Collingwood
Commercial Area Profile

The Collingwood Business Improvement Area (BIA) runs along Kingsway from Rupert Street to Boundary Road (see Figure 1). The BIA comprises approximately 34,600 residents, 349 businesses and 2,400 daytime employees. Another 3,371 employees work within a one-kilometre area of the BIA, providing an additional potential market for businesses locating here.¹

Comprised primarily of commercial district zoning (C-2) and some comprehensive development zoning (CD-1), the Collingwood BIA contains a mix of old and new developments. The area is ideally suited for businesses catering to ethnically diverse families, as well as businesses that thrive on significant exposure to drive-by traffic.

This report provides an overview of the Collingwood commercial market, focusing primarily on zoning and development potential as well as business and employee mix. The Collingwood Neighbourhood Market Profile focuses on key market information including population, household and spending statistics.

^{1. Unless otherwise stated, source of all statistics is City of Vancouver or Small Business BC (InfoCanada) data files. Info Canada files are based on postal code boundaries. As such, some minor inconsistencies with actual BIA profile may occur.}

Fast Facts

• 17 blocks, 34,672 residents, 96 commercial properties, 349 businesses and 5,761 daytime employees in the BIA

• Supports a broad range of smaller retail and services. 71% of all businesses in the BIA have less than 5 employees and 25% have 5-20 employees.

• Commercial stock is comprised primarily of older one- and two-storey commercial buildings, which are likely to be redeveloped in the future as the commercial market continues to grow.

• Significant vehicle volumes pass through the BIA to and from the downtown core exposing commuters to the BIA each day.

• Between 2000 and 2005, the number of businesses in the BIA grew by 18.8%, lower than the Vancouver average of 20.3% and higher than the GVRD average of 13.5%.

• Primarily C-2 zoning with some CD-1

• Over $85 million in assessed commercial properties, representing 3% of commercial properties outside of downtown Vancouver. Ranked 15^th highest among Vancouver BIAs.

• Strong representation in eating and drinking establishments; health services; miscellaneous retail; personal services; furniture, home furnishings and equipment stores; food stores; engineering and management services; business services; and membership organizations.

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Physical Profile

Collingwood is at the eastern edge of the City of Vancouver – approximately 6 kilometres from City Hall and 7.25 kilometres from downtown.2 The 17-block BIA is home to 96 commercial properties and 349 businesses. Collingwood is known for its multi-cultural flare. The BIA has one structure listed on the Vancouver Heritage Register – 3250 Kingsway Avenue (Sir Guy Carleton Elementary School). Another three are in close proximity: 5835 Ormidale Street, 5882 Tyne Street and 3226 East 44th Avenue.

Key elements of the BIA’s physical profile are discussed below.

^{2. Source: City of Vancouver VanMap.}

Zoning Mix

The Collingwood BIA comprises over 31 acres of land, 731,413 square feet of commercial area and 437,305 square feet of residential area. City of Vancouver records indicate that the BIA consists of almost two-thirds Commercial District Zoning (C-2), and just over one-third Comprehensive Development Zoning (CD-1), as illustrated in Figure 2.

This zoning emphasizes provision of a wide range of goods and services in a central location to serve a large neighbourhood catchment area.

Assessed Value

In terms of assessed value, Collingwood ranks fifteenth highest among Vancouver BIAs. The total 2005 assessed value of all Collingwood BIA commercial properties was $85,206,309. This represents 3% of the value of all Vancouver BIA properties outside of Downtown and contributes over $1.4 million in property taxes annually. The lower assessed value reflects that many of the commercial properties in the BIA are pre-1991 one- and two-storey units.

Age and Quality of Buildings

The majority of commercial buildings in Collingwood (38%) were constructed from 1971 to 1990. Many others (34%), however, were constructed from 1946 to 1970, and fully 20% were constructed pre-1946, as illustrated in Figure 3a. More than one half of these pre-1946 buildings were significantly renovated pre-1991, shortening their “effective build” year, as illustrated in Figure 3b. Only 8% of buildings in the BIA are newer, post-1991 buildings.

Lease and Vacancy Rates

With parking a significant challenge for local business owners, the BIA consistently has retail and office properties available.³ A January 2006 survey of the BIA found retail lease rates ranging from $900 to $1900 per month for street front retail spaces (square footage not available). A few office properties were also identified, however lease rates for these properties were unavailable.

^{3. BIA physical survey, January 2006 by National Land Consultants, Lucent Strategies and Girard Land Services.}

Development Potential

The Collingwood BIA runs along Kingsway at the Eastern edge of Vancouver. The area was once one of Vancouver’s primary commercial centers, dating back to the 1890s. With the removal of the old Interurban street car line in the 1960s, which connected Collingwood to New Westminster and other parts of Greater Vancouver, the area’s profile declined for several decades. Development of the Metrotown area in Burnaby to the east, contributed to a stalling effect on commercial development in Collingwood.

