Opinion: Change of Granville Island's ownership needed for revitalization

Opinion: Change of Granville Island's federal ownership needed for revitalization

Granville Island 2040 Plan: 2017 artistic rendering of the elevator and staircase tower between Granville Island and the Granville Street Bridge deck, and new pedestrian-oriented public spaces replacing surface parking. (CMHC)

There is no question Granville Island’s unique identity and attractions that make it an arts, culture, and tourism hub are a result of its unconventional operational and ownership model.

Granville Island is federal property, which exempts it from following the municipal regulations of the City of Vancouver. In effect, Granville Island is essentially its own jurisdiction.

It is a successful experiment in placemaking that is anything but cookie cutter of the urban fabric that surrounds it, a scenario allowed when rigid rules are not enforced — when flexibility is permitted. This creates the foundation for a destination where creativity and innovation can thrive.

Since its inception half a century ago, Granville Island has been owned and operated by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This federal crown corporation was tasked by the federal government to transform the 40-acre industrial island into a major vibrant attraction, effectively expanding CMHC’s mandate in the area along False Creek South — where it was already funding and building significant co-op housing, social housing, and rental housing projects.

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Through CMHC, the federal government provided $25 million throughout much of the 1970s and early 1980s to turn the island into the destination that it is today, including transforming former industrial buildings into the world-famous public market, restaurants, theatres, and arts-based businesses.

Aerial of Granville Island in False Creek next to downtown Vancouver. (Shutterstock)

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The iconic Granville Island entrance sign underneath the Granville Street Bridge. (Shutterstock)

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The food hall inside Granville Island Public Market. (Shutterstock)

Granville Island has been financially self-sustaining throughout its history, with the one exception of the pandemic’s early blunt impacts.

Let’s be clear: Generations of Vancouverites should be grateful for CMHC’s work in creating and operating Granville Island. But moving forward, is CMHC the best owner and operator of Granville Island for its much-needed revitalization?

For years, CMHC has fully acknowledged Granville Island is in need of major improvements. In 2017, after more than a year of planning and consultation, CMHC released its Granville Island 2040 Plan, which provides a blueprint for how the island attraction will be revitalized. These are the first major improvements proposed for Granville Island since its post-industrial conversion in the 1970s.

Some of the biggest items in the 2040 Plan are an elevator and staircase tower between the Granville Street Bridge’s future pedestrian/cycling path and the island below, with the tower structure potentially doubling as an observation tower attraction. There would also be a public market expansion, and the conversion of some surface parking into people-centric public spaces for gatherings, events, and activations, as well as a new multi-purpose performance theatre.

Granville Island 2040 Plan: 2017 artistic rendering of surface parking on Granville Island turned into pedestrian-oriented public spaces. (CMHC)

Granville Island 2040 Plan: 2017 artistic rendering of surface parking on Granville Island turned into pedestrian-oriented public spaces. (CMHC)

Granville Island 2040 Plan: 2017 artistic rendering of a new 700-seat indoor theatre for Granville Island, with the ability to open up to the outdoors. (CMHC)

The great ideas already exist for making Granville Island an even better destination for both locals and tourists — but the path and timeline for achieving these goals are highly uncertain.

CMHC’s overwhelming mandate and mission is to fund and build affordable housing across the country — and they are expected to become even more entrenched into their core mandate with Canada’s quickly worsening housing affordability crisis. Over the past few years, housing pressures have popped up in more areas of the country, while the traditional crisis hotspots of the Vancouver and Toronto regions have continued to see even further deterioration.

Granville Island is also an outlier in CMHC’s portfolio and assets. It does not oversee anything else quite like it across the country.

To this end, the federal government should consider transferring the ownership and operations of Granville Island from CMHC to Canada Lands Company Limited (CLCL), another federal crown corporation.

CLCL’s mandate given by the federal government is equally two-fold: it optimizes the use of under-utilized federal real estate for investment and development purposes, and it also owns and operates some of Canada’s biggest tourist attractions and destinations.

Restaurant atop the CN Tower in downtown Toronto. (CN Tower)

Old Port of Montreal, owned and operated by Canada Lands Company Limited. (Shutterstock)

On behalf of the federal government, CLCL owns and operates Toronto’s CN Tower, Toronto’s Downsview Park, and Montreal’s vibrant cultural and event-friendly downtown waterfront — Old Port of Montreal and Montreal Science Centre.

