Dispute between arts group, landlord blows whistle on unlicensed business
A Vancouver company that produces disinfectant products was operating without a business licence for six months out of a warehouse in the Strathcona neighbourhood, a fact that city hall learned of only recently in a roundabout way because of an escalating dispute between a prominent local arts organization and its landlord.
Intech Environmental, a local company that produces cleaning products, was subleasing warehouse space at 550 Malkin Ave. last year because of COVID-19. The pandemic meant the usual tenant, the cultural hub Eastside Studios, was unable to host events in the space as normal, while Intech was experiencing an increased demand for its disinfectant products and needed more warehouse space.
Intech was using the Malkin Avenue facility from last May until vacating in December, but the city only learned of the situation because Eastside Studios reached out to Vancouver council last month seeking help in a dispute with its landlord, local real estate firm Strand.
Eastside Studios representatives emailed council on Dec. 15, asking for help and alerting them their beloved organization's future was in jeopardy because of Strand's plans for the building.
No one from Strand was copied on that December email, but management soon learned of it, took exception to Eastside's characterization of the situation, and sent its own email to Eastside, copying the mayor and council.
Eventually, the heated email correspondence was shared with others both inside and outside city hall. Postmedia wasn't alerted to the dispute by anyone affiliated with either Eastside Studios, Strand, or Intech. But after learning of the dispute and obtaining copies of the emails, Postmedia contacted the involved parties.
The city was asked if the storage and packaging of cleaning products at 550 Malkin Ave. complied with the zoning for the property, which is across the street from residential homes. In an emailed statement, chief licence inspector Kathryn Holm said: “The sublessee would have needed a business licence. We have not received a business licence application and would evaluate one upon receipt. This would be how the City would determine whether they meet the Zoning and Development Bylaw.”
Intech owner Dave Pasin said his company vacated the Malkin Avenue premises in December and moved into a new facility, for which he has applied for a city business licence.
“I was going to apply for a licence, and I was so busy I just forgot,” Pasin said. “But I made damn sure I applied for a licence for our new building.”
Rick Cheung, the assistant chief of Vancouver Fire and
Rescue Service, said the requirement for business licenses helps to ensure companies meet building and fire bylaws.
“Ensuring that a building is upgraded to building and fire codes starts with the business licence. ... Ultimately, the occupants in the building and the firefighters who respond to the building will be at risk if the building doesn't get the fire protection and seismic upgrades they were required to have by the building and fire bylaws,” Cheung said.
“In case of emergencies, the business licence requirement provides a means for first responders including firefighters to obtain contact names and phone numbers of key holders to the premises and any information of dangerous goods that might be in the premises.”
Pasin said he understands the city's need for business licenses, and that he has no grudge against either Eastside Studios or Strand.
“I dropped the ball. ... We got so busy it just wasn't a priority,” said Pasin, a park board candidate in 2011 with the Non-Partisan Association and current member of the party's board. He said his involvement in civic politics is unrelated to his business.
Jill Whitford, an Eastside Studios co-founder who wrote the Dec. 15 email to council, said her organization was under the impression that Intech had all necessary licenses. Sub-leasing space to a for-profit company like Intech was an unusual thing for her organization, Whitford said, and was “an extremely desperate move” to help cover some of their operating expenses when they were trying to stay afloat.
This story, Whitford said, highlights the challenges that small community organizations are facing during the pandemic — particularly those such as hers that prioritize providing space for Black, Indigenous, people of colour and other marginalized populations.
Reached for comment, Strand president Mike Mackay said he was “disappointed” that Whitford seemed to have misrepresented the situation to council and to the artists who use Eastside Studios. Strand wasn't cutting short Eastside's tenancy, Mackay said, because it was a fixed-term agreement that had already been extended twice, after it was originally set to expire in January 2020.
Mackay said the warehouse is slated for demolition, possibly this year, to accommodate infrastructure work for the new St. Paul's Hospital project immediately adjacent to the property. The city confirmed those plans for the property.
“I wish Eastside Studios and Jill Whitford nothing but the best moving forward,” Mackay said. “My hope would be they find a way to continue on with the important work they're doing.”
Whitford said she had hoped, despite the lease terms, that Eastside might be able to stay longer at Malkin. In the meantime, she said, Eastside Studios will be looking for a new home.