The Expo SkyTrain rapid transit line, which opened in 1986, helped to revive the area into a thriving multicultural community with a small town feeling in the midst of the big city. Recent residential densification along the SkyTrain line is significantly growing the residential market that the Collingwood BIA serves.

Because the Collingwood BIA is a narrow strip along both sides of Kingsway, development potential is more conducive to smaller scale developments and less so for lot consolidation to support large retail development. Parking is limited on parts of Kingsway during peak periods (7-9 a.m. and 3-6 p.m.), which can be a barrier for development. However, as a major transportation corridor, Kingsway also provides business exposure to tens of thousands of daily commuters.

Some commercial properties in the BIA have been redeveloped into newer commercial developments and/or three-storey mixed-use buildings, with ground floor commercial with two storey residential units above. However, much of the BIA remains older single and two-storey retail units, which likely will be redeveloped as market forces dictate. With the booming residential market, some existing commercial space along Kingsway is being contemplated for residential use. For example, there is a current development permit application at 3378 Kingsway.

With strong anchor tenants, and a growing residential base, the BIA shows potential for continued growth, and major businesses are getting on board to take advantage. For example, at the heart of the pedestrian core of the BIA, Starbucks and Safeway have partnered to redevelop the area’s aging grocery store as a new, upscale store, catering to residents’ changing needs.

Business Mix

The zoning mix and commercial building structure of the Collingwood BIA primarily support service and retail establishments. The majority of businesses (71%) in the BIA are ‘micro’ sized – less than five employees, followed by businesses with 5-20 employees (25%). The BIA supports a broad retail and service base, including eating and drinking places; health services; miscellaneous retail; personal services; furniture, home furnishings and equipment stores; food stores; engineering and management services; business services; and membership organizations, as described in more detail below.

Business Types

Similar to the average for the City of Vancouver and GVRD, the Collingwood BIA is primarily comprised of service and retail businesses. Reflecting its commercial zoning, the BIA has more service and retail than average for the City and the GVRD, and significantly less “other” such as wholesale and manufacturing, as Figure 4 illustrates.

Table 1 provides a detailed breakdown of business types for the Collingwood area as compared with the City and the GVRD.

Of the 51% service businesses, the most common are health services (21%), personal services (16%), engineering and management services (13%), business services (11%) and membership organizations (10%), as outlined in Table 2 below. Of the 28% retail businesses, most are eating and drinking places (43%), miscellaneous retail (19%), furniture, home furnishings and equipment stores (15%) and food stores (14%), also illustrated in Table 2.

As for individual business types, there are a significant number of restaurants (36) as well as beauty salons (17), physicians and surgeons (11), dentists (8), associations (8), accountants (7), retail grocers (6), business management consultants (6), real estate (5), videotapes and discs renting and leasing (5), optometrists (5) and attorneys (5). This mix reflects the BIA’s niche – providing a variety of sales and services to meet the needs of its residential base.

Business Size

The Collingwood BIA is primarily comprised of ‘micro’ sized businesses with less than 5 employees (71%), followed by small sized businesses with 5-20 employees (25%), as Figure 5 illustrates. Very few larger businesses exist, and include:

Businesses with 100-249 employees:

• Spectrum Society for Community Living, a membership organization

• London Drugs Ltd.

• Royal Pacific Realty Ltd.

Businesses with 50-99 employees:

• Sir Guy Carleton Elementary School

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Age of Business

Reflecting Collingwood’s history as a commercial and residential area in Vancouver, many Collingwood businesses (32%) have been operating for over 10 years. However, the area is also in transition, with fully 28% of businesses operating for only 1-2 years. Figure 6 provides more detail on the distribution of business ages.

Long-time businesses provide a stable market base, while fresh new businesses are increasing the area’s appeal for shoppers.

Anchor Tenants and Dominant Businesses

Collingwood maintains a mix of long-term family businesses and anchor tenants such Safeway and a moderate turnover of small businesses in a variety of retail and office properties. As previously discussed, service and retail are dominant business sectors in the Collingwood area. The BIA has four major service business clusters including:

• transportation services

• personal services

• health services

• membership organizations

On a percentage basis, the Collingwood BIA has significantly more eating and drinking establishments than average for the City and the Region. Reflecting its zoning structure, the BIA also has significantly less manufacturing businesses than average. The BIA’s strong service business base would also benefit from additional retail stores including apparel and accessories and hardware/home operation.

