| Mount Pleasant |
The Mount Pleasant Business Improvement Area (BIA) encompasses the commercial neighbourhood known as UpTown Vancouver. The BIA boundaries are Guelph to Ontario on East Broadway, 7th to 12th Avenue on Kingsway and 7th to 16th Avenue on Main Street (see Figure 1). It comprises more than 19,000 residents, 500 businesses and approximately 3,900 employees.1
The Mount Pleasant BIA comprises 37 acres of land, approximately 1.3 million square feet of commercial area and over 460,000 square feet of residential area.
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Age and Quality of Buildings
Reflecting its heritage character, most commercial buildings in Mount Pleasant were constructed pre-1970, with more than 30% pre-1946, as illustrated in Figure 3A. However, nearly one-third of those built pre-1946 were substantially upgraded between 1946 and 1970, making their “effective” build year more recent, as illustrated in Figure 3B.
Lease and Vacancy Rates
Commercial vacancy rates in Mount Pleasant are quite low. A January 2006 search of listings found a total of five commercial properties for lease and two commercial/residential properties for sale. Lease rates ranged from $20 (net) to $32 (gross) per square foot for retail space, $12 (gross) per square foot for office space and approximately $14.50 per square foot for industrial space.
Asking sale prices were $249,000 for 1,007 square feet and $159,000 for 500 square feet of strata-titled storefront retail space.
Development Potential
UpTown Vancouver is a mix of old and new. A number of key heritage commercial and residential buildings act as landmarks for the area and enhance its historic character. However, the area is in the midst of a substantial redevelopment that brings significantly expanded residential market base through increased density, as well as new commercial opportunities. It is also adjacent to the South East False Creek area of the City, which is planned for similarly ambitious redevelopment, including the 2010 Olympic Athlete’s Village.
A number of key commercial-residential developments currently underway will significantly change the profile of this BIA.
Current Developments:
- 1 Kingsway (at Main) – mixed use development by the City of Vancouver. Opening September 2007, this development comprises an entire block and will consist of two levels of commercial (auto dealership), one level of community/recreational (community center and public library) and 98 units of market rental housing.
- Corner of 12th and Main – mixed commercial and residential – 6,594 sq ft of retail and 41 dwelling units.
- Kingsway at 12th – 97 dwelling units combined with automotive commercial currently under development
With completion of the above, most of the significant development potential of the area will be realized and build-out will most likely occur within the next 3 to 5 years if present market trends continue.
Remaining Opportunities Include:
- East Broadway – the area from Ontario to Guelph is in transition. In addition to a handful of heritage buildings, a number of 1940s-1970s era commercial buildings remain, which have the potential for joint-use commercial/residential similar to recent redevelopment just west of the BIA on West Broadway. This is particularly true on the North side of East Broadway between Guelph and ½ block east of Kingsway, as well as between Main and Ontario.
- Southeast corner of East Broadway and Guelph – empty lot – level and ready for development.
- Between 11th and 16th, Main Street – contains a mix of old and new developments. “New” is more pronounced on the west side of Main, with mixed-use development potential on much of the east side that would add to the retail mix and increase the residential support base.
- Southwest corner of 12th and Main – lot for sale level site. Area is filled, level and ready for development.
Business Mix
The zoning mix and commercial building structure of the Mount Pleasant BIA primarily support small service and retail businesses. A total of 534 businesses operate in the BIA, with the majority being ‘micro’ sized – less than five employees. Major business types include eating and drinking establishments, health services, business services, food stores and furniture/home furnishings, as described in more detail below.
Business Types
The Mount Pleasant BIA is primarily comprised of service and retail businesses. As Figure 4 illustrates, it has significantly more retail businesses than average for the City or the GVRD, and correspondingly lower proportions of all other sectors except wholesale.
Table 1 provides a detailed breakdown of business types for the Mount Pleasant area as compared with the city and GVRD.
Of the 43% service businesses, the majority (38%) are eating and drinking establishments – primarily restaurants and cafes, followed by food stores (10%) and furniture/home furnishing and equipment stores – particularly specialty stores (10%), as outlined in Table 2 below.
Of the 36% retail businesses, most fall into health (15%), business (11%) and educational (7%) services, also outlined in Table 2.
As for individual business types, there are also a significant number of beauty salons (14) attorneys (13), social service and welfare organizations (14) and accountants (10).
Business Size
The Mount Pleasant BIA is primarily comprised of smaller-sized businesses with less than 5 employees. Fully 65% of businesses fall into this category, followed by 30% sized 5-20 employees, as Figure 5 illustrates.
A few larger businesses exist, including:
Businesses with 100-249 employees:
- Hi Fibre Textiles Ltd., a clothing manufacturer
- Coast Foundation Society, a social service organization
Businesses with 50-99 employees:
- James R Moder Crystal, a lighting fixture and supplies manufacturer
- Kwong Chow Congee Noodle House restaurant
- Planet Bingo
- BC Midtown Community Health
Age of Business
Reflecting Mount Pleasant’s long history as a commercial and residential area in Vancouver, many Mount Pleasant businesses (15%) have been operating for over 15 years. However, also reflecting the area’s redevelopment, almost one quarter are only 1-2 years of age. Fully 44% of businesses in this area have been around less than five years. Figure 6 provides more detail on the distribution of business ages.
This combination of old and new provides a solid foundation of long-standing businesses as well as an attractive freshness that is one of the keys to keeping customers interest and loyalty.
