Kennedy Stewart said the idea is to target speculators and developers who buy up commercial property and leave it vacant.
On Tuesday, council gave the green light for Kennedy to pursue the idea of an empty stores tax with the provincial government. Similar to the empty homes tax, the city needs the province to introduce legislation to change the Vancouver Charter before it can impose an empty stores tax.
Stewart said the vast majority of commercial property owners are good owners who are actively seeking to fill the property. They’re not the target of the tax, he said. The number of owner-occupied businesses decreased by 16 per cent from 2012 to 2019, while the number of storefronts owned by numbered corporations increased by 41 per cent and the number owned by developers increased by 71 per cent.Article content
“Not only does this open the possibility of more supply, but it also has the added benefit of lowered rents,” he said.San Francisco and New York have recently enacted similar measures. San Francisco’s tax, which took effect at the start of the year, charges landlords a rate starting at $250 a linear foot of storefront for spaces that are empty more than 182 days in a year.Article content
“This is just a slap in the face,” said Lowe. “This is going to kill us. We are already hanging by a thread.” Eng said Chinatown, Gastown, Strathcona and the Downtown Eastside would be the most affected by an empty stores tax as the neighbourhoods are the centre of the opioid crisis and property owners are already struggling to find tenants to operate viable businesses in the environment.
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