All right. Welcome to this City
Center Redevelopment Authority
board meeting for May 21st,
2026. Could we start off with
roll call?
>> All right, board member.
Friend. Present board member.
Anderton. Present board member.
Becka. Present board member.
Slick here. Board member.
Copenhaver here. And board
member Fazio here. And Richard
Krippaehne let us know that he
would not be here today.
>> Okay. So could we have a
motion to excuse Dick, please?
>> So moved.
>> Any seconds.
>> This is Heather. I'll second.
>> Okay. So we can move. So,
Kevin, all in favor, say I.
>> I I I.
>> Okay, so Dick's excused.
Good. Next item is the approval
of the minutes from the March
19th meeting. Do I have a
motion to approve?
>> I move to approve.
>> A second.
>> Millisecond.
>> Okay. Any discussion? All
right. So all in favor, say aye.
>> Aye.
>> All right. Good. Okay.
Minutes passed. With that, we
can move right to the executive
director report with Patrick.
Oh, do you want to do the
agenda? All right. So we have a
motion to amend the agenda to
move the Main Street Promise
project. I basically to number
five, item five in front of the
multifamily tax exemption
renewal. Can I have a motion to.
>> I move to amend the agenda
to move the Main Street Promise
project before the multifamily
tax exemption item.
>> I'll second that second.
>> Okay. All in favor?
>> I.
>> I. I okay, good. Thank you.
So now we can move to Patrick.
Thank you, President.
>> Fazio good afternoon. Board.
Board members, good to see you.
After a month off. I guess I'll
just start with that. I
appreciate everybody's kind of
flexibility as we amended or
changed the the meeting
schedule. So everybody knows
we're kind of going to going to
go on an alternate month
schedule. So our next meeting
will be in July. And I shared
with you when I sent that out,
the updated agenda or the list
of potential topics. So that
hasn't changed yet. But if we
as we fill it out, we'll send
out updates to that. So no
meeting in June. Next meeting
in July, you will. Have the,
the, the added treat of. We're
moving back into council
chambers in July, and the new
council chambers are quite an
upgrade. So it's really much
more kind of bright, pleasant
experience up there. There is a
substantial upgrade in
technology that will probably
have to kind of help you
navigate it on the fly next
month. It's not really worth
you coming in ahead of time to
get any kind of training on it,
but you'll have you'll have
your own screens in front of
you that you'll be able to see
things and electronic
nameplates and all these other
things. So anyway, we'll, we'll
kind of do that when you and
maybe we'll ask you if you're
coming in person to show up a
few minutes early and Callie
can walk you through what the
new, the new setup is. I'm
still learning it myself. So,
so with that, we, we did have a
subcommittee meeting. It
actually was board members
Krippaehne and Copenhaver. And,
and, and so, and, and it was
good for, for board member
Krippaehne to be able to be
there since he was he knew he
was going to be absent today.
So we did a preview of the
three items that you're going
to hear about today. So there's
nothing to report that that
board member Copenhaver can't
share. When we get to each of
these items. On the development
pipeline report, you have once
again, you know, don't need to
go through everything in
particular to have some
projects. Of note is the
collective on the is that a
project? Is that on yours? Yeah.
So we have a new commercial
development in the, in the in
Pre-ap stage over off of, of SR
14. So look forward to that.
And then you can see we have a
few mixed use projects. The in
Pre-ap as well. The most
notable one is the Claudia,
which is, which is a VHA. It's
actually housing initiative
project. It's, it was the, the
one affordable project that was
funded by the state in the past
cycle. And we made it our
priority. They had been trying
for three separate cycles to
get funded. So we were the
entire region made this the
number one priority. We had
hoped to have more projects
funded, but but thankfully we
got this one funded. So so this
will this is a deeply
affordable senior project
that's been in the works for a
while. So happy to see that
moving forward. You'll see that
our parcel C in the Heights is
now into the land use phase. So.
So parcel C is of the project
that is being led by palindrome.
And it's on the southwest
corner of Mill Plain and Devine.
So it's it's so you know Devine
separates the Tower Mall
property from what used to be
the Vashenko driving range. So
so it's on the former Tower
Mall property. So that was one
of the projects that we had
hoped to get state funding.
They did not get state funding.
And so they'll be going back
again. And we're trying to
solve for the financing on that.
On the. Like I said, I don't
I'm not sure there's anything
really to, to highlight in the,
the projects that are that are
in building plan review some
smaller, you know, housing
projects and then have a few
smaller projects once again,
that are under construction and
in completion. So, you know,
once again, the reports smaller
than we'd like it to be. And
just as a reminder, I think I
say this most meetings, this
report is simply the projects
that move from one stage to the
other in the time period. So
it's not the full pipeline, the
full pipeline. There's a lot of
projects that are that are
actually happening. Like the
Vic got a lot of Vancouver
Innovation Center, the, the
really the old HP site in East
Vancouver. They're moving
forward with phase one. That's
a substantial residential
project. So things like that
are in the pipeline. I think
they were reported at some
point, but when they moved to
the next stage of the
permitting process, they'll
show up in this report. So. And
then aside from that, we would
we do hope to bring a
Waterfront Gateway project
update to you. Right now. We
have it tentatively scheduled
for September. If we have
something to report sooner,
we'll. We'll have that. But we
are. I think we've shared with
you that the this project
moving forward into final
design was predicated on the
city adopting new code for six
story wood frame buildings that.
That proposal is going to our
building and and, and fire code
Commission. July 11th. We think
that's the tentative schedule
for the meeting. So it's
basically administrative change.
So once the the commission
weighs in on it, it's the
building official for the City
of Vancouver. Just issues that
update to code. At that point,
Lincoln will have enough
clarity on the new code options
that they they've told us they
can now begin final design and
pursue the six story wood frame,
wood frame construction on on
that. So so that would be, you
know, great to have them. I
mean, that's still puts the
start of construction into well,
in 27 if we're lucky. So we
won't see them break ground,
but it'll at least kind of
establish a more predictable
timeline for the project. And
then, you know, at some point,
either this year or maybe early
next year, we will come back
and talk about what we do next
with the property behind City
Hall that was taken out of the
development agreement. So it's
still still early right now.
And and we're still trying to
gauge what's happening next on
the convention center expansion
and some other things. But
hopefully we'll be able to, to
bring that back for, for, for
an update as well. So with that,
that's my update. Unless you
have any questions, I'll turn
it back to President Fazio.
>> Any questions for Patrick or
comments. All right. Good.
Thank you. Patrick. And the
next item then would be the
Main Street promise. Right. Oh.
All right. Sorry, Kelly. Do we
have any anyone online or
signed up to.
>> There's nobody online or
signed up.
>> Oh, good. Okay. Thank you.
All right, then we can move to
the main street. Promise. Is
that with Julie, I guess?
>> Yes.
>> Welcome.
>> Thank you. Thank you for
having me. Good afternoon. It
has been a year. My name is
Julie Ahrens. I'm the small
business project manager in the
Economic Prosperity and Housing
Department, and I was brought
on board specifically to help
with the Main Street Promise
project. It's been a year since
our last update, and today I'll
walk you through where we've
been, what we've accomplished
in year one, last year in 2025,
and what is ahead for the rest
of 2026, and how the project is
already shaping the future of
Main Street. So let's start
with the refresher for those
who might have not been here
last year when I presented Main
Street Promise is a culmination
of nearly three decades of
community driven planning. We
are reconstructing Main Street
from fifth Street, where the SR
14 and I-5 interchanges all the
way up to the Clark County
Museum, which is 15th Street.
