Holiday Storefront Contest
Businesses throughout downtown have been busy decorating their storefronts to celebrate the new season! We encourage you to VISIT downtown and VOTE for your favorite holiday-themed storefront! Three winners will receive $250 courtesy of iQ Credit Union—this is a great way to show your support of our local businesses! PARTICIPATING LOCATIONS & VOTING: www.vdausa.org/storefrontcontest Votes must be received by December 28th, end of day. While you're downtown, we also encourage you to shop local via our Holiday Gift Guide, available at the link above.
Fall Cleanup
The Fall Cleanup was a success! A BIG thank you to the 70 volunteers that came out on 10/23 to help pick up litter and leaves throughout our downtown core. We weