Vancouver police.
Anyone with information is asked to contact VPD’s Major Crime Section at 604-717-2500.
Comments