Deep pockets and sharp elbows needded to muscle into China’s $2.3 trillion retail sector

Frank O’Brien
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Tapping angels

Lorne Mallin
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Business leader says neighbourhood’s troubles not unique, points to new developments

Mike Howell
Van. Courier

A high number of vacant storefronts in run-down buildings, struggling businesses and a negative public image as unsafe and out of date.

That is a description of Chinatown, as written by a senior city planner, who will present a report to city council Wednesday that details the urgency of turning the historic neighbourhood around.

“This is an important moment in the evolution of Chinatown to ensure revitalization continues, renews the cultural and heritage fabric of the neighbourhood and is socially and economically sustainable,” wrote Kevin McNaney, the city’s assistant director of central area planning.

The report includes an ambitious revitalization strategy that calls for a variety of changes to Chinatown, including:

– The need for old-line retailers and restaurateurs to modernize and broaden their offerings.

– Improving neighbourhood public places, cleanliness and safety to attract locals and visitors, especially evening and weekend customers.

– Increasing the number of younger community members in decision-making roles and planning.

– Renovating heritage buildings.

The report comes a decade after city council approved a plan to help guide policy decisions, priorities, budgets and capital plans in Chinatown.

Since 2002, Chinatown has seen upgrades in public realm projects such as Shanghai Alley, the addition of some new restaurants including the popular Bao Bei on Keefer Street and a merchant-led “We speak English” campaign to attract customers.

Businesses, however, are still struggling, according to research conducted by economic development planners from San Francisco hired by the city to conduct research, community consultation and provide recommendations to revitalize Chinatown.

The planners surveyed 77 businesses and learned 64 per cent reported a decrease in revenue between 2008 and 2011. They also discovered 43 per cent of businesses operated for more than 15 years and 23 per cent opened their doors less than five years ago.

The majority of customers – 58 per cent – are local residents, with an additional 21 per cent from the Lower Mainland while tourists make up about 12 per cent of visits.

Albert Fok, president of the Vancouver Chinatown Business Improvement Area Society, said the downturn in business since 2008 can be attributed to the struggling global economic climate.

“It’s not something that’s unique to Chinatown,” Fok said. “I think downtown experienced the same thing, and we talk to our Gastown and Strathcona counterparts who say the same thing.”

But Fok acknowledged there is a need to attract more people to Chinatown to keep it viable for merchants. That is a concern Fok mentioned to the Courier 10 years ago when interviewed for a feature story on the struggles in Chinatown.

The recent approval of a nine-storey residential tower at Main and Keefer streets and the potential for a 15-storey building on the same corner is good news for the community, he said.

“I would say it looks positive,” he said. “Any community needs a critical mass to support its viability. We have a dwindling residential population and hopefully this will re-inject a crowd. Regardless of income, you need to eat and buy groceries.”

Fok believes Chinatown has lost some customers to Richmond and Burnaby, where those cities have seen the emergence of Chinese malls, restaurants and shops.

But, he said, “they’re not heritage Chinatowns and we have something that cannot be mimicked.”

Its history is significant but it’s proximity to the East Hastings strip, where drug use and dealing is witnessed daily, has translated to break-ins to businesses and vehicles over the years.

But Fok says there has been a decrease in crime in Chinatown.

“Most of it now is perception,” he said.

He encouraged people to visit Chinatown, noting the community now offers pedi-cab tours during the summer and is preparing for its annual festival Aug. 11 and 12.

“Seeing is believing,” he said.

© Copyright (c) Vancouver Courier

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Susy Buchanan
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$50 million project would add pedestrian paths and bike lane

Micki Cowan
Van. Courier

The proposed overpass for Powell Street will cost $50 million and lead to the demolition of numerous buildings, including a heritage building in one of the oldest parts of Vancouver.

The subject of public consultations through a series of open houses, the overpass project seeks to move Powell Street approximately 20 metres to the south between Hawks Avenue and Clark Drive. The street would be raised as much as 10 to 11 metres in some sections to pass over a rail line that runs up from the south.

