ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: June 14, 1995
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: Director of Social Planning
SUBJECT: Capital Grant to the YWCA - Crabtree Corner Renovations
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT City Council approve a Capital Grant of up to $63,000 to
the YWCA of Vancouver for renovations to Crabtree Corner and
the construction of a screened-in storage area in the adjacent
City-owned parking garage; source of funds is the City-owned
Social Services Facilities component of the 1995 Capital
Budget.
B. THAT the YWCA be permitted to construct a chain-like storage
area on three parking spots in the parking garage adjacent to
Crabtree Corner, and that these spaces be leased to the YWCA
for $1 per year. This will result in a loss of potential
annual rental revenue of $3,232.
If Council approves B, then the Director of Finance and the General
Manager of Engineering Services recommend:
C. THAT a 1995 grant of $3,232 be approved to repay the loss of
revenue to the Parking Site Reserve with the source of funds
being the Contingency Reserve.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager of Community Services submits A, B and C for
CONSIDERATION.
COUNCIL POLICY
Approval of a grant (Recommendation A) or of a subsidy which results in
loss of revenue to the City (Recommendation B) requires eight
affirmative votes.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to recommend approval of a capital grant
for renovations and improvements to Crabtree Corner and the addition of
three parking spaces from the City's parking garage to the Crabtree
Corner lease area.
BACKGROUND
Crabtree Corner, located at 101 East Cordova Street, is a family and
childcare centre which provides services and programs to more than 2,400
women and 600 children in the Downtown Eastside. The needs of the
people who come to Crabtree are severe. 95% of the families are on
social assistance; 80% are aboriginal women who have suffered the
effects of poverty, physical or emotional abuse, racism and sexism; 1/3
of the children who regularly use the daycare have documented special
needs; the average education level of the mothers is Grade 7 and
complete illiteracy is not uncommon.
A wide range of programs which are geared towards improving the
emotional and physical health of Downtown Eastside women and their
children are provided at Crabtree. There is emergency and short-term
licensed childcare, a FAS/NAS Prevention Project, single mothers and
peer support groups, workshops re: health concerns, individual and group
consultation and counselling, etc.
Crabtree's programs are provided from approximately 2,800 sq. ft. of
City-owned space in the corner of a City-owned parking garage. The
space is much too small for the increasing number of people who use it.
It is also not well designed for its current uses: there are no private
spaces where confidential counselling can take place (none of the walls
go to the ceiling); people must go through the one meeting room to get
to the washrooms, so groups are constantly interrupted; and space which
could more productively be used for staff and clients is now used for
equipment storage.
DISCUSSION
City staff began working with the YWCA (which operates Crabtree Corner)
in 1992 to find ways to alleviate the space problems. A number of
options were explored, including a 1,700 sq. ft. expansion into the
parking garage and a 10,000 sq. ft. new facility on the roof of the
parking garage. These proved to be unworkable because of zoning,
building code and parking requirements. They also looked at relocation
to another site. However, no suitable location is currently available
or is about to become available (in planned new developments).
Relocation is still considered to be the preferred option, but the most
likely opportunities forthis tooccur willnot happenfor atleast 3-5years.
Consequently, the YWCA and City staff have reluctantly agreed that the
best that can be done at this time is to reconfigure the existing
interior program space and to create a small storage area in the
adjacent parking garage. This renovation will make the space more
usable and will result in slightly more program space as the items
currently stored in the centre are moved out to the new storage area.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
The total estimated cost of this project is $63,000, broken down as
follows:
Construction (including interior renovations $42,000
and construction of storage area)
Phone and computer line relocation $ 3,000
Soft Costs (fees, design costs, etc.) $ 7,000
Contingency (15%) $ 8,000
Taxes (net, with GST rebate) $ 3,000
TOTAL $63,000
As this is a City-owned, purpose-built social service facility, the
current rent of $1 per year will continue to apply. Staff are
recommending that the three parking spaces needed for the storage area
be included in the definition of space available to Crabtree, at the
same rental rate. This will result in an annual loss in parking revenue
to the Parking Site Reserve of $3,232. The General Manager of
Engineering Services advises that there is a critical parking shortage
in this historic area and the lot is full. Also, Parking site revenue
has not been used previously to support social service facilities. If
Council approves the use of three spaces for Crabtree Corner, it is
further recommended that the losses to Parking Site Reserve be recovered
from Contingency Reserve.
Normally, the non-profit organization involved in a renovation project
would be expected to help fund it. However, in this instance, we are
recommending that the City provide a capital grant for the full amount.
This project is one of seven that the YWCA included in its current $27
million capital campaign. The YWCA has accessed the maximum allowable
from BC21, Childcare funding programs, and other funders for the entire
capital improvement package. The City has not contributed to any other
component of the capital campaign.
The usual practice with City capital grants is to provide one half at
the start of construction, and the balance, based on actual
expenditures, paid once the project is finished. This is the proposed
method of payment for this grant.
CONCLUSION
Services essential to the well-being of families in the Downtown
Eastside are provided from Crabtree Corner. However, the current
facility is too small to properly meet the needs of area residents. The
long term goal, which is not likely to be attainable for five or more
years, is to relocate to a larger, more appropriate space.
In the meantime, some relatively minor renovations and the creation of a
small storage area in the adjacent parking garage will enable some
expansion of services and an improvement in the working environment.
* * * * *