The developer of the Premiere in Sapperton and a dental firm hoping to open a new clinic in the building are appealing to city council to reconsider its recent decision to deny a dentist office from opening in the space.
On April 22, city council unanimously voted not to consider an application for a zoning amendment bylaw that would have allowed a dental clinic to open in a retail unit at 408 East Columbia St. That space had been designated to have food or convenience retail uses, but the building’s owner has had difficulty finding an owner for the stratified space.
At the May 6 council meeting, two delegates urged council to reconsider its recent decision.
Karim Shivji, a shareholder of 123 Dentist, said the company owns and operates clinics throughout Greater Vancouver, including New West Smile. He said that clinic in Sapperton’s Brewery District is open six days a week, including evenings, to facilitate patients' needs.
“This clinic currently is at maximum capacity … and we are looking at turning away about 20 patients a day,” he said. “We're also expecting a pent-up demand due to the new Canadian dental care plan.”
With demand for dentistry services at its nearby clinic currently exceeding its capacity and expected to grow, Shivji said 123 Dentist is looking to expand and build another clinic in Sapperton. He said the stratified space, like that offered in the Premiere, is ideal.
“We invest so heavily in our build-out – usually our build-out costs are about $1 million in improvements, so we prefer locations that we can own,” he explained.
Coun. Tasha Henderson said the issue with this building was not about the need for dental services but about having dentists’ offices in ground-level retail spaces. She said the city wants to see more “hustle and bustle” spaces in its commercial areas, and there's been a lot of switch-over to health-care uses for units that had been meant to have more active uses.
“Originally we had intended for a particular mix with that new development, and this would have been changing that mix,” she said of the rezoning application.
Shivji said his company owns dental clinics from Chilliwack to Whistler, with the vast majority being in ground-floor retail spaces.
“When you build a new office, and you're investing a million dollars, visibility is the most important thing for us,” he said. “You're starting a new clinic with zero patient base. And how are you going to get patients? One is by signage, one is by being on the ground floor, and one is marketing, which we do a good job with all three. For us, putting a dental clinic in an office space on the second floor, we will never do. A million-dollar investment, it's too much of a risk for us. And so, most of our clinics are either in shopping malls or on ground-floor retail spaces.”
Dark space – no good to anyone
Myron Calof, founder of the I4 Property Group, also asked council to reconsider his company’s rezoning application. He said the retail landscape has changed dramatically since the company first proposed the Premiere in 2017.
“The phenomenon of internet shopping was in its infancy, compared to where it is today. We hadn't passed through COVID yet; we hadn't experienced that,” he told council Monday night. “Things change; the whole retail landscape is changing.”
Responding to council’s concerns about the need for businesses that activate the street, Calof said a dentist’s office brings more customers to the area than a dress or sporting goods store. While those businesses may get 25 to 30 customers a day, he said 123 Dentist is already bringing 25 or 30 customers to its other Sapperton location each day – and is turning people away.
“If we all had our druthers, there are all kinds of businesses that we would like to have,” he said. “We'd like to have cafes, we'd like to have wine stores, we would like to have all kinds of things. But they can't all afford that the high cost today of opening in retail spaces.”
Calof urged council to allow a dentist office to open in the Columbia Street space.
“A dark, unoccupied space is of no benefit to anyone,” he said. “It's the enemy of an animated street.”
Calof said these types of buildings are expensive to build because construction costs and interest rates are “through the roof” right now. He said many projects are being shelved because of the potential revenues because of costs to construct buildings.
According to Calof, I4 Property Group has talked a lot to businesses about the strata retail spaces in that Premiere, but they can't make the numbers work. He said the dental office would help meet a growing demand and would provide services that improve the health and wellness of the community.
“Its daily customer count is comparable to or exceeds the traffic generated by many traditional retail businesses,” he said. “Is it not at least as valuable to the community as another pizza shop or a dress store?”
What’s next?
The six-storey Premiere building, completed in 2022, includes six stratified commercial retail units (CRU) on the ground floor, office space on the second floor, and residential units above.
Four of the six ground-level commercial retail units are currently occupied, and the applicant had required a site-specific comprehensive development zone to allow a dental clinic to open in one of the two vacant units.
“The applicant has indicated that they have had difficulty retaining a restaurant food or beverage and convenience retail,” said a staff report to council report. “As part of their outreach, over 300 local retail tenants were contacted by the applicant to occupy the remaining vacant CRUs.”
Demian Rueter, acting senior manager of climate action, planning and development, said the city’s process requires council to wait six months before reconsidering an application that has been defeated.
Mayor Patrick Johnstone said council has directed staff to do some more work related to issues raised about commercial spaces. He said that process would include an opportunity to review the information presented by delegates at the May 6 meeting.
“We recognize there are some challenges. We're responding to the community concerns around ground uses,” he said. “There was a motion … to ask staff to guide council through a bit of a discussion about exactly the kind of challenges that you're talking about.”
