Initiatives Prince George has decided against renewing two leases they have on properties in the Canada Place business centre in downtown Vancouver. The leases were for two years, and expire at the end of August.
One of the locations was in conjunction with UNBC, and served as an office for UNBC staff while in Vancouver, and, to a lesser extent, a recruitment centre.
“We expected it to be used more by employees of UNBC,” but there has been less need for the office in recent years, according to UNBC director of media and public relations Rob van Adrichem. This is in large part thanks to the advent of recent technology such as the Blackberry. With portable devices such as the Blackberry UNBC staff no longer had to stop at a computer and desk to check e-mail and make calls.
Prince George Free Press » Two appointed to downtown task force
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As Prince George prepares to welcome its second call centre, an economic development officer from the city is at a conference that played a central role in landing the city’s first call centre.
Initiatives Prince George president Gerry Offet says he is “reasonably confident” a deal to bring a Synovate research centre to the city will be complete by next week.
The global research company said in March a deal to move here was virtually complete. It had hoped to be up and running by July.
That date has been pushed back as the company finalizes a lease agreement with its new landlord and negotiates improvements to the facility, said Offet. He could not name the location until the deal is complete.
The fight against a downtown business improvement area has failed its first, and biggest, test.
Twenty-six per cent of downtown business owners have signed a petition against a proposed downtown business improvement area (DBIA) bylaw.
The bylaw would authorize the city to levy an additional $356,000 in property taxes on downtown businesses to fund the Downtown Prince George organization.
Under the alternative approval process, if 50 per cent or more of property owners representing 50 per cent of assessed value oppose the bylaw city council can not approve it.
Downtown Prince George president Kirk Gable said the results of the anti-petition aren’t unexpected.
If there is much new in the latest report for the downtown area, it’s that this report is the result of the collaboration of many groups and agencies in the city.
It involved the city, Northern Health, Chamber of Commerce, Initiatives Prince George, Downtown Prince George, the Native Friendship Centre, social service providers, the RCMP, ministry of social housing and development representatives, and more.
It is a broad-based report. Of that there is no doubt. Does the report have any new magic bullet for the downtown area? Not really. It’s nothing we haven’t heard before. We’ve all known for a long time what needs to be done to improve the downtown area. It’s just a matter of getting it done. And that’s not an easy task.
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