Hospitality association seeks to move SROs from Granville Entertainment District

For years, business and property owners on Granville Street say they have been dealing with violence, open drug use, and vandalism, and now Hospitality Vancouver Association (HVA) says the three single-room occupancy (SRO) supportive housing buildings in the area have been a huge factor.

“It is the position of our organization that, by any metric, the location of people with complex mental health and addiction issues in and around our city’s entertainment district has been a dismal, failed experiment,” said HVA spokesperson Laura Ballance.

In 2020, the former Howard Johnson hotel was converted into the Luugat emergency SRO as a temporary measure. Earlier this month, BC Housing informed residents the facility will close in June 2026

But there are no timelines for the other two SROs in the area — the St. Helen’s Hotel and Granville Villa — to be shut down.

Dave Kershaw, who owns Cabana Nightclub under the St. Helens SRO, says his business has suffered immensely.

As a result of his upstairs neighbours, Kershaw says, he has dealt with more than 100 floods and multiple fires.

“The loss of sales due to this constant disruption for me personally is now in the six figures… and it has also hit the pocketbooks and livelihoods of my staff in a big way,” he said.

“I pay $30,000 a month in rent, but I’ve received exactly zero dollars in compensation for the damage and disruption of my business.”

Now the Ministry of Housing says it is working on plans to replace SROs over the long term and is evaluating future options.

“We understand the challenges people and business owners in the Granville Entertainment District are facing, and agree these conditions are unacceptable,” said Housing Minister Christine Boyle in a statement.

“We are acting urgently to help vulnerable tenants, who — without a safe place to go — would have to resort to sheltering on the street or in encampments.”

Since 2020, the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) and Vancouver Fire Rescue have responded to more than 6,600 emergency calls at the three SRO sites.

“The root causes of these social issues are largely out of our control as police officers and as a police department,” said VPD Chief Steve Rai.

“However, we will continue to do everything that is within our control to combat crime, apprehend offenders, and improve the safety of everyone in this neighbourhood.”