If you're familiar with Main
Street, we're modernizing
everything from utilities to
sidewalks and lighting, and the
goals remain the same this year
as they were last year to
improve safety, accessibility
and connectivity, strengthen
community identity, and support
long term economic vitality.
And the funding for this
project continues to operate
from the American Rescue Plan
Act, our City Transportation
Fund, and our utilities fund.
So last year, 2025, let's talk
about some construction
milestones and our first year
recap. We fully. Year one was a
major push in construction. We
fully completed the 500 block,
600 block in the lower part of
the corridor, and the 13 and
1400 blocks in the upper part
of the corridor, and we mostly
completed the 1200 block.
However, we're waiting for the
Polish development. That's a
private project to be complete.
So crews worked around the
perimeter of that project as
much as they could last year,
and made sure to not interfere
with the progress of that
personal private development.
So right now, we are actively
working on the 800 block, the
Kiggins 1000 block, and we just
started in the evergreen
intersection, a very busy
intersection a couple days ago.
And across the corridor, we
completed major utility
upgrades. We installed new
sidewalks, Ada ramps, and
pedestrian zones, and we also
refined some of our traffic
control and detour systems in
the second year. Based on some
lessons learned last year. So
year one recap business support
programs. Supporting businesses
was a core priority, and it
remains a core priority for us.
Over the past 15 months, we
have hosted something called
Coffee Corners. We've hosted 19
of them. These are casual drop
in events where residents and
business owners and property
owners can drop in and talk to
the construction team, learn
about the project, share their
frustrations and their thoughts.
And with these events, we had
more than 400 attendees in the
last 19 coffee corner events
cumulatively, and we make sure
to host these coffee Corner
events in a in an impacted
business in a construction zone.
So we have been able to provide
support to 14 of those
businesses in construction
zones. We make sure that
everybody purchases a cup of
coffee or some food to support
the business while they're
there. We also have partnered
with the VDA to create what
we're calling business feature
videos we created last year, 51
business feature videos that
reached more than 950 unique
viewers and generated more than
2.3 million views online. These
videos actually provide a huge
visibility boost for corridor
businesses. It essentially
gives them free advertising
that they might not have had
otherwise. I also worked with
our IT department and we
created a business, an online
business map. It's called
Explore Main Street. It's a map
where every business in the
corridor has a pin drop where
they're located, and then it
shows where that business is,
all the parking spaces
surrounding them, the closed
and open construction zones
surrounding them, and then off
to the side. There is a
construction schedule. So at
any given moment, you can tell
which blocks are going to be
under construction and which
are already completed. So our
online map, that online map
continues to grow. It now
features 25 eateries, 19 retail
shops, six experiential
businesses like our theaters
and our gym, our rock climbing
wall gym. And believe it or not,
76 Beauty Tattoo Salon parlors
in this corridor. It's a lot of
beauty. We also have partnered
with the VA to offer a few
programs. One of them is a
mentoring program. We have 12
businesses who are active in
receiving free mentoring
through the VA mentoring
program. And last year they
offered something called the
Blick Bricks and Bricks Grants
Program. If I'm a business
owner and maybe I want to
improve my facade because Main
Street is Main Street is going
to be so spruced up, I would
have applied for a bricks grant.
Or if I want to a business
owner, I want to improve my
online presence or maybe add
retail sales opportunity online.
I would have applied for a
grant. So we had 41 businesses
that were awarded funds last
year or since. Yeah, during the
since 24. And then also the
city has partnered with the SBA
Small Business Administration
and the Small Business
Development Center, the Sbdc,
and also offering free
personalized business
consulting. We have had 25
business owners take advantage
of those free one on one
consulting from a business
expert. So we did have some
successes in 2025, despite the
challenges of construction, we
have seen strong business
resilience and growth. 21
businesses have moved to Main
Street or expanded their space
on Main Street or extended
their hours. We did see two
business closures. One was due
to family and one was had
actually been experienced
experiencing struggles for two
years before the project began.
And then with the project, they
ended up closing their doors.
Engagement has been strong, not
just at our coffee corner
events, but also at our
milestone events that we have
been holding like a
groundbreaking ceremony. Once a
block was completed, we wanted
to make sure and have, you know,
a block celebration saying that
the block was completed. So we
had an upper block celebration
and then we completed a lower
block. So we need they needed
we didn't want them to feel
left out. So had a celebration
for a lower block, the first
lower block that was completed.
And then of course we had a
really exciting time capsule
burial celebration where we had
about 100 attendees and 65
folks submitted things that
hopefully citizens 100 years
from now will open that capsule
and understand what Vancouver
was all about, what was
important to us. I actually
donated a newspaper that was
almost 100 years old from the
Columbian. So that was exciting.
Very brittle. We also had to
plan carefully. A challenge was
planning carefully around
business events and their own
celebrations, and also worked
hard to manage expectations.
Everyone wants their block to
open up more quickly than the
other blocks, so managing
expectations on how long
construction takes in each zone
and then balancing construction
with downtown event scheduling,
we actually like, for example,
I'm using this tool here. This
shows every month. It's like an
aerial view, and the blacked
out boxes show which zones are
under construction. And then
we're mapping all these. All
these businesses have parties
and celebrations and events
like Ronald Records just had a
huge record sale where people
actually camp out on the
sidewalk the night before. So
making sure we understand where
those celebrations are taking
place on Main Street, where
construction is in relation to
that, and making sure that
party goers can still have
access to these celebrations,
even though construction might
be happening in that zone or
nearby. Okay. Thank you. So
looking ahead for the rest of
2026, we are focused on
completing the remaining blocks,
which are 800, 900 and the
Kiggins block and the evergreen
intersection, along with
completing the final perimeter
area around that Polish private
development, we will finalize
stormwater, concrete and brick
work and then move into paving
and striping on these final
blocks. Landscaping will be
installed this fall. We
actually have tentatively
scheduled September 15th to
bring the landscapers in and
then lighting. We're actually
going to be hanging street
lighting over the streets. That
will be one of the very last
things we do to make sure that
equipment, large equipment,
doesn't clip the lighting or
anything like that. So we are
currently on track to reopen
this whole corridor this fall,
which will be 4 or 5 months
ahead of schedule. Originally,
we thought we would complete
this project in spring of next
year. So right now we're really
shooting for Halloween. As
construction winds down, we
will shift into finishing
touches and activation planning
for this corridor. So how will
we continue to support
businesses for the rest of this
year? We'll continue offering
coffee corners in businesses
that are inside of construction
zones. We'll continue providing
real time construction updates
to the businesses. We'll
continue our marketing
campaigns and spotlight
Business spotlight campaigns
featuring these businesses on
social media. Virsha just
launched last week a new
program, a new grant program
called Places and Spaces. We
have a lot of businesses now
that there's beautiful paving
right against their building.
They want to set out tables and
chairs for outdoor eating so
they can apply for this Places
and spaces grant to help them
pay for those tables and chairs.
We've also partnered with the
VA to offer a business boot
camp. This is a a workshop
where business owners can come
and learn how to use social
media to really advertise, hey,
Main Street is done. My
business is more beautiful than
ever. Please come on down. And
then we'll also continue
partnering with Visit Vancouver,
different chambers and other
business groups to continue
supporting corridor businesses.
So economic momentum. We are
seeing strong leasing interest
in this corridor, new
restaurants, retail shops and
service businesses are still
choosing Main Street and some
sectors, especially beauty,
experiential and jewelry.
Retail stores are reporting
stable or even increased sales.
