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Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1490198
T he row of businesses along Carrall Street on the edge of Vancou- ver's Gastown neighbourhood looks not that much differ- ent from the eclectic mix on other streets nearby. East Van Roasters, the coffee-roasting and chocolate shop. Nelson the Seagull, a bakery and café. The Community Thrift & Vintage Frock Shoppe. Di Beppe restau- rant, home to rich pasta dishes and a combination wine bar/ café. All on the ground floor of the historic Rainier Hotel. But there's something dif- ferent here. These four spaces, along with 46 others through- out Gastown, the Downtown Eastside and a few other spots in the downtown peninsula, are curated and managed by a nonprofit group called Com- munity Impact Real Estate Society, or CIRES for short. Some of those spaces are oc- cupied by rent-paying regular businesses, like Nelson and Di Beppe. Others are nonprofits that are providing services or employment for people who live in the area. Women who live in supportive housing in the Rainier Hotel work at East Van Roasters, while the thrift shop provides both jobs and a source for cheap clothing. There's a purpose to what CIRES does as it manages these spaces. Just like a major mall owner (or a group of business owners concentrated in an area like South Granville) will curate the businesses on its property to create a particular feel—up- scale or 20-something-oriented or festival-like or as varied as an outdoor commercial street with restaurants and yoga stu- dios in the mix— CIRES curates the blend of businesses and Community on Carrall A Vancouver nonprofit is redefining how businesses can work with neighbourhoods by Frances Bula L A N D VA LU E S TWINLENS PHOTOGRAPHY ( the informer ) JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023 BCBUSINESS.CA 19 nonprofits with a certain end in mind. "Our criteria is totally dif- ferent than a commercial owner's," says Steve Johnston, the group's executive director. "We make sure that storefronts are vibrant and activated, but they have to contribute to the quality of life here. We look at what is missing from the com- munity, what fits the commu- nity needs." CIRES is the legacy of for- mer BC Housing CEO Shayne Ramsay, who turned over some of the commercial space in its social-housing buildings to be managed by what was a new nonprofit five years ago. So far, the group has man- aged only BC Housing proper- ties. But that could change as private property owners get familiar with the model and as CIRES looks to expand beyond a single client. Recently, the group signed a memorandum of understand- ing with Onni Group to poten- tially manage a commercial space in one of two new build- ings that the major developer has proposed for the Hastings and Clark area. Johnston talks optimistically about possibly expanding ser- vices to Chinatown, an area beset with challenges—empty storefronts among them. The idea for Onni, says the company's chief of staff, Dun- can Wlodarczak, is to provide a social benefit to the neigh- bourhood that, for once, isn't only subsidized housing. The proposal on Hastings is for two towers at 210 feet, with 152 con- dos across the two buildings and 55 social-housing apart- ments as part of the mix on a nearby lot on Raymur Avenue. "We wanted to offer more than just affordable housing. If we turn over one com- mercial unit, one part of the retail, that's one way for us to contribute," he says. "It's an opportunity as a private developer for us to contribute to the economic needs of the neighbourhood." It's a novel model. No other city has an agency quite like this (though CIRES is currently talking to a Toronto group that wants to start something simi- lar). It's one that many should be paying attention to as every- one tries to figure out how to IT TAKES A VILLAGE Community Impact Real Estate Society wants to make sure that businesses in Vancouver's Gastown addresss community needs