That Council direct Staff to provide a report on options for the interim use of 6 Commercial Street (former Jean Burns site).
motion read the interim use of number six commercial street. Yes. My motion is that Council Direct staff to provide a report on options for the interim use of six commercial street. The former Jean Burnsin site. And if it's second, it'll. Councillor Brown. Thank you. So I'm really interested in bringing the central part of our downtown back to life. And right now it is a fenced off whole and has been ever since a fire destroyed the old ANB sound building at the corner of commercial and terminal in 2016. And the city bought this property for an undisclosed price in 2021 in an effort to ensure that it didn't sit idle for many more years. When we were elected, we all spoke about a shared desire to get something in that hole by 2026. For me, I'd love to see affordable apartments and attainable housing so people can enjoy living in our amazing downtown, including the workers who are vital to our local businesses, students, seniors, families, and like the old ANV sound building affordable artist studio space, like what the A and B sound building used to feature. We have tried. There was an RFP put out by the city and a proponent selected to develop that site. And while I didn't personally support that proposal, there was hope that something would materialize. And it didn't. Then we put it into BC builds pretty recently, hoping that a developer and nonprofit partner would be interested in developing the site with support from BC housing to build affordable rental housing with commercial on the ground floor. The city was and is seeking a developer to transform the site into a landmark mixed use rental housing project. And we were offering a 60 year lease at no cost for the land to any developer that meets the criteria consistent with BC builds. But again, nothing materialized. So right now the cost of redeveloping the site into a building is evidently not feasible for many reasons. And unlikely to happen anytime soon, the cost of building in today's economy, the site constraints geotechnical issues and seismic requirements, et cetera, et cetera. So there's nothing in that whole except some cool street art. And I'm not okay with letting it sit idle for another decade with no action until conditions improve, which they may or may not. So I think it's time to get creative. And I'm really curious to see what options for interim uses our staff could come up with. I think there's amazing potential for a mini temporary amphitheater or performance space, food truck parking, or a mini container pop - up shop area, a pop - up community garden using raised beds or a temporary skate park using portable or modular escape park elements. These are just ideas, many of which I've heard while speaking to the community. And people are really interested in temporary uses for this underused piece of prime real estate. And I think they would all work in their own way. It might require a little poured concrete to make this area more accessible. But I really see the potential to open up and enliven this space in a way that creates more usable, enjoyable, and vibrant community space in our downtown
we can't do anything unless remediation is done, correct? We can't put anything on there due to fire risk, safety risks, health risks, environmental risks, all of that. Through the
Gusselbrook. Uh, thank you. I'm in support of this. I've heard from residents as well. I'd like to see maybe the area filled in or used as an amphitheater. I've seen amphitheaters that are below ground level where you can walk around the amphitheater and the seats are all aligned to watch a show. And, you know, potentially have containers. Shops or small portable shops surrounding it that provide avenues for small micro businesses. Uh, I think there's lots of opportunities here. And they could. You know, potentially be permanent. Not necessarily interim. I think the geotechnical problems with this site are going to make it very difficult for, um, uh, developing in a cost - effective way. But, you know, I would have loved to have seen commercial on the ground for and residents above. But that hasn't worked out in the years that we've been working on this.
think it's high time to find a temporary use for the site. I'm getting tired of walking by the hole in the middle of the downtown. I think that there could be some creative ways that we can enliven that space. And I think, uh, everybody's tired of walking by the hole, um, and I think it's holding back the progression of, you know, redeveloping and enlivening. The downtown. Um, one question or just thought. I know some people brought up the constraints for building in the site. Um, and that one of the barriers is just the unknown around the geotechnical, um, and that we did a geotechnical up to six stories, um, but, uh, the economics of building a six stories just doesn't make it feasible given all the constraints, but there hasn't been a geotechnical study that looks at going above six stories. Um, say to 12. And that, that might could change the economics a little bit. And so I'm curious in that report, you know, even at a cursory level, um, if any constraints could be identified of like a longer term solution be put in there and that maybe, you know, if we did a little bit more work that we could open up a greater breadth of opportunity to actually have, um, the housing that everybody hopes to see there and the commercial space that ultimately would probably make the highest best use