On the other hand, restaurants
are still feeling the impacts
of construction. In addition to
the general economy and more,
they are feeling it more
acutely, which is consistent
with what we're seeing
nationally when it comes to
restaurants. But overall, we
are hearing from new businesses
that are coming to the corridor
that this project was a major
component and a deciding factor
when they choose to invest in
our downtown. So as
construction wraps up, Main
Street will be better
positioned to host events and
street activations. We'll have
opportunities for block level
festivals, reoccurring events
like hot summer nights, perhaps,
or holiday markets during
Christmas season. The improved
pedestrian zones will support
more outdoor dining and pop up
activities, and we are already
coordinating with the VA, the
farmer's market, arts
organizations and other local
businesses to plan for more
events on Main Street and a
more vibrant event calendar
next year and beyond. So once
this project is complete, Main
Street will be safer, more
accessible, more welcoming, and
most importantly, more
connected. You know, we have
our great Officers row area now.
We have the waterfront, and
then uptown is just alive with
activity. And there's been this
interesting area in the middle
of all that. So I think out of
this entire project, that's
what excites me the most is
building that connectivity. So
now the whole of downtown will
have this strong interface
where people will move
hopefully seamlessly and
continue buying from little
zone to little zone. The vision
is that businesses will benefit
from increased foot traffic and
a stronger sense of place, and
the community will gain a
corridor that reflects its
identity and supports economic
vitality for decades to come.
So as we move into the final
stretch, we will continue
prioritizing open communication
with businesses and residents.
We will maintain strong
construction momentum
throughout the rest of this
year, and we will prepare for a
corridor wide reopening
ceremony. We're talking about a
ribbon cutting, and we will
continue to support businesses
in their recovery and growth.
As the project wraps up. So
thank you for your time and
your ongoing support during
this two year project. I'm
happy to answer any questions.
>> Excuse me, anyone with any
questions?
>> This is David. I'll throw my
hat in the ring first. First of
all, I just wanted to say that
I and others in the community
have been incredibly impressed
with your coordination, your
management, your organization,
your outreach. You've done a
fantastic job with this project.
One of the best I've ever seen
on a public improvement project.
So I just wanted to share that.
>> Tissue tissue. Thank you.
>> Did you? Yeah.
>> Thanks for the presentation
and I appreciate the metrics of
tracking the business. Which
ones are closed and looks like
far more are expanding and
doing well, which is great. I
was just curious, is there an
ability to track sales tax
revenue within this area to
just as another metric to see
what the impact is on the
economy?
>> Yeah, we've tried to talk to
the Department of Revenue on
that. We're still in
conversations, if that's an
opportunity. Otherwise it would
just be volunteer information.
And I come from a background of
business banking and oftentimes
businesses sometimes not
oftentimes, sometimes they
don't necessarily like to
volunteer that information. So
hopefully we can work, continue
talking to the Department of
Revenue. If there's any data we
can pull from our partnership
with them.
>> I'll just. Second, it's an
ongoing issue we have. It feels
a little different than my
experience in Oregon, where
because we've tried to get data,
more granular data on business
activity to help with our
economic development planning.
And it's and, and I think we
need legislative action. So
we're actually talking with
Seattle and other communities
that have been frustrated by
the lack of the granular data
that we assume revenue has
because they're they're
collecting all this. I mean,
they have all the business
license and whatnot. So it came
up just the other day. I meant
to mention this, but, you know,
we're, we're now in this
weekend closure of waterfront
way on the waterfront. So from
Friday to Monday morning, it's
closed. So it's pedestrian only.
And we want to be able to track.
What does it mean for
businesses? Is it is it you
know, we think it's probably
better but maybe we're wrong.
We don't have access to that
level of sales tax data. But
we're going to keep working on
it.
>> I can speak we've have a
couple buildings on Main Street,
and our tenants are required
per our leases to share that
information with us for terms
of percentage rent. And I can
say I can't share the specifics,
but I can share that for our
two buildings, the sales
actually have gone up.
>> You just made my week.
>> I'd just like to thank you
too. Like, like David said,
just the amount of outreach and
planning and attention to
detail is just a phenomenal.
And I really enjoyed walking. I
think it's going to look
beautiful. It's going to be a
great place to stroll up and
down. I will miss the
construction workers because it
was fun to watch them doing
their stuff. But but no, I'm
looking forward to the
completion and great job.
>> I did have one question with
respect to I know the EDA is
planning on having a sign. You
know, it's like a across the
street welcome to Vancouver or
something like that. Is that
part of this program as well or
is that independent?
>> That's independent and you
are in the know. Not many
people know about that. That's
independent. Driven.
>> Okay. Thanks.
>> Thank you. Julie.
>> Yeah. Julie. We had to
change the agenda so that Julie
could go have a meeting with
Knutr, the, the, the contractor.
So she has to go go back to
work.
>> Great. Thank you.
>> All right. With that, we.
>> The multifamily tax
exemption update.
>> Yeah. Let me kick this off
and hand it over to Brian, just
because I want to just kind of
remind everybody the context
here. So part of C series
charter is to periodically
review the MFTE program and
recommend changes and whatnot.
And so, you know, when the MFT
program was updated a few years
back, that went through you
first and then you made a
recommendation to council. And
we've been, you know, part of
our annual reporting of
development activities to
isolate the MFT activity and,
and talk about that. So, so
there hasn't been a lot, but
but this is this issue I
mentioned in a previous meeting
and said we'd come back and
talk about it. This is a new
dimension to the MFTE program
and that existing projects can
apply for extensions of their
tax exemption. So it kind of
changes the conversation or
MFTE from this was originally
just an eight year exemption or
a 12 year exemption. Now it's
so so there is and these
exemptions are starting to come
about. So we wanted to bring to
you the analysis that that that
Brian's been doing on this. And
to give you a picture of that.
So with that I won't steal
Brian's thunder. But this is
Brian Monroe who manages the
MFT program for us. Completely
non-sequitur. But I also should
have mentioned up front that we
are in the process of improving
the accessibility of our public
meetings and part of the
accessibility. As you can see,
the that we're, you know,
you're getting the real time
kind of transcription of it,
but the we're also asking, so
if you watch a city council
meeting now, every time
somebody in the room speaks,
they have to. They identify
themselves so that someone
listening who can't see, who
can't, who may not be able to
see you or see your nameplate
knows who you are. So when the.
And I didn't do a good job
because I didn't introduce
myself again. But you're being
asked to reintroduce yourself
every time you speak. So it's
you know, it takes a while to
get used to it, but but we all
need to start practicing that,
so thanks.
>> Next slide.
>> So yes, I'm Brian Monroe
with the economic housing
prosperity and the Housing
Division. I'll start with a
quick high level refresher on
the program and then move into
the new extension requirements
and benefits and impacts. Next
slide. So the program actually
started in 1997, and it's been
through many iterations. MFTE
is only allowed in certain
designated target areas
throughout the city, and
currently there are two
incentive options. There's an
eight year market rate and a 12
year income based option. The
eight year market rate option
allows market rate rents, but
also requires a fee in lieu of
affordability in order to be
approved. The 12 year income
based option requires 20% of
the total project units to be
restricted for households
earning at or below 80% of the
area median income. And as a
reference right now, the 80%
income for a two person
household is 79,000. And for a
four person household, it's
about 99,000. So for the MFT
application processing, it's a
three three phases to it really.
