Mayor’s bailout of Waldorf unsustainable; real problem is city’s onerous building rules

Originally published in the Vancouver Sun. Waldorf Tiki Bar photo by Les Bazso, PNG.

Losing the Waldorf Hotel is a setback for Vancouver’s arts, music and culture scene, and many people are rightly disappointed about this. The public firestorm that erupted on social media last week confirmed the Waldorf’s high standing among Vancouver’s arts community, and fans of its innovative programming.

But do Vancouver taxpayers want to pay to keep this facility open? They may have no choice. It looks like you’ll pay thanks to a decision by Mayor Gregor Robertson.

On Sunday, it was revealed that Waldorf Productions — the leaseholder which ran the bar, restaurant and entertainment lounges in the Hastings Street building — are deeply in debt and failing to pay their rent.

In their own news release, Waldorf Productions explained they had taken substantial loans to renovate and reopen the 1947-era facility.

According to one report the building’s owner had waived over $300,000 in rent payments from the company. The hotel’s staff is unionized, which likely removed the flexibility around pay and benefits that a small business needs to achieve profitability.

The Waldorf Hotel provided coveted cultural space in Vancouver. As a business, however, the Waldorf appeared to be on a fast-track toward bankruptcy.

So how did we get stuck having to rescue the Waldorf Hotel from a financial sinkhole it has dug for itself?

When the news broke that Waldorf Productions were planning to cease operations, Mayor Robertson pledged to help save the venue where, coincidentally, his Vision Vancouver party have staged multiple events.

The mayor was hailed by several for taking action. Though many cherished cultural venues have been lost on his watch — for example, the Pantages Theatre, the Ridge and Hollywood cinemas, and the Vancouver Playhouse — it looked like the mayor was drawing a line in the sand.

Robertson directed staff to see if the city could prevent redevelopment of the site by denying a demolition permit to the building’s new owners Solterra Group. At best, council could only delay this permit, not stop it.

The mayor proposes that the city find a way to designate the Waldorf Hotel as a heritage property. According to the B.C. Heritage Act, the city would have to compensate the owner to achieve this without their permission.

Lastly, the mayor stated he would reach out to Solterra Group to make “accommodations” to Waldorf Productions to continue to run the venue.

A back-of-the-napkin calculation suggests that the city will fork over millions in density bonuses and the relaxation of developer costs to pay for the heritage designation and to bail out Waldorf Productions.

It is clear that the mayor’s plan is completely unsustainable. Nor is it fair to all of us in this city who struggle to meet their bottom line every day.

Is there no way cultural venues can flourish without taxpayers footing the bill?

City staff have long understood the challenge faced by private business operators to find space where Vancouver’s arts and music community can put down roots and grow. They have also heard that it is the city’s own building regulations which are the real barrier.

Onerous building code standards have made renovating old spaces needlessly costly and cumbersome. No one can afford hundreds of thousands or even millions to bring buildings up to code.

In cities like Portland and Olympia, Wash., where music and arts venues thrive, local governments have learned to relax these building regulations while working with business operators to make sure safety issues are addressed. In Vancouver, that kind of helpful culture does not exist at the permits and licences branch of city hall.

While many of us are sad to see the cocktail umbrellas at the Waldorf’s Tiki Bar folded up for good, is there hope for something to replace it? Yes, if the political will is there to cut red tape.

New, equally exciting venues can rise from the rubble of the Waldorf Hotel, but it should not be by making Vancouverites carry the cost.