Jul. 09, 2016: Excerpt: Dunbar Lumber, at Dunbar Street and West 16th Avenue on Vancouver’s west side, has been operating at the location since 1935. Shafique Shivji ’s father took over the business in 1972 and paid $100,000 for the property. Today, the family is paying nearly that same amount in annual property taxes, which, Mr. Shivji said, is part of the reason they decided to sell to a developer, who plans on building a 19-unit residential building, with commercial space.
His climbing taxes coincide with Vancouver’s skyrocketing residential market over the last two to three years. Meanwhile, Mr. Shivji said his customer base has dropped off.
“I employ 40 people in that one location, and I’m not gaining any business, so when my taxes jumped up to almost $100,000, we had to ask, ‘What are we doing this for?’ We can’t keep going like this.”
Source: Soaring property values push businesses out of Vancouver’s west side – The Globe and Mail
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