First is a conditional
certificate phase requiring an
application and fee. I checked
to make sure the applications
can meet the base criteria
before taking to City Council
for approval. If council
approves the application, a
conditional certificate is
issued and the project moves
into the construction phase
where the applicant has three
years to construct and receive
occupancy for the project. The
project is then eligible to
receive a final certificate,
and that triggers the beginning
of the tax exemption beginning
on the next January, one of the
of the next year. And then
lastly, we monitor the projects
for the duration of their
exemption. And that's just to
ensure the use of the property.
You know, they haven't changed
it to short term rental in the
interim. And to verify in
compliance for the households
at 80%. Moving into the
extensions, what an MFTE
project is. Within 18 months of
expiring, they can apply to
extend their exemption for an
additional 12 years. Both
market rate and income based
projects can apply regardless
of their previous Ami level or
exemption turn. In order to
receive the exemption or the
extension, projects must
recommit to providing that 20%
of the total project units at
80% of the area median income
staff then once again would
monitor the project to ensure
the household income
restrictions are met for the
new 12 year term. And then, at
the end of the extension, the
project owner, as an added
requirement, they're required
to provide one month's rent to
any households occupying an
MFTE unit at the expiration,
and this is basically intended
to help with the with
displacement issues. Once the
income and restrictions are
lifted. So as soon as that
lifts and owners can do
whatever they want well within
state law to increase rents,
that's meant to not displace
current MFTE unit holders. And
additionally, after the
extension expires, there will
still be a five year kind of
cool down period for rent
raises, and that'll be
restricted at 5% plus a CPI
factor for the next five years.
If the households in the MFTE
units leave on their own, then
the owners are allowed to go
ahead and raise those rents
accordingly. And so you'll see
up there, there's under the
market rate, there used to be
public benefits. We have eight,
ten, 12 year options and
different Ami percentages over
the years that's changed. So
whatever they had before, when
they come into their extension,
they have to now meet that 20%
of total units. So whatever
they had before, this is their
new benchmark to get the
extension. Next slide. Okay.
This chart shows the 37
certificates and associated
units that will be expiring
over the next 11 years. We
don't know if these MFTE
projects will opt to extend
their certificates. We also
don't know if the city and
council at those times will
grant any extensions, depending
on variable economic and market
conditions at the time of
expiration. But we do know that
out of the 37 unexpired
exemption certificates, 30 have
either no affordability
restriction or have a higher
income restriction at a rate of
100 or 150% of the area median
income. So the new extension
option potentially provides an
opportunity to capture
additional affordability for
those projects not currently
offering income restrictions or
ones at a higher rate. And next
slide.
>> Yeah. So I'm going to just
jump in on this one. So over
the past few years, Brian and I,
at the request of council and
leadership, we have, I guess
I'm reintroduce myself. Patrick
Quinton Executive Director of
CRA. And so we've been looking
at what the future of the MFTE
exempted tax base looks like.
And so we were able to then.
Use that previous analysis to,
to, to kind of think about what
this means, what this
potentially means with the
exemptions. Because when we did
the analysis a few years back,
we were trying to project ahead.
Like if we had a lot of
development activity, what
would the, how much growth in
that exempted tax base would we
see? We didn't have the
exemption scenario in our in
our analysis, because the way
we were trying to look at this
was we would expect projects to
roll off an exemption as new
projects came on. And that
would kind of be kind of
balance out the impact with
this. We're now looking at
projects staying on and new
potentially new projects. But
just to give you some sense, as
it says up there, about 3% of
the overall tax base is
currently within some kind of
exemption. So that you can see
the numbers. It's 38 billion in
current assessed value citywide.
And it's the what Brian just
showed you on that previous
table is about a billion in
assessed value. So so we have
that that's exempt from taxes
right now. That's the full if
you want to think of it this
way, it's it's almost
impossible that that would be
the scenario. But that's the
full value of what could seek
exemptions and remain exempt
for another 12 years. We don't
think it's going to happen that
way. But just to give you a
sense for the scale of what
we're talking about, one of the
mitigating factors is that we
have very little new volume.
And so and so if you think
about construction activity and
whatnot, like we're like, we're
not likely to see new exempted
projects on the off, you know,
off the books, if you will, for
another couple of years at the
earliest. So we do have this
lag in which that exempted base
will continue to decline as a
percentage of the base. So, you
know, essentially, if we think
of the 3% as the status quo,
there is room to absorb these
exemptions. But if all of a
sudden new development activity
picks up and we start granting
a lot of exemptions, then you
could see this 3% number grow
five, six, 7%. It's a it's a
kind of double edged sword,
right? It's a good thing. It
means we're seeing a lot of
development activity. And but
we're also seeing a lot more of
the tax base. That's, that's
outside of, of, of kind of a,
you know, property tax
assessment. Last thing I'll
share and then Brian is just,
this is the one of the more
confusing aspects of MFTE is
that it's not a direct hit to
city revenues. The city.
There's a formula for local
jurisdictions to to get
property tax revenues. That
formula doesn't change. It's
based on your previous
collections. Right. So so the
impact of, of any exempted
project is, is spread
throughout the tax base. So it
affects tax rates for, for
households and businesses. It
does not necessarily impact
city city revenues directly.
You know, long term there might
be lower growth. And it does
impact things like if you try
to do tax increment or other
things that are dependent on
tax base growth, but it doesn't
necessarily it doesn't like
when, when we make this
decision or council makes a
decision on exempting projects,
they're making it on behalf of
the tax base. They're not
making it on like with a city
revenue decision in mind. So
next slide.
>> Okay, so Vancouver
households earning at 80% Ami.
They include, you know, renters
and mid-priced apartments or
older housing stock. This
income band frequently includes
teachers, nurses, public
employees, small business
managers, workers who are
essential to the community, but
not but increasingly strained
by rising costs. Census data
indicates that about 40% of
Vancouver renters are. Housing
costs burden, and the
households may have stable
employment, but face
constraints, limiting their
ability to save for
homeownership or, you know,
absorb any significant cost
increases, you know, especially
with other variables student
debt, child care, medical
expenses, and so forth. One of
the key benefits of providing
these extensions is extending
is extended access control to
these units. The reservation of
the units at 80%, eliminates
the competition of these units
from higher wage earners. And
so it's just a little niche
that they have that they can
apply for. And with, I think we
had 400 new starts last year is
all we had. So without any new
units, the competition is just
going to be higher. So this is
one of the biggest benefits
that we have. Our comp plan
calls for 8000 new 80% Ami
units, and MFTE is one of the
better tools that we have to
try to reach that goal. Next
slide please.
>> So, you know, I. CCRA has a
this is Patrick Quinn again,
executive director CCRA CCRA
has a role in in reviewing MFTE
and making recommendations. So
if you feel kind of motivated,
you, you could weigh in on this
issue now or at some point in
the future. We're not asking
for any action today, but there
is there are considerations.
We've brought. How many one,
how many transactions have we
brought to City Council so far?
1 or 2 this year. Yeah.
>> Two this year.
>> Just the exemption. I mean.
>> Oh yeah. We have one
extension extension.
>> Yeah. So so so this has been
a the first one we brought. It
generated a lot of council city
council conversation. And
really some folks were a little
bit troubled by, by this
possibility given. The what
Brian mentioned is that in the
folks in this room probably
know this, the 80% Ami rents
are close to market in many
parts of Vancouver. So. So when
you're looking in the near term,
if somebody says, what am I
buying for this exemption
that's already built? So we're
not getting a new project out
of the ground. What am I buying
right now? It's hard to do the
math like, like you're actually
the property tax exemption.
Even the present value of it
out of the any rent savings
that we can show right now. So,
so so this is so this, there is
a, there is a, I think a much
more difficult policy question
in front of you and in front of
city council with the
extensions. And there is with
new projects. And that's the
main one is like, what's the
trade off between what we're
paying and for and what we're
what we're getting in value. So.
