tenant improvements as key to
his mission.
“I want to make sure that,
whoever the tenant is, they’re not
just pay ing my mor tgage,” he says,
glancing at his buzzing Motorola
flip phone. “That they can make
money and then eventually buy
their own building and pay their
own mortgage. We nurture their
future—it’s a win-win.”
Of course, it’s not always
a win-win. One of Living
Balance’s tenants, Ray Loy of the
contemporary Chinese restaurant
Bambudda—across the road at
99 Powell Street—was told late
in 2016 that he’d have to vacate
the space in 2017 as the landlords
remodelled the building: adding
two floors on top, underground
parking and an elevator. When I
reach Loy, he’s winding down Dine
Out Vancouver and trying to plan
a special “last supper” for closing
day at the end of February.
“I’ve looked at trying to find a
new space, but when you consider
the prices—the cost of relocation,
and look at what people are
charging per square foot now—
it’s not very promising,” says the
45-year-old Loy, who was part of
the opening team at Market by
Jean-Georges before launching
Bambudda in July 2013. “I’m going
to take a break for now. I haven’t
had a vacation for four years, so it’s
time for a vacation.”
Even battle-scarred veterans
like Heather aren’t sure how long
they can stick it out. “People like
me may become victims. I was one
of the origina l people dow n here,
but if rents keep going up and up
and up? Will it make sense for me
to stay here, or does it make sense
to move on? I’ve got five kids, and
I’d like for some of them to be in
this business, but am I going to
hand over a business that’s paying
massive amounts of rent? That
would be unfair to them. It’s going
to be interesting to see it play out.
I don’t know that we’ve plateaued
yet—not even close.”
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