'borderline bankruptcy:' broadway subway construction hits shops hard
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gather owner lauren lee whose business is suffering due to the broadway line construction in the 100-block of east broadway in vancouver.
some local businesses operating near the busy intersection of east broadway and main street in vancouver say they might not last long enough to benefit from the eventual completion of the mount pleasant skytrain station.
the station is one stop along the 5.7-kilometre, east-west broadway subway extension that was originally scheduled to be complete by the end of 2025 but now won’t be done until fall 2027.
and recently announced traffic detours in the area, planned for early next year, have left some store owners and restaurants staring down several more months of disruptions.
“we’ve been here about 10 years and half of it has been brutal,” said ron macgillivray, owner of fable diner, located in the historic lee building at the corner of main and east broadway. “a lot of restaurants recovered from covid. we haven’t, because it’s … right into construction.
“it’s like we’ve been living in a covid hangover.”
dust and noise during the initial construction of the subway drove customers away, something macgillivray worries will happen again when work begins in january to rebuild the street above the future station right in front of his restaurant’s windows.
the fable diner in the lee building at main and east broadway, seen behind construction fencing. the diner is losing business due to construction of a skytrain station as part of the new broadway line.
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for about four months all vehicle traffic will be detoured around the stretch of east broadway, between quebec and main streets, to allow for the roadwork. that will be followed by another four months of reduced traffic — one lane in each direction — as work is completed.
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“we’ve already had to get cleaners in to clean our exhaust system and our hood vents” because of the additional dust in the air from the construction, he said. “i ended up spending an extra four to five thousand dollars a year just to clean the air conditioning and the hood vents.”
for macgillivray, the challenges have been personal too.
“i had to sell my house. moved, renting now, sold everything,” macgillivray said. “it’s borderline bankruptcy. every single day for the last three years i’ve been putting money in the place just to keep it open.”
a few doors down, lauren lee, owner of the vintage clothing store gather, said she isn’t sure she’ll be able to stay open long enough to reap the promised benefits once the new skytrain station opens.
“it’s hard to say if it’s even worth it to stay for two more years, if i’m being perfectly honest,” lee said.
gather owner lauren lee inside her shop.
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lee opened her store right around the time construction began on the new skytrain extension. she renewed her lease in october 2024 and was “blindsided” when the province announced a two-year delay in the project.
since then she’s turned her focus to online sales, clothing rentals and working as a personal shopper.
“i think every day, ‘would it be better to just close it down now rather than wait for another two years?’ ” lee said. “ ‘is it better to just cut your losses or see it through?’ ”
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lee said she applied for and received a $3,000 grant from the mount pleasant business improvement association to help promote her business but otherwise there hasn’t been any compensation from the city or the province.
according to the project’s website, pedestrian bridges have been installed at station sites to help people get to shops and restaurants, and a “mitigation team” works to keep broadway an “attractive and convenient place to live, work or visit” and businesses visible during construction.
a few doors down, snehal patel, who runs sherry convenience store, said his business has dropped 60 to 70 per cent since construction started: “when they close broadway, how can we survive?”
he said parking in the area is already scarce and expects the planned detour will drive away what customers are left.
“once the customer is gone, they are gone. it’s really hard to bring them back,” patel said.
not everyone is struggling.
rich hope, owner of the belmont barbershop, said his business is mainly clients who book appointments rather than rely on walk-ins.
“we’re a destination type of place,” he said. “people that want to come to see us, they find a way.”
hope supports the project despite the disruption: “i think this is a very important project for the city, and so i’m ok gutting it out until it’s done,” he said, though he recognized he was more insulated than other businesses on the block.
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“once you have the future vision of the street back in, which allegedly is going to have wider sidewalks … i think that’s going to be one great big step toward it becoming more walkable, and … more walkable than it was before,” he said.
“we’re literally sitting on the station, so i can’t help but think thousands of people an hour, bubbling up out of the ground, isn’t going to be bad.”
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