And, and there still is what
Brian said is there's, there's
80% units we need to preserve.
There's 8000 new 80% units.
We're supposed to deliver under
the, under the comp plan over
the next 20 years. So there has
to be some pathway to get there
on that. Even with this, the
the kind of tightening
economics on the rent. And then
obviously the, you know, the,
the, the other big policy
consideration is just the
impact on the tax base, which
is, you know, it's it's once
again, it's not a direct hit to
revenues now, but it slows
essentially slows the growth of
the tax base for the next, you
know, 12 years. You know, if
you're starting now at some
point and I have a long history
in tax increment financing,
it's the same kind of it's the
same kind of a thing. Like
you're, you're sacrificing
near-term tax revenues for
significant jump in tax
revenues in, you know, ten, 20
years in the future. It's the
same kind of, you know, you
know, decision you're making.
So, so, you know, this is the,
every time we bring a deal, we
will be bringing deals forward
on this that we will be getting,
having these conversations,
certainly with city council. So
I think if you're inclined to
weigh in on any of these topics,
we can certainly share that
with Council and make that part
of the of how we present deals
to them going forward. I think
this is one of the more
challenging policy questions on
the housing side that that City
Council has. I feel far more
strongly when we're making an
investment directly in a
project or doing a project at
the beginning, that we can
demonstrate the value. This is
a harder this is a harder
question to answer. And the.
Right now, given the the the
fact that 80% Ami units are
close to market, there's a
strong incentive for projects
to take advantage of this. So
during this current situation,
the market, that table that
Brian showed you is meet a lot
of those projects that have
expiring certificates at the
top of the table. They're
probably going to go for this
because it's it would it would
make sense not to unless they
just don't want to deal with
the, the, the compliance part
of it. So so we're likely to
see this activity pick up as we
get to those expiring.
Certificate. So so with that
question. Yeah, yeah, we're
done.
>> We're done. Well oh you're
done. I just have to make sure
I understand.
>> So so just so we can
practice, you have to introduce
yourself again.
>> Oh I'm sorry, Mark Fazio
yeah. The the question I had is
you showed about $1 billion of
properties that are currently
in the exemption somewhere
along there. So if all of those
came back online, that would be
about, what, $10 million of
property taxes that would that
would be available to the city.
I just use the 10% millage rate.
>> Once again, it's not going
to come to us.
>> So some of it goes to the
state and some.
>> So we're locked in. So so
our ability to increase
property tax right. Taylor.
Yeah. So so so we're just on
this like, is it 1% a year,
whatever, 1%, 1% plus
construction. Yeah. So. Right.
So, so we're locked into this.
And so, so it doesn't, it
neither affects our, like when
we exempt it, it doesn't hurt
us. But when it comes back
online, we don't all of a
sudden get this big jump. So
but, but it's, but it, it
lowers right. It increases the
tax base. So so property tax
rates might not go up as much
or. Right.
>> Okay.
>> And like for like, for
example, the affordable housing
fund, this is, this will seem
random, but, but it's a, it's a
ten fixed $10 million a year
that we get the rate on that
declines every year based on
growth in the tax base. So it
becomes less and less of a
burden. So if you were to bring
all this back online, the rate
that people are paying for the
affordable housing fund and
there's other levies will drop
significantly. So then it
becomes right. So so that
that's the real benefit of
getting these back into the tax
base is that it lowers the tax
across the burden across
everybody.
>> Okay. And then the other one,
just to make sure I understand
what you were saying is if
you're a landlord and the
market is say, 1700, there's
nothing scientific, about 1700.
I'm just using an example, but
but 80% of Ami is 1700. So as a
landlord, you're saying, hey,
I'll do the 12 years and get
exemption for 12 years and
still make the same amount of
money, right? Is that what
you're.
>> Yeah. I mean, but they're
also gambling. They're not
gambling. But but the choice
they have to make is what if
the market all of a sudden
picks up again and then the
rents diverge?
>> Or you hope, am I.
>> Going to.
>> Have to. And so you can.
>> Yeah. But it won't go up. I
mean so but so at some point if
the market changes, the market
rates will, will kind of
separate from 80% Ami rents.
And then.
>> But you're only 20% of your.
>> Base, but now they've got a
cushion, got 80%. They're
getting exemption. So yeah, I
mean, yeah.
>> So it's like a portfolio 80%,
you know, 60% stocks, 40% bonds.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah.
>> I think that last point is
really important because it's
basically an option. The
developers are able to opt in
to the extension, and you have
a bunch of developers who want
to do that because it makes
sense today, but it's a 12 year
extension. So you're basically
locking in those units to 80%
for 12 years, no matter what
the market does, which I think
is really important because in
Portland, we have a 99 year
obligation to provide
affordable housing, but we get
a significantly lower number of
years. It's I think it's ten
years of exemption. And so an
issue has always been that
disconnect between the timing
and the exemptions. And here
the city has opted, which I'm
so supportive of because it's
really important for from a
real estate standpoint to align
that timing. But it's basically
an option that you guys can opt
into in five years. You may
have zero developers wanting to
do MFTE or getting an exemption
or extension on it. You just
don't know where the market's
going to be. So I don't know. I,
I personally think it's to your
point, it's a little bit of a
gamble on both sides of the
table. It's both for the city
and the developers or the
property owners. But I think if
the city is prioritizing
knowing that they can provide
those units at 80%, that's the
gamble the city should be
making. And it also doesn't
seem to impact your tax revenue
that much. So it's like, you
know.
>> I wish it works that way. We
are.
>> Comments. I, I had another
one. Any other comments or so I
have a question on. Oh go ahead.
David, is that David.
>> Oh, no, that's I'll just
follow up with you. So go ahead.
>> No go ahead. I have mine's a
little separate outside of the
affordable housing.
>> Okay. Board member
Copenhaver, I just had a
question, Brian, with more, can
you kind of dive into the
relocation clause again? I I'm
sorry, I guess I wasn't
following who that all applied
to. And for how long can you
kind of dive into that a little
bit more, please?
>> Brian Monroe Yeah, that
relocation or that one month's
rent only applies to any
occupied MFTE units at the time
of the expiration. So, you know,
if you have 20 units and only
15 of them are occupied at that
time, you would only have to
provide that one month's rent
for those 15 units.
>> Okay. If they decide to
relocate. Yes. Okay.
>> They can. It's not just for
relocation. If they are staying
in the unit, they would still
receive that. It's just whether
or not they are in the unit at
the time it expires.
>> Walk me
>> To that place. I'm not
telling why. If they're not
leaving, what would be the
implication of giving them that
that fee?
>> Yeah. I just want to. So
this is a statutory. This is
from the state. Yes. So this
authorizing legislation for
this for the extension requires
this. So this is not we don't
have discretion on this but
walk them.
>> Through it.
>> Okay.
>> Yes. And basically they were,
I think, trying to protect
those MFTE unit households as
soon as that exemption expires.
Their rents can be raised. Any
utilities right now the 30% is
rent plus any utilities that
we're trying to protect. But as
soon as that expires, I think
they were looking forward to
what they could do to help
protect some of the households
from that financial impact.
>> Okay. Thank you.
>> Allysa Vitko board member. I
guess the only comment I would
have have no one has a crystal
ball, but have you all explored
projections on anticipated
rents? Mitchie's like, give me
that answer if you have it.
