If development at Block 10 was on its previously announced timeline, construction would have been underway for nearly two months. But the city of Vancouver and Gramor Development haven’t even signed a purchase agreement yet. And a signed deal could still be months away.
“Everything is still tracking. We just need to work out some of the details before we get into what an actual agreement looks like,” said Chad Eiken, the city’s community and economic development director.
The vacant block, bounded by Columbia and Washington streets between Eighth and Ninth, is envisioned to become 250 apartments with a ground-floor full-service grocer, the first downtown in almost 20 years.
The two parties met for the first time in September to discuss an agreement, a meeting that was originally envisioned for sometime in the summer of 2016. Eiken said the driving factor behind the delays is simply a full schedule.
“Both on the city side and their side, our plates are full and we’re trying to carve out time for this as well among the competing priorities,” he said.
Gramor is in the process of developing The Waterfront Vancouver, where four buildings are under construction. Meanwhile the city is busy with the Tower Mall purchase, the Mill Plain Central plan and a new day center for homeless people.
“That has been consuming a lot of our energy and time which has meant, from our side at least, Block 10 had to sort of take a back burner for a few months,” Eiken said.
Representatives from Gramor did not make anyone available to comment for this story.
Despite delays, Eiken is still optimistic about the project.
“I’m hopeful that we will be able to get an agreement in front of council the first part of next year, maybe February or March,” he said. “I don’t think that’s out of the question.”
As negotiations continue, the city is focused on the sale price, the deal structure and how quickly Gramor can sign a grocer as a tenant.
“Everybody’s approaching it very constructively. I think we’ll get there,” Eiken said.
Eiken said they would like Gramor to sign a lease for the grocery store within about six months of the agreement.
“There will be a trigger point where they really need to get to work identifying and getting a grocery committed,” he added.
Even when the agreement is in hand, any construction will be months out.
“Typically for a project this size, it can take up to six to nine months for them to prepare their plans and get them to a point where they’re ready for us to review them,” Eiken said.
Then it takes the city a few months to complete the permitting process. Realistically speaking, the green light to begin construction at Block 10 is a year out.
“A big project like this can take a year to 18 months to get off the ground and then it’s going to take a year, probably more, to construct,” he said.
So instead of wrapping construction in early 2019 as planned in Gramor’s proposal, Block 10 likely won’t see completion until 2020.
