Inline skate shop helps to build downtown Vancouver community
Leon Basin was looking for space to enlarge - he found it on Vancouver's Main Street at the base of a new social housing tower
Leon Basin, owner of Shop Task, at his inline skate store on Main Street in Vancouver.Ben Nelms/The Globe and Mail
Shop Task has leased street-level space in a new, low-income housing tower called First Place.Ben Nelms/The Globe and Mail
The commercial space had sat empty for more than a year, even though the lease rate was reasonable. A new wave of social housing is rolling out in Vancouver. Besides the 14 towers it has built or is building, the province has acquired almost two dozen residential hotels in the city’s Downtown Eastside.Ben Nelms
The goal for urban planners in Vancouver and Toronto is to create vibrant commercial areas at the base of new social housing, with entrepreneurs who are willing to engage with their community.Ben Nelms/The Globe and Mail
To that end, Mr. Basin is offering unlimited free skate rentals to residents of First Place. Read more at the link below: Commercial spaces bring life to social housingBen Nelms/The Globe and Mail