But the pandemic’s prolonged economic and workplace effects led to some businesses resorting to releasing their office spaces. Downtown’s office vacancy rate fell from 2.6% in late 2019 to 6.6% in late 2020, which is still considered low. The vacancy rate is forecast to push further upwards to 8.6% in 2021. Most of the new vacancies during this period were from smaller and older spaces.
New office projects were still pushed forward during the pandemic, with 3.8 million sq ft of office space under construction and an additional 2.6 million sq ft proposed. The first major projects from the office construction boom that began before the pandemic are scheduled for completion in 2022 and 2023, including Oxford’s The Stack at 1133 Melville Street and The Post (Amazon) at 349 West Georgia Street.
“The real driving force for me is around looking at COVID-19’s economic recovery, and the importance of having economic stimulus events, particularly for our hard-hit tourism sector,” said Kirby-Yung. “And it is a net-zero (emission) event, certified by the UN. And it’s not just the race element in terms of demonstrating electrified transportation. And the idea of bringing that level of dialogue into the city with leading experts from the electrification space as we work towards sustainable transportation will have a lot of benefits for the city.”
In terms of economic impact, the OSS Group projects the event would generate about $80 million in economic impact and 3,000 jobs through 195 suppliers, 90 per cent of whom would be local.
The motion states the municipal government was approached by OSS Group a private Canadian promoter of the Formula E World Championship to host a one-day battery-electric vehicle race, along with two music concerts, and a two-day creative business conference focused on climate and sustainability.
Grandstands and other viewing areas with a capacity for tens of thousands of people would be erected along the race circuit.
This race is being pursued for Vancouver as a significant post-pandemic recovery measure to support the battered tourism and hospitality industry, while also promoting sustainable transportation and the electrification of transportation modes.
“This is a much more broader event than Indy was,” said Kirby-Yung in an interview with Daily Hive Urbanized.