“We’re trying to improve the east-west corridor, but at the same time we’re also going over another rail line that comes in from the south. As trains are using it, traffic is delayed,” said Ted Barry, city engineer and Powell Street overpass project manager.

He hopes to take a motion to council by July, start construction early 2013 and finish in March 2014. The project would close Powell Street between Hawks Avenue and Clark Drive for about a year, detouring traffic to East Hastings Street.

The $50 million project would add pedestrian paths and a separated counter-flow bike lane—the first leg of the Portside Greenway bike lane—but not increase the double lanes of traffic that run each way. It would also allow for an additional CP rail line to be built in the rail yard north of Powell Street, which Barry says would benefit the city’s port economically by allowing for more transportation of goods by train.

But since the southern side of the street is lined with buildings, room would have to be made before the project could begin. City buildings would be demolished, while private buildings would be cut back in size or bought out.

One of the buildings set for demolition is a heritage building built in 1912 at 992 Powell St., which is just south of the historic Rogers Sugar factory, birthplace of the Canadian Rogers Sugar refiners. The building is the last standing structure of the Ramsey Brothers and Company Warehouse, which played a large role in Vancouver’s industrial history.

“There’s one heritage building that we’ve taken to the heritage committee and made them aware of the fact that we’re going to have to demolish that building because it’s right at the extreme portion of the project and there’s no way we can retain it,” said Barry.

Minutes from the April 16 meeting of the Vancouver Heritage Commission show the motion to approve the demolition of the Ramsey warehouse passed unanimously.

“The Vancouver Heritage Commission regrets the loss of the last fragment of…992 Powell Street, and the Commission acknowledges the need for the new Powell Street overpass,” read the motion.

Richard Campbell, president of the B.C. Cycling Coalition, supports the overpass project to provide what he says are greatly needed bike lane improvements.

“Powell Street is absolutely horrible. It’s probably one of the worst streets in the city. It really needs improving.”

© Copyright (c) Vancouver Courier

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Each year your Board asks for help in recognizing our members’ charitable works so we can let the public know what Greater Vancouver REALTORS® have accomplished. To date, you have told us that you have fundraised or donated $8.5 million for charity.

We’re now looking to identify the total amount of money members donated to or fundraised for charity in 2011. Whether the amount is small, medium, or large, we’d like to hear from you! With your help, this project will again allow us to show the full commitment that REALTORS® make to their communities.

How does this program work?

When you and other members share your donation information, we total the amounts to determine how much Greater Vancouver REALTORS® donated to charity in 2011.

Is my information kept confidential?

Yes. Your individual charitable-giving details are kept secure and will not be used for any other purpose without your permission.

Why should I participate?

REALTORS® are generous with time and monetary support for charities, and we would like to share that aggregate information with the public.

How can I help?

Let us know the amount of money you and your office donated to a registered charity in 2011. A registered charity would have given you a tax receipt, so the total of these receipts would be the amount you donated in 2011.

How to submit your information

Email your information to [email protected] or click here to fill in and submit the form.

More information

To learn more about this project, please contact Catherine Chu, Communications, at 604.730.3022 or email [email protected].

© Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.

Paragon Gaming president may announce new home in August

Bob Mackin
Van. Courier

Paragon Gaming’s president hopes to announce a new home for Edgewater Casino by Aug. 1.

Scott Menke wouldn’t say how the scope of a proposed hotel and casino complex evolved since city council rejected expanding the licence from 600 to 1,500 slot machines in April 2011.

Last December, city council rezoned the site west of B.C. Place Stadium for the $450 million project, but Menke said other locations are under consideration.

“Until we confirm a site it’s premature to talk about what the project is,” Menke told the Courier. “We’re really under a lot of confidence levels with everybody in government and partners and we’d love to tell you more at the appropriate time.”A source said B.C. Pavilion Corporation negotiations with Paragon are progressing and an announcement is nearing, while B.C. Place management is preparing for a development permit board application and a fall groundbreaking. The project would impact operations of the stadium’s west entry and could force removal of the video board that faces the Cambie Bridge.

PavCo chief executive Warren Buckley and stadium general manager Howard Crosley did not respond for comment. Menke did not dispute the information.