Anchor Tenants and Dominant Businesses
Anchor tenants in the Mount Pleasant BIA include Buy-Low Foods and Shoppers Drug Mart (both within the Kingsgate Mall), IGA Plus, Planet Bingo and Goh Ballet.
As previously discussed, “eating and drinking establishments” is the dominant business type in the Mount Pleasant BIA. These establishments are distributed throughout the BIA but are primarily clustered in three major areas – Main and Broadway, Main between 11th and 12th, and East Broadway at Kingsway.
The eclectic mix of anchor tenants, combined with dominance of eating and drinking establishments as well as other major business groupings described above, provides a broad customer base for all businesses in the BIA.
Change in Business Mix
Mount Pleasant is a growing area. Between 2000 and 2005, the number of businesses in the BIA grew by 19%, slightly above the Vancouver average of 20.2% and the GVRD average of 13.5%. Growth was highest among the following sectors:
- public administration – 12 businesses (300% increase)
- construction – 7 businesses (175% increase)
- manufacturing – 13 businesses (118% increase)
- transportation/communications – 8 businesses (100% increase)
Only the wholesale sector declined in this time period, reducing by six businesses, or 29%.
In terms of sub-industries, the fastest growing were eating and drinking establishments (22), followed by public administration (13) and miscellaneous retail (10). Figure 7 provides a breakdown of the top 10 fastest growing Mount Pleasant sub-industries, as defined by Statistics Canada.
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Demand Potential
Mount Pleasant BIA 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 traveling by bus, bike and car. Each of these potential customer groups is discussed below.
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Residential Base
Just over 19,000 residents live within a one-kilometre radius of the Main and Broadway, and provide the primary market base for businesses. In the 2005 Mount Pleasant BIA shopper intercept survey, 63% of respondents were locals and almost 25% shop in the area on a daily basis.
The Mount Pleasant residential base is a young adult, well-educated and mobile community with a high population density. The area is comprised of more residents with British, Canadian and Filipino heritage than average for the City of Vancouver, and significantly fewer with Chinese heritage.
Household sizes in this area are smaller than the City or GVRD averages, and with a higher proportion of apartment-type housing, the area is home to a greater percentage of renters than average for the City. However, several new market residential condominium projects currently underway are creating a significant increase in the proportion of private dwellings for purchase, which can be expected to significantly affect the residential composition in the next five years.
Reflecting their younger age and smaller household size, Mount Pleasant residents exhibit lower household incomes than the Vancouver or GVRD average. However, with higher-than- average education levels, these young residents have strong capacity for increased disposable income in the future.
The Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood Market Profile provides more detail about this important market segment.
Employee Base
Approximately 3,900 people are employed within the BIA itself3; however more than 23,090 work within a one-kilometre radius of the BIA, providing an additional potential market base for businesses. The daytime employee base grew 10% between 2000 and 2005.
3. Due to significant number of "unknown" business sizes listed in 2005 Census data, an employee growth rate within the BIA cannot be calculated. Source of employee count with the BIA is Mount Pleasant BIA 2005 business survey.
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Pedestrian and Vehicle Traffic
Several major transportation corridors in the City cross through the Mount Pleasant BIA, including Main Street, Broadway and Kingsway, providing exposure to thousands of daily commuters. As Figure 8 indicates, major intersections see tens of thousands of vehicles per day (yellow and red areas on the map), while adjacent blocks that are not on major commuting routes see in the range of 900 to 7,000 vehicles.
With ample street parking and frequent bus service, businesses in the Mount Pleasant BIA have significant potential to tap into the high traffic volumes on major routes and capture “through-traffic” as customers.
The City of Vancouver also 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 Mount Pleasant BIA is the 2500 block of Main Street (Main at Broadway). This block hosts a major bus stop, and pedestrian volumes are somewhat higher than along other blocks within the BIA. The block sees in the range of 670 (east side) to 1,560 (west side) pedestrians per day. The west sidewalk is 2.6 metres wide, while the east sidewalk is 1.6 metres wide.
The City ranks this combination of pedestrian activity to sidewalk size as level of service ‘B’. The dominant hour for pedestrian traffic is 5-6 p.m. on the west side and 3-4 p.m. on the east side.
2500 Main ranks 300th (west side) and 456th (east 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 level of service ‘D’ (significantly more crowded). Since 2002 was the first time the Mount Pleasant BIA was surveyed, trend analysis is not currently available. However, as the survey is repeated, it is anticipated that Mount Pleasant will show a significant increase in pedestrian volumes, reflecting the increase in storefront retail businesses.
What Existing Businesses Say
In addition to regular resident and customer intercept surveys, the Mount Pleasant BIA also conducts member surveys. In 2005 the majority of members reported increases in sales over 2004. In addition, Mount Pleasant BIA businesses indicate a need for more businesses in the area, particularly a major bank, upscale restaurants and trendy clothing stores.
Conclusions
Mount Pleasant is a vibrant and growing business area, which caters to small storefront style businesses and has enjoys a satisfied and growing local customer base.
With a supportive zoning mix, a strong residential construction market, and a central location within the City of Vancouver, retail and service business opportunities in Mount Pleasant abound. With strong representation in eating and drinking establishments, food stores, furniture/home furnishing and equipment stores, health and business services, as well as education and social welfare services, there remains plenty of room for a variety of new businesses in the area.