Change in Business Mix

Between 2000 and 2005, the number of businesses in the Collingwood BIA grew by 18.8%, lower than the Vancouver average of 20.2%, but significantly higher than the GVRD average of 13.9%. Growth was highest among the following sectors:

• transportation, communication, utilities – 7 businesses (100% increase)

• finance, insurance and real estate – 8 businesses (33% increase)

• service – 28 businesses (19% increase)

• retail – 12 businesses (14% increase)

The manufacturing and wholesale sectors declined in this time period, reducing by 60% and 12% respectively. This sector declined by significantly more than average for the City of Vancouver or the GVRD In terms of sub-industries, the fastest growing in the BIA were eating and drinking places (12 businesses), engineering and management services (8), health services (6) and personal services (5).

The growth in restaurants, health and personal services reflects the needs of the growing residential demographic, while the growth in engineering and management services reflects the general market growth in this sector throughout the city and the region.

Figure 7 provides a breakdown of the top 10 fastest growing Collingwood BIA sub-industries, as defined by Statistics Canada.

Demand Potential

Collingwood demand potential comes from three primary sources – residents in the area, BIA employees, and other employees in the surrounding area. In addition, businesses in the BIA are exposed to thousands of daily commuters and City residents traveling by bus, bike and car. Each of these potential customer groups is discussed below.

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Residential Base

Just over 34,600 residents live within the BIA’s primary catchment area (22nd Avenue/Boundary Road/ 45th Avenue/ Slocan Street) and provide the primary market base for businesses.

The Collingwood residential base is a vibrant community of ethnically diverse, family-oriented households. A multi-cultural centre, the area is comprised of more residents with Chinese, East Indian and Filipino heritage than average for the City of Vancouver. Chinese is the dominant household language for area residents, rather than English as in the City and the GVRD. Many other languages are commonly heard in the area, including Punjabi, Tagalog (Filipino), Vietnamese and Hindi.

Household sizes in the area are larger than the City and the GVRD average with more married couples and more children per household. Collingwood is a place where people establish roots, with more homeowners and fewer migrants in the past five years than average for the city. Collingwood is a working neighbourhood. Residents of the area have lower education levels and lower household incomes than average for the City of Vancouver and the GVRD. Residents of Collingwood are also less likely to be engaged in the worforce because of the higher than average number of children and seniors. The area has a higher proportion of lone-parent families as well as a higher proportion of new Canadians. The Collingwood Neighbourhood Market Profile provides more detail about this important market segment.

Employee Base

2,400 people are employed within the BIA itself.⁴ A further 3,361 people work within 1 kilometre of the BIA, (primarily the Telus office on the Burnaby side of Boundary Road), providing an additional potential market base for businesses. Between 2000 and 2005, the Collingwood employee base increased by 31%, whereas employment for the businesses in the surrounding area increased by 28%.

^{4. Source of employee information is InfoCanada via Small Business BC.}

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Pedestrian and Vehicle Traffic

Kingsway is a major transportation corridor running through the BIA providing the BIA with thousands of daily commuters (40,000-50,000 vehicles per day) and City residents. As Figure 8 indicates, major intersections along Kingsway see tens of thousands of vehicles per day (red, orange and yellow areas on the map). The busiest area is between Tyne and Boundary Road in the eastern portion of the BIA. The intersection at Kingsway and Boundary Road sees the highest vehicle volumes at 55,000 vehicles per day; however, all intersections see well over 25,000 vehicles. Parking restrictions on Kingsway during peak periods can be a challenge. However, with ample street parking in the surrounding neighbourhood and frequent bus service, businesses in the Collingwood BIA have significant potential to tap into the high traffic volumes on the major routes and capture “through-traffic” as customers.

The City of Vancouver conducts pedestrian counts for approximately 250 blocks in the city, with the majority being in the downtown area. The most current pedestrian information available is for 2002. The representative location selected by the City for the Collingwood BIA is the 3300 block of Kingsway, which is one of the busier pedestrian blocks in the BIA.

The 3300 block of Kingsway sees in the range of 2,126 (north side) to 3,420 (south side) pedestrians per day. The City ranks this combination of pedestrian activity to sidewalk size as a level of service ‘B’, which represents a relatively moderate pedestrian throughput. The dominant hour for pedestrian traffic is 11-12 pm on the north side and 12-1 pm on the south side. The location ranks 233rd (north side) and 121st (south side) of the 501 block locations ranked in the 2002 survey. By comparison, the busiest block in the City (north side of Robson at Burrard) sees 29,182 pedestrians per day, with a level of service ‘D’ (significantly more crowded).

Since May 2002 was the first time the Collingwood BIA was surveyed, trend analysis is not currently available.

Conclusions

Commercial businesses catering to ethnically diverse and larger, family-oriented households will find a solid market base in the Collingwood BIA. The commercial zoning in the area, which allows for a wide range of goods and services in a central location to serve large neighbourhoods, provides significant business potential in this area.
Much of the BIA remains older single and two-storey retail units, which likely will be redeveloped as market forces dictate. Development potential is more conducive to smaller scale developments, but with strong anchor tenants, and a growing residential base, the BIA shows potential for continued growth.

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