>> We we did it as part of the
Development Act. The the only
data point I can bring to you
right now is what we showed you
in our Development activity
report, which had. I think we
went out a couple years from
like costar or something. And I
think we it was pretty flat. I
don't think we're anticipating
in the next couple of years
seeing significant rent growth.
So, so yeah, I, I don't, I
don't think they're going to
see like a, people are going to
get a window into the future
property owners in the next
year or so. I think if they're
making decisions now, they're
still dealing with a pretty
murky future.
>> But not to get into details.
This is Mikey. It's like, we
don't like to use CoStar for
projections because they
usually include new
construction deliveries, which
can really impact projections
of rent growth. So we usually
use Yardi. So we would like to
believe that rent growth is a
little bit more robust than
what CoStar is currently
projecting for the Portland
Metro.
>> I, I see that not to put him
on the spot, but Jim Chumakov,
who does a lot of this analysis
for us is online and I think I
represented it correctly, but I
don't know if Tim Choon wants
to turn on his mic or turn off
his mute and weigh in on this
as well, but if not, he doesn't.
He can pass.
>> So yeah, I can. So for we
don't have access to Yardi
unfortunately. So Primachenko
real with the City of Vancouver
speaking. Yeah, I would, I
would love to have access to
Yardi, but we, we do not have
access to that data. So most of
our forecasting is off of
costar with. However, however
good that is so.
>> But did I represent it
correctly? Yeah, yeah. Okay.
And you know, on the rent
growth side, I will just remind
everybody, which we did in the
development activity report.
And I think there's more and
more discussion of this and
kind of the news and whatever.
When we talk about rent growth
or housing, like there's we
need income growth. So, so some
of it is like, if you really
peel it back, it's really
getting to this question of
what kind of income growth do
we expect to see in this in
Vancouver? So and that's not
it's not a rosy picture either.
So.
>> Go ahead.
>> So I guess Allysa again,
that I think that just adds to
the equation. If we don't we're
not. And you know that I mean
that's part of this
conversation. If it's not
anticipated income or rent
growth, then. Why I guess would
be, you know, that's the direct
what's the what's the benefit
versus the tax exemption?
>> So I. I think there's,
there's two parts to this is
Patrick, there's two parts to
that answer. So there's the
basic math. And I still think
at this point it is, you know,
the property. I mean, we can
offer this because is it
statutorily required that we
offer it or is it is it we we
can opt into it, right.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. So so so the math may
not work out that we're getting
dollar value back for what
we're giving up. But the, but
the benefit is that, one, we
have to figure out a way to, to
get to this supply of 80% units.
So, so that's one and two. We
really believe that the
understated part of this is
what Brian walked everybody
through, which is the the 80%.
So even if these 80% Ami units
are close to market. People who
can't apply can't, can't rent
those units unless you qualify.
So you basically are reserving
a pool of units that are only
available to people at or below
80% Ami. If, if, if you just
and if they were out in the
market with folks who different
income levels and whatnot. And
so, so, and this is goes back a
few years to some of the
analysis that that eco
northwest did for us. Mike
Wilkerson around this filtering
and, and kind of like as
housing supply is constrained
at these different income
levels, you push people at
higher incomes into lower rent,
lower cost housing. And so
they're creating more
competition for folks for whom
that would be an affordable
unit. So, so that's, that's,
that's probably in the near
term. The biggest benefit is
that that every 80% Ami unit
restricted unit that we put in
the market is a, is a unit that
folks at those income levels do
not have to compete for with
folks with higher incomes. And
I don't know how to quantify
the benefit of that so that,
you know, so you can, you know,
you can do the back, the back
of the envelope calculation on,
you know, what does it cost to
build a unit? It's not, you
know, so like, if you go back
to the table, we have 300, the
delta between income restricted
units and whatever. It's like
300. We could pick up 300 more
units. Right. So so we could do
the math on that. It's probably
it's not going to it's not an
accurate representation because
their existing units, but we
don't have the ability to
control the rents on those. So
you're kind of paying for the
unit. But then there's also the
value of, of, you know,
restricting that unit to just
those households. So, you know,
it's not, it's not a perfect
solution. It's not as, I don't
think it's not as direct a 1 to
1 benefit as when we, when we
provide incentives or subsidies
to new projects.
>> Can can entertain a board
member. Does it really matter
if it's new construction or old
construction? Because if you're
trying to hit a goal, right, to
have a certain number in the
city at 80%, that that locks
you in and guarantees it, right?
So at some point, even though
it may not math right now for
it may be a better deal for
developers if the city has a
goal and it executes on the
goal, it's a measure, why not
do it?
>> Any other questions? I have
one about MFTE that's outside
of the affordable piece, but
the MFTE is what available in
waterfront, the downtown and
heights. Is that right?
>> Yeah, there's uptown going
up to the highway 99 corridor.
There's East Vancouver, which
includes the Quarry. Vic got
forth Plain Mill Plain, the
Evergreen and Grand area. Yeah,
I think we have eight. I think
that covers them.
>> Okay. Well, the question I
had about MFTE or just I don't
know if it's a comment or
question or your response, but
when it was first set up, the
idea was, is to try to get
housing in downtown and the
waterfront because there was
none. So there wasn't
necessarily none affordable,
but there was none to begin for
anything. And so there was this
MFTE program to incentivize
people. It had nothing to do
with, you know, affordable
ability. It was just a simple
eight year type thing. So if
we're wanting to build more
housing, does it make sense for
us to just make it really
simple to try to get housing,
remove all of those other kind
of impediments or, you know, in
fee in lieu of and all that to
just to incentivize housing in
general or, or, you know, I'm
not in favor of giving an
incentive for something that
someone would build anyway. But
if it would be something that
it would spur someone on, I
guess that's the question I
would have to ask everyone if,
if that would be something that
we should consider to the city
or as a board of amending the
MFTE for that portion, because
I think if you build more
housing, I think it kind of
trickles down to every everyone
else.
>> So if if you want to kind of
put this on the agenda and we
can brainstorm on this topic, I
think that's fine. I mean, you
know, we did a recent change
and the timing was bad. And so
we probably picked the worst
time to change it. And so, so
we've really haven't seen any
activity. And, you know, I
don't know that it's all
entirely attributable to the
changes in MFTE, but somebody
could say, well, you know, the
fee in lieu payment, but and
then we just changed last year
to, to try and mitigate some of
this. You know, the fee in lieu
now can be deferred for six
years. And waive the
application fee. And we wanted
to increase the exemption
period on market rate deals to
12 years. The state doesn't
allow that. So so we tinkered
with it in a ways that we
thought would hopefully
mitigate some of this. I know
that the six year fee in lieu
still has to get paid. And so
you still got to put it in your
in your proforma somewhere and
whatever. So, but, but this,
this period of activity is
going on long enough that I
think it's a legitimate
question to ask whether we
should go back again and take a
look at MFTE and, and discuss
what you're basically saying.
Strip it away and see if we can
get pare it back and see if we
can spur new development or
temporary moratorium on things,
I mean, so.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. Brian Monroe, just to
piggyback on that, when it did
start, it was all flat
incentive. Just get butts in
seats and, and anything. And
then we've gone through a
public benefit period where you
had to provide a percentage of
your expected contribution in
some sort of public benefit.
Then we kind of figured out
that we don't need ten statues
and a three block radius on the
street. So things started
compounding. And then that's
when we decided that move, or
the affordable portion of it
was a brought in in about 2014
was when that was added. And I
think that when we go to
council, they like to have that
in their pocket that, yes, the
developers are getting this and
we're getting affordability. So
when I'm presenting in front of
them, that's where I see them
really latching on to, is this
is what the city's getting out
of it. As we're putting the
exempted taxes on the rest of
the tax base. So that's what
they're holding on to, is what
the benefit to the rest of the
city is. So.
