Latest news with #GranvilleStrip
CTV News
05-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
City proposes sites to relocate Granville tenants
Changes could be on the horizon for the Granville Strip, with the mayor callon on the province to move notorious social housing sites.
CTV News
04-07-2025
- General
- CTV News
Sim says Vancouver has pitched 5 supportive housing sites to province, but won't say where they are
With a club located under a supportive housing complex and heavy drug use on the street, desire to hit the Granville Strip is waning, say club owners. Vancouver's mayor says his office has provided the province with a list of five city-owned sites that could be used for supportive housing, but he won't share any of the locations publicly. In a statement released Thursday, Ken Sim said the five unnamed sites could be used to replace the three 'inadequate' supportive housing facilities currently located in the city's Granville Entertainment District. Those facilities – the St. Helen's Hotel at 1161 Granville St., Luugat at 1176 Granville St. and Granville Villa at 1025 Granville St. – have a total of 283 units between them, but account for a disproportionately high number of calls for police and fire service, according to the city. In 2024, there were a total of 1,364 calls for police service at those three Granville Street addresses. 'This meant that those three buildings were responsible for one in every 125 police calls in the city, despite only housing one out of every 2,500 residents of Vancouver,' Sim said in his statement. The mayor added that there were 74 fires and 2,203 calls for Vancouver Fire Rescue Services at Luugat and St. Helen's between January 2020 and May 2025. 'The sites submitted to the province by the City of Vancouver are for five smaller-scale facilities, each with 55 to 65 units,' Sim said. 'This model is consistent with best practices, allowing for more focused care and better outcomes, in contrast with the warehousing approach that we have seen with the existing three sites.' The mayor's statement does not specify any of the five locations submitted to the province for consideration. When CTV News asked the mayor's office for the list, a spokesperson declined to provide it. 'The locations are confidential at this point in time,' the spokesperson said in an email, adding that the purpose of the mayor's statement was 'to put it on the public record that responsibility for the next steps of transitioning supportive housing out of the Granville Entertainment District now sits with the provincial government.' Last month, Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon committed to moving supportive housing away from the Granville strip, but no timeline for doing so has been made public. 'The City of Vancouver has done its part to provide viable sites for future facilities and the responsibility to transition these units out of the GED now sits with the province,' Sim said in his statement. 'We look forward to hearing from them on a plan for carrying this work out quickly.'
CTV News
12-06-2025
- CTV News
Vancouver mayor says minister commits to moving supportive housing after latest fire
Two are in hospital and a nightclub is water-damaged after a fire tore through SRO housing on Vancouver's Granville strip.
CTV News
12-06-2025
- Health
- CTV News
SRO fire sends two to hospital in Vancouver's Downtown
The Aura nightclub is located under a supportive housing complex on the Granville strip. Two people were sent to hospital to treat smoke inhalation after a fire broke out inside a social housing unit on the Granville strip in Vancouver. Firefighters responded to the former Howard Johnson hotel, which is now a province-owned single-room occupancy building, at around 3:30 p.m. The Vancouver Fire Rescue Services said the fire was contained due to the sparklers, but crews faced issues breaching the door due to 'severe hoarding conditions' and a large number of combustibles inside. 'The fire was caused by butane torches used for drug use,' said Capt. Matthew Trudeau of the VFRS. According to the fire department, at least 44 fires have occurred at the address since 2020, along with 334 alarms, 87 public service calls, 53 assist calls, 12 rescue calls, and one hazmat call. Wednesday's call not only came with fire damage but also severe water damage in parts of the building. Water forced the roof of the Aura Nightclub, on the building's ground floor, to cave in. The owner, Alan Goodall, said they have faced more than 200 floods over the years and are constantly closing due to maintenance and repairs. 'It's wearing on me. I'm a little desensitized to it all,' he said. 'I don't even know if we are able to open this weekend. I have 15 employees and this would be no notice for them again.' Goodall is calling on the province and the city to take action. Vancouver City councillor Peter Meiszner said Wednesday evening that the matter was urgent, and the hotels are at the end of their life and were never intended to serve as supportive housing for people with complex mental health and addiction challenges. Last week, the ABC councillor brought a motion to the council, which was passed, to work with the Province and offer up city-owned land to replace the SRO units on Granville Street. 'The city is doing everything we can to try to make this happen. We actually did make an offer to the province to replace the Howard Johnson back in February. Unfortunately, that offer was turned down,' said Meiszner. He is calling on the B.C. NDP to act more swiftly as the danger intensifies in the area and the city revitalizes the Granville strip. 'This is urgent and these people deserve better,' said Meiszner. 'They deserve dignified, self-contained social housing, instead of an old hotel room. We can do better.' The 100+ units above Aura nightclub were undergoing an inspection on Wednesday evening. Residents told CTV News they weren't sure if they would be allowed to stay that evening or if they would have to find alternative accommodations.
