The corner of East Broadway and Prince Albert is at the heart of Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant neighbourhood and has also been home to Adria Imports for over 40 years. The area has seen many transformations, but look out 2016 may see the biggest changes yet!

Gentrification is heading east and coming down Broadway like a runaway train! Old buildings are being torn down to make way for condos and high rise apartments as the city continues it’s insatiable appetite for non stop housing. New mixed retail residential complexes are under construction a long the East Broadway Corridor. If you want to see into the future check out Living Midtown, (http://livingmidtown.com), a new development at the corner of East Broadway and Carolina.

The Midtown Construction Site

Midtown promotes itself as living in a “genuine neighbourhood” without big box stores and “void of designer dog jackets” . Clearly it does not want to be confused with Yaletown. A 800 square foot 2 bedroom condo at Midtown will set you back almost $600,000. This gentrification is bad news for the average Mount Pleasant resident who has seen their rent increase dramatically or their property taxes go way up. The east side is catching up to the high prices of the west side, forcing people to make an exit for the suburbs.

In June of 2014 on a warm summer evening tenants of 748 and 756 E. Broadway, (neighbours to the west of Adria Imports), gathered for a roof top barbecue. In the revelry a small hibatchi fell between the two apartment buildings and was left to smolder. Eventually it ignited a huge fire that gutted the two buildings that put all the residents out of their homes forever. Luckily no one was injured and Adria only sustained minor water damage. For those who lost all their belongings it was a tragedy.

748 and 756 E. Broadway in flames

Since June 2014 the two buildings have been boarded up and left to their own devices.
Everyone in the neighbourhood presumed the damaged buildings would be torn down, the smell of fire and water damage is disgusting and the sidewalk unsightly. Think again, just before they were to be demolished the City of Vancouver deemed them heritage buildings and therefore protected. So for the past 18 months they have sat unattended with the homeless taking refuge overnight in the doorways.

Heritage designation, but sitting empty

Boarded up

Finally some welcome news, Nordic Properties, a contracting and construction firm based in Richmond has bought 748 East Broadway and will be rebuilding it to make way for new apartments. No small task after 18 months of sitting in ashes.

Things are looking up

There’s no question the apartments will be designed for high end buyers as the neighbourhood becomes more desirable. Mount Pleasant has become a mixed neighbourhood on polar opposite ends of the economic spectrum, from people on social assistance to millionaires buying heritage homes and some in between. We can only hope that those who have called East Broadway their home for a long time will feel accepted by the new crowd moving in, and newcomers will be welcomed. Time will tell, which makes Adria Imports location an interesting snapshot of an evolving Vancouver. It’s never dull, so next time you visit, take note, the hood is changing.