“Unfortunately I can’t talk about it,” said Menke. “But I hope your sources are right.”

Menke said financing problems at the company’s River Cree Casino near Edmonton would not affect Edgewater operations or the relocation because the entities are separate. Paragon defaulted on a $111 million loan in mid-April after the Alberta government stopped payments from the First Nations Development Fund. Menke said “the business has been uninterrupted at every level.”

“We’ve made great progress over the past couple of weeks,” he said. “It’s certainly been easier for us to get to government after the elections. We’re very confident we’ll see a positive resolution in the not too distant future.”

Meanwhile, the total cost of the budgeted $563 million stadium renovation remains a mystery. A spreadsheet provided by PavCo under Freedom of Information showed $490.04 million was spent by December. Expenditures for January through March were censored. Additional costs, which are not visible, include resolution costs with Telus, claims resolution and project work requiring better weather in spring 2012.

Telus offered $35 million to $40 million in cash and goods and services to buy naming rights for 20 years. The deal was scrapped by the provincial government in February, after Telus installed telecommunications equipment last summer and fall. Telus spokesman Shawn Hall said the company continues to negotiate for exclusive supplier status.

PavCo was named as a defendant in a $6.5 million lawsuit filed by French cable supplier Freyssinet against steel contractor Canam last October. Canam countersued for $26.15 million. A B.C. Supreme Court trial is scheduled in fall 2013. In March, a judge heard that grease damage to the roof fabric from the cables could cost $10 million to fix. PavCo claimed cleanup would be $1 million and the responsibility of contractors.

© Copyright (c) Vancouver Courier

 

Last winter, city held contest for re-envisioning of Northeast False Creek

onny Wakefield
Van. Courier

City staff will deliver a report to council before it breaks in August on whether to tear down the Dusmuir and Georgia viaducts.

Vision Vancouver Coun. Geoff Meggs told a forum on the viaducts at Simon Fraser University’s Harbour Centre campus May 17 that “we’ll find out whether or not we’re going to go ahead with the viaducts, or whether we’ll plan for the future without them.”

He added, “We’re very close to a historic decision.”

The debate on whether to keep, demolish, or modify the city’s nearly 40-year-old elevated viaducts has been going on since 2009, when Meggs passed a motion to have city staff study the possibility of tearing down the viaducts.

The closure of the viaducts during the 2010 Winter Olympics was another sign that maybe the city could live without them. Meggs told the forum, organized by SFU as part of its City conversations series, that despite the closure, traffic into downtown was not as bad as many had predicted.

“We saw much larger increases into the downtown core than people thought was possible with very few traffic jams,” he said. “People did make the switch to transit and other modes of transportation, so it can be done.”

But residents of the Strathcona neighbourhood remember the Olympic experience differently.

“I had traffic pretty much 24/7 on my street,” said Frank Ducote, an urban designer who lives on Abbott Street and made a presentation at the forum.

Teresa Vandertuin had a similar experience.

“As soon as the viaduct closed, we had all of the traffic going down Pender during the Olympics. We were impacted very heavily.”

Ducote said that the argument that traffic was unaffected during the Olympics is a myth. He said there would need to be an extensive upgrade of infrastructure before any removal work could begin on the viaducts. He favours combining Expo and Pacific boulevards into one larger avenue.

Ducote also said it was overly optimistic to think the 40,000 daily car trips across the viaducts would be replaced by modes like transit and cycling.

The city has been weighing the options. Last winter, the city held a public ideas contest for a re-envisioned Northeast False Creek area. One submission that called for the removal of the viaduct suggested connecting Georgia and a realigned Pacific boulevard between B.C. Place and Rogers Arena.

Others argued that the viaducts could be turned into green space, like New York’s High Line Park.

Meggs couldn’t give any details on what city staff would propose.

“I think inevitably the city staff proposals will be more grounded in pragmatic considerations,” he said.

The Northeast False Creek area, which includes B.C. Place, the viaducts, and a large lot owned by Concord Pacific, is one of the last major undeveloped tracts of real estate in the downtown peninsula. Area residents say they have been waiting for years for Concord to convert a vacant lot near Rogers Arena into a park.

