Several storefronts continue to sit vacant in the once-thriving Point Grey Village area of Vancouver. Nearly 15 per cent of businesses along the stretch of West 10th Avenue are either boarded up or have a "for lease" sign on display. According to the City of Vancouver, it's only a slight improvement from the early days of the pandemic: "The property values in that neighbourhood have skyrocketed and it's a very, very expensive place to live," said city Coun. Peter Meiszner. "So a lot of families have moved out or have been pushed out, unfortunately, from the neighbourhood, and unfortunately less people are patronizing those businesses." Data pulled from the 2016 census shows there were 27.6 people per hectare living within one kilometre of the Point Grey Village Business Improvement Association (BIA). According to the city, areas with more than 40 people per hectare within a kilometre of a BIA are better able to support a healthy local shopping area. Kitsilano, for example, has a population of 90.6 people per hectare within one kilometre of its West 4th Avenue BIA. "It needs more housing diversity," said Meiszner. "So, we need to encourage more rental, more apartments in the neighbourhood to really bring people onto the street and patronize those local businesses." Locals in the area point to the closing of the neighbourhood's Safeway in 2018 as a key factor for the lack of foot traffic. Some also say the development of UBC's West Village has diverted local shoppers. Marc Renaud, a member of the Point Grey Village BIA, believes small business owners need more support. "Are the landlords renting to first-time entrepreneurs?" he asked. "Is it easy to get a permit for change of use? What is the city doing for all the entrepreneurs out there?" Meiszner says he encourages small business owners to explore recent tax incentives passed by council. He adds that plans for developing the area are already underway. "There's a big proposal coming for the former Safeway site, which will see the return of a grocery store, which will be larger than it was before," said Meiszner. The city also confirmed there are 41 strata units and 246 market rental units in the development pipeline around Point Grey Village. While Renaud says he supports some housing, he also has concerns. "This is where families want to live and they're building units for single people," said Renaud. "I don't think that's what builds a neighbourhood. Families build a neighbourhood." The city didn't provide CTV News with a timeline of the development plans for the grocery store or housing units.