CLCL has a Real Estate Committee that provides advice and guidance and management on real estate projects, and a separate Attractions Committee for advisory, oversight, and strategies for its attractions portfolio. CLCL has the proven experience in creating and enhancing world-class attractions and developing innovative marketing programs.

CLCL has over $1 billion in assets as of the 2021/2022 fiscal year, and it provided about $160 million in revenue for the federal government that year — a total of $430 million over the five-year period ending in 2022.

Over the same five-year period, CLCL has made over $360 million in capital investments toward maintaining and improving its portfolio, including a significant portion towards its attractions.

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2017 artistic rendering of the master plan for the Old Port of Montreal revitalization. (Canada Lands Company Limited)

old port montreal renovation canada lands company

June 2022 artistic rendering of the first phase of the Old Port of Montreal revitalization. (Canada Lands Company Limited)

In 2021, CLCL announced a $21 million plan to renovate the CN Tower — in addition to the previous renovation completed in 2018 at a cost of $16 million.

Also in 2017, this federal crown corporation established a $175 million master plan for revitalizing the Old Port of Montreal, which was previously also an industrial area — not dissimilar to Granville Island. In 2021, CLCL announced the first phase of the revitalization would go ahead at a cost of $50 million, including new and improved public spaces, and improved capabilities for the hosting of large events.

Granville Island has yet to see this scale of reinvestment in its history, although the implementation of the components in the 2040 Plan and other revitalization strategies are certainly top of mind for the CMHC-Granville Island organization and its Granville Island Council (GIC).

GIC’s strategic priorities for the 2022/2023 fiscal year, established in June 2022, reaffirmed the 2040 Plan’s components. Both the strategic priorities and minutes for various meetings suggest the component of renovating and expanding the public market is amongst the list of upcoming priority projects, but the funding for it is uncertain.

Improving the public market is a near-term priority as the rental income from its businesses is the single largest contributor to Granville Island’s operating budget. But this revenue source has levelled off for more than a decade due to increased competition from off-island retailers, and the expansion of farmers’ markets across the city.

They have also rolled out various short-term strategies, including within the areas of food options, activations, special events, and accessibility and transportation.

popina cantina granville island shipping container f

Popoina Cantina food/ice cream concession within a shipping container next to the Granville Island Public Market. (Popina Cantina)

Comprised of appointed community and business leaders, GIC was recently established by CMHC to provide locals — who are more familiar with Granville Island than CMHC officials based in Eastern Canada — with more decision-making authority over the budget, planning, and long-term direction of Granville Island.

However, Granville Island’s financial sustainability is hampered by how its operation is not a separate legal entity, which prevents it from borrowing money to fund major new capital investments outlined in the 2040 Plan, such as the public market expansion.

On the other hand, CLCL has a proven history of making major reinvestments into its attractions through its self-sustaining financial model.

In addition to direct revenue from operating attractions, it also sees rental income from partnering with the private sector. For example, the newest major attraction to the Old Port of Montreal is a 200-ft-tall Ferris wheel funded and built by a private partner.

Some of CLCL’s most valuable real estate assets are also within Vancouver.

In partnership with local First Nations, CLCL has a 50-50 ownership arrangement for the 21-acre redevelopment of the Heather Lands (previously the BC RCMP headquarters) near Queen Elizabeth Park, and a 50-50 ownership for a 52-acre portion of the 90-acre redevelopment of the Jericho Lands (previously a military base) in West Point Grey. High-density uses will be built on both sites, generating thousands of new homes — including market condominiums — for tens of thousands of residents.

heather lands vancouver mst development corporation 2022

Heather Lands redevelopment, Vancouver. (Dialog/Canada Lands Company/MST Development Corporation)

Option 2 Weave concept for Jericho Lands. (MST Development Corporation/Canada Lands Company)

Perhaps at least a portion of the significant windfalls anticipated for CLCL from its future Heather Lands and Jericho Lands projects could stay in the region, and be directed towards cultural and attraction assets in this part of the country, which is a traditionally underserved area for such investments by the federal government.

This is not the first time a change of ownership and operator for Granville Island has been suggested.

Nearly a decade ago, the City of Vancouver’s political leadership cried foul against the federal government’s proposal to transfer Granville Island’s ownership from CMHC to the Port of Vancouver, which is a federal agency accountable to the federal Minister of Transportation. At the time, City leaders suggested Granville Island should be transferred to a new independent local governing authority or to the municipal government, but this would counter the unique framework that led to Granville Island’s success.

La Grande Roue de Montreal Ferris Wheel at the Old Port of Montreal. (Shutterstock)

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