>> Any other questions? I think
I mean.
>> We can so so we can talk
about maybe bringing back an
MFTE conversation later in the
year and, and prepare for that.
And then we can keep you
updated as these move forward.
And if at some point you want
to weigh in more specifically
on the extension question, we
can we can do that as well.
>> So I think we.
>> Should keep talking about it.
And I have the board, everyone,
it's always kind of a tricky
thing because you want to
incentivize people. But at the
same time you don't want
incentivize. I mean, when do
you stop the incentive and just
let development happen on its
own? And, and I don't know if
anyone ever knows when that,
where that answer is or where
you turn it on and turn it off.
>> I sorry, one more point.
This is Patrick Quinton again,
I there's also we've done
analysis and I won't I won't
put Tim Choon on this on on, on
the spot again. But we've done
analysis in terms of general,
you know, kind of development
economics in this current
environment. And it's our
general perception that MFTE
alone is not getting making
projects pencil. So so I think
there's that also is one of
these issues is like, we could
make all these changes, still
do not see any development
activity. And then we're going
to have to reel that back in
when things start. And so not
to say that that's not a
legitimate conversation, but
it's that's been part of this
for us back and forth in our
thinking about what do we do
with MFTE in this environment?
It may not be the answer by
itself. So.
>> Yeah, I agree. There's a lot
of things. I mean, on a city
standpoint, from permitting to
I don't know if you do the
sales tax exemption, but or
property tax, what else? But
all right. If there's no other
discussion, should we go ahead
and move on? Okay. Next item is
the wayfinding project. Is that
an okay. Welcome. Thank you.
>> Go.
>> My name is Anne Stetler, and
I'm correctly identified on
your agenda as the Parking
demand Manager. I'm pleased to
speak with you, Mr. President,
and board members, about the
Downtown Wayfinding project.
This project is part of the
parking plan that you've heard
of before. We're going to
consider an agenda that
explains its context. In the
parking plan, we're the
discussion of what is
wayfinding by way of definition.
Then I'll give you an overview
of what the current plan
contract requires, the timeline
and public engagement. And we
have an opportunity for
questions at the end of the
presentation. Relaxed. If you
have a question midterm, that's
okay too. So let me know. I
want to spend the first few
slides focusing on what is the
plan as a whole, and where does
wayfinding sit within it. So
you will remember that the plan
had three primary pillars. The
first one to adopt pricing
practices to improve on street
parking supply. Use. The second
one to expand public parking
supply through shared parking
arrangements. And lastly, to
enhance car free options for
getting to and around downtown.
So in that context, let's
consider particularly the goals
for pillar two. These four
actions focus heavily on
opening private parking to
public use. One by pursuing
agreements with property owners.
Secondly, by expanding parking
operations for public events.
Third, eliminating parking
minimums through part of the
Comp plan action, and by that,
also facilitating shared
parking between developers and
again, owners of private
parking. Last and highlighted
on this slide is to improve the
wayfinding and navigation
systems because obviously for
opening private parking to the
public, the public doesn't know
where that is. And they've
stayed away from those parking
entrances their entire parking
life. Right? So we're changing
behaviors. Wayfinding
definitions will help us guide
this conversation. Wayfinding
refers to the process of
navigating a city or a
landscape. The tools involved
can be signage, maps or digital
navigation tools, and they
assist individuals in this
process. Now, in terms of
outcome, we expect that
wayfinding is that thing that
makes navigation experiences
easy, intuitive, hospitable,
essentially increasing the
welcome that people feel on all
modes of transportation to and
around downtown. We're
responding to a need because
downtown is growing and it
needs a modern wayfinding
system. Our premise is that the
existing wayfinding and
navigation systems downtown are
limited and outdated. They
don't anticipate, for instance,
projected growth or align with
expanding mobility options or
direct public to private
parking assets. Yet the lack of
this modern system is
contributing to a sense of
congestion and perhaps, in fact,
congestion as people circle and
a perception of the lack of
parking and mobility options.
Let's talk about this project
and how it will unfold over
time in 2026. And currently
underway is phase one, which is
the wayfinding investment plan.
Built on that plan will be a
series of implementation
contracts that will probably
last from 2027 through to 2030.
We see that as phase two. The
scope of work for phase one is
to evaluate the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and
threats in the existing
wayfinding that we have in
Vancouver to document the needs
that we're experiencing as
people and users in downtown.
And what are the requirements
of those groups? And lastly, to
identify wayfinding best
practices that are applicable
to our situation, tailored to
Vancouver. The deliverable
would be a comprehensive,
multi-year wayfinding
investment plan. It should do
the following things include a
set of recommendations for
those multi-year investments
that would improve wayfinding.
Recommend what kind of phasing
that implementation sequence
should take. That reflects the
evolution of downtown growth,
and also directs the public to
the private parking and to new
mobility options. The program
should be comprehensive enough
that we have the total
understanding of what our
wayfinding goals are, and what
improvement steps are needed
before we launch work. In other
words, it's a sequence that's
planned up front. Right now, I
want to focus on the timeline
and the public engagement
that's coming up for this first
year contract, which results in
the investment plan. We started
the program in February of 2026,
and we expect the investment
plan to be complete in December
of 2026. The first phase was
alignment in terms of
understanding what the
consultants inheriting with
existing city policy and
programs that have already been
developed. We're now, as of May
21st, amidst the survey and
research focus, and I'll come
back to the surveys in a little
in the next slide. And then by
September of 2026, we will have
finished that research and
start a prototype installation.
The prototype is a way of
testing the results of the
surveys against how public
actually interfaces with the
consultants recommended
communication. We know we're
going to have to communicate in
multiple forms, but what are
the principles behind that that
will be exposed in the
prototype installation to which
the public is invited? Last,
we'll synthesize the total
information from those
processes and come up with a
recommendation that I described
in the earlier slide. Bear in
mind, all of that results in
the progressive plan from 2027
through 2030. Now, public
engagement, we're doing a lot
of this. We're engaging with
the public at large through
online surveys and through
intercept surveys at events.
This is to capture anyone and
everyone, and it's an unlimited
number of surveys, right? The
key stakeholder survey would be
recorded interviews with
business owners, property
owners and interest group
leaders, and the last subject
would be last topic would be
local subject experts. People
who are very strong already in
their own right on transit,
tourism, development and
cultural amenities. In
Vancouver. We expect these to
be underway from June, say June
8th through July 15th. The CCRA
members certainly are invited.
We want your observations and
experiences. We'll notify you
by an email with an invitation
to complete the stakeholder
surveys by July 15th. And of
course, we'll reach you to
attend the prototype
installation tours in September.
After that, the next step for
the CCRA would be to review the
draft plan, which we expect
would be in November or
December. That concludes my
presentation, and we're ready
to talk about any questions or
comments you may have.
>> Thank you. Any any comments
or questions?
>> Allysa Vitko board member.
Is this restricted to just
parking information or general?
>> It's more general, it's more
general. So certainly one of
the key elements is how do
people find parking quickly
instead of circulating? That's
real important. So not to be
discarded, but also what
happens when you get out of
your car? Where the heck are
you? How do you get to the
place that you want to go? What
are the options of places you
want to go? Because we want it
to facilitate exploration, as
well as a direct, mission
driven visit. So we're reaching
all modes of transportation.
Little infants to adults. How
do people get around regardless
of their life stage or their
ability? Okay.