© Copyright (c) Vancouver Courier

David Kravets
Other

Righthaven, a copyright-troll law firm that failed in its attempt to make money for newspapers by suing readers for sharing stories online, was dealt a death blow Tuesday by a federal judge who ordered the Las Vegas company to forfeit “all of” its intellectual property and other “intangible property” to settle its debts.

The order is an ironic twist to a copyright trolling saga that began in 2010, when Righthaven was formed with the idea of suing blogs and websites that re-post newspaper articles or snippets of them without permission.

U.S. District Judge Philip M. Pro of Nevada ordered Righthaven to surrender for auction the 278 copyrighted news articles that were the subject of its lawsuits.

“The copyright registrations to more than 275 works are in Righthaven’s name, can be transferred by this court, and can then be auctioned,” the judge ruled. (.pdf)

The Righthaven.com domain was auctioned for $3,000 last year as well to help satisfy the legal bill Righthaven must pay to one of its defendants that prevailed in a copyright suit brought by Righthaven. The tab is more than $60,000 in the case before Judge Pro, and in total Righthaven owes about $200,000 to various defendants.

U.S. copyright law allows for massive damages — $150,000 per infringement — which leads many people to settle copyright cases, rather than risk a massive payout. But if someone does defend himself, the law allows the prevailing party in an infringement case to be awarded its legal fees and costs, even if it were the defendant.

Righthaven initially was winning and settling dozens of cases as defendants paid a few thousand dollars each to make the cases go away. But Righthaven, which has ceased filing new suits, has never prevailed in a case that was defended in court.

Ironically, Righthaven sought — as payment — the domain names owned by the people it was suing, and now it has lost its own domain name and any other available assets in the process. The company has threatened to file for bankruptcy protection.

The domain auction and the unscheduled auctioning of Righthaven’s copyrights is to help pay Las Vegas lawyer Marc Randazza for successfully defending Vietnam veteran Wayne Hoehn against a Righthaven copyright lawsuit seeking large damages for posting the entirety of a Las Vegas Review-Journal editorial to a small online message board.

The lawsuit against Hoehn, one of hundreds of Righthaven’s lawsuits, accused him of unlawfully posting all 19 paragraphs of a November 2010 editorial from the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Hoehn posted the article, and its headline, “Public Employee Pensions: We Can’t Afford Them” on medjacksports.com to prompt discussion about the financial affairs of the nation.

Judge Pro ruled that the posting was fair use of the article, an issue that is on appeal. Whether Righthaven retains the financial wherewithal to litigate the appeal was not immediately known. Righthaven’s chief executive, Steve Gibson, did not immediately respond for comment.

Righthaven’s first client, Stephens Media of Las Vegas and operator of the Review-Journal, invested $500,000 into the Righthaven operation at its outset. With Judge Pro’s ruling, the media concern is losing financial control of hundreds of articles and photos.

“The irony of this? Perhaps those who buy the copyrights could issue DMCA notices to the Review-Journal stopping them from redistributing them?” Randazza said via an e-mail, citing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Stephens Media will indeed likely have to take them off its own website — or license them from the future owner —  if it doesn’t buy the rights back itself.

Other judges hearing Righthaven cases have ruled that Righthaven never had legal standing to bring infringement lawsuits, even though Stephens Media assigned the copyrights to Righthaven.

Contracts between Stephens Media and Righthaven disclosed in the Righthaven litigation show that Stephens Media granted Righthaven permission to sue over the newspaper chain’s content in exchange for a 50 percent cut of all the settlements and jury awards. Most important, the agreement did not grant Righthaven license to use the content in any other way.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation called the arrangement a “sham,” and judges hearing Righthaven cases agreed.

U.S. District Judge Robert Hunt ruled last year in a different case that a “copyright owner cannot assign a bare right to sue.” Judge Hunt dismissed the case and ordered Righthaven to pay the defendant Democratic Underground blog $120,000 in defense costs, which it has not done.