>> No, just just to emphasize
that like, this is such a, the
interactions with downtown are
so car oriented right now, just
given the history of Vancouver
is more of a suburban community
and that that the wayfinding
really is meant to be
comprehensive, holistic. But we
have to address this first
thing, which is people drive
into downtown expecting to park
right where they're going. And
so we need to, we need to, we
need to kind of interrupt that
behavior. And so there's a
parking element to this help
you find parking. And some of
that's like, before you even
get in the car, you know, we
have a lot of website
information now that's new. But
then, but then like Anne said,
like, and then give you a
feeling of comfort that, okay,
I can get out of my car. I
don't need to worry about, you
know, how to get around or
whatnot. And so it's a real, it
really is. There's a lot of
piece, not a change in how
people interact with downtown
the way that they've done
historically. Right now. It's,
it's like we're kind of in the
midst of this transition
because we've, we've, you know,
it's, we've tried to price
parking properly and the events.
So people are beginning to
experience a lot of the
problems parking downtown. So
we great to have wayfinding now,
but, but some of this is
actually positive for the
wayfinding thing because people
will be have already
experienced the pain points and
and then hopefully be receptive
to what's to come on in
directing them to solutions.
>> So I was excited about the
parking project because parking
is like the bane of my
existence as a developer. And
I've always felt like it's
always underutilized. People
always overestimate how much
parking they need for their
teams or whoever. And so I was
excited when this whole topic
of Vancouver trying to give
public access to private
parking came up because I was
like, yes, that's exactly what
everyone should be doing. I had
not thought about the change of
user behavior and kind of the
user experience of getting
around downtown, and it's
interesting to have the Main
Street Promise project update
today together with this. And
then also obviously the
Vancouver waterfront, which has
been delivering over the last
15 years. It's just kind of
like it feels like we're moving
towards a much more walkable
kind of urban center, which is
really exciting. So I'm excited
to see the prototype. I think I
was a little disappointed not
to see some initial thoughts on
the prototype, but I'm excited
to see it.
>> I see your finger on the
only for readiness. Oh, okay.
>> Allysa Vitko again, building
off Michie's comment, I do
agree my personality type. I
hate inefficiency and
underutilization of parking. So
how how has that been going? As
part of the conversations with
the private.
>> Well, that makes me cheese
overture explicitly a question.
So let's talk about that for a
minute. We are well along in
the first year of engaging
property owners who have excess
parking and who are aware that
they can make that excess
parking available to the public.
So right now we're advertising
both on our website and in
email, social media, the
availability of five parking
structures in the downtown. You
know them. Dyches is one of
them, and we've really
appreciated working with your
team. The 703 Broadway property,
just north of that, near the
cinemas. Our own city parking
lot, which is all the the
parking go that you access off
of sixth Street between
Washington and Columbia. And
then the two new garages in the
waterfront, which really
boosted the amount of parking
that we can make available to
the public, especially since
those are in a progressive mode,
not yet fully utilized as they
are intended to be a few years
from now. So if you think about
what that means, we've got
roughly 2000 parking spaces in
the waterfront where we have
our most competitive parking
demand, and then going north of
the railroad tracks to the
three I mentioned. First, we
have 1300 parking spaces. Even
if you count the public garage
off of Sixth Street as only 600,
there's more than that. But
we've we're calling it 600 for
purposes of weekend event days.
Okay. Now, what we're doing at
this point is collecting with
from those property owners and
through their generosity, that
record of what kind of
occupancy and transaction data
they have. We're not interested
in revenue. We're not
interested in any of that kind
of financial data. But we do
want to track to what extent
are we occupying garages,
daytimes, weekdays, daytimes on
a weekend when we have an event,
and then evenings. We've got
tremendous opportunity to have
overnight parking vacancies
used by new housing projects.
So those are the three areas
that we're poised to max as the
downtown grows and as people
become more comfortable with
walking a block to where they
park, or walking three blocks
from where they park to Esther
Short or the waterfront. So
we're trying to figure out how
much traction can we get, how
much behavior change can we get
using the national platforms
Parkwhiz and Spot Hero so
people can reserve parking in
advance, avoid circulating to
find it and take some of that
pressure off of on street
parking. That of course,
relates to pillar one, which is
how best do we use the on
street parking, right? Big
topic, exciting evolution.
>> Yeah. And our approach on
this has been to work with and,
and working with these folks
directly is to work with the
private parking owners that
want to work with us and then
work our way out, but we've
found some fantastic partners
right away. And like you
mentioned, the waterfront
parking garages want they need
more utilization. So they're,
they're very willing to work
with us. So over time, we hope
to build the build on this. And,
you know, if you think about
downtown geographically, it'd
be nice to have, you know,
could we get a couple lots over
here that we're working with so
that we're not it's not like
right now it's really focused
right downtown, but that's
still where the most conflict
happens. And, you know, we are
part of what has happened
because of our the ambition of
our parking plan is that Anne
is now collaborating with our
parks team and we track all the
events. And so we are starting
this weekend. We are going to
be like every summer is
historically high usage, so we
would expect to have more
visitors at events this summer
than we had last summer. So and
that and that's all. Most of
them are parking somewhere
because we don't have a good
mode split yet, but we are
actively working to like both
help those event organizers get
people the right information on
parking and, and, and, and kind
of see if we can avoid a lot of
these conflicts, but then real
time look at the data because
we now have data on utilization,
we have much better data than
we've ever had. And so we can
then kind of in real time, see,
okay, that created this, this
issue or that issue. So we're
just a lot more sophisticated
about it now in terms of just
understanding what people's
behaviors are. And the more of
the private parking we get into,
you know, online, the better
able we're going to be able to
resolve all that. So it's a
fascinating real time. I know
it's the bane, but it's also it
ends up being a kind of a
fascinating thing to be working
on because it's just, you know,
you have all these different
levers to pull and, and the
data is great. Like we now have
a data rich. So I was just
thinking, I have them in
September, we can bring it
sooner, but really our parking
team can do a fantastic
presentation on utilization and,
and, and show how it, you know,
we know, like peak periods and
how people park and where they
park and like, we shut down
waterfront way. We now know
where we can see on the map
what happened with the
utilization. So we can track,
okay, where are we seeing
utilization pop because we
closed those two blocks down.
The more if we have private
park data. So Anne's been
working to get share your data
so we can help you. We can see
how much of the, you know, if
we know we took spots offline,
is that going into garages or
is it going ten blocks north?
It's going somewhere. And so
the more data we have, the more
we can kind of understand the
impact of these different
different programs. And so.
>> Yeah.
>> And I just want to go back
to the original thing that
there are a lot of folks didn't.
And or the gay Montez who runs
our parking team who are
itching to, to start looking at
new signs. And, and I've been
the one who keeps telling them
I want a plan for the whole
system first. It's easy to geek
out. There's a lot of cool
technology, obviously, and so
we'll get there. But we really
need to understand the full
picture of what we're trying to
accomplish downtown before we
start start. And there are so
many different, I mean, and
didn't have this, but we could
show a bunch of the signage
that exist downtown. That's all
from different eras and
different vintage. It's like,
it's like a whole mishmash. And
so eventually that'll all get
that'll all get fixed. So.
>> Yeah.
>> Thank you. Yeah. Thank you.
And yes, it's going to be
important because hopefully
Vancouver's going to grow with
more housing, more businesses,
more visitors. And so you're
going to be you are in front of
all this to help meet all this.
Okay. So with that, we have we
don't need an executive session.
There's nothing there. I think
we're good. Right. Any other
discussion comments? All right.
With that, I guess we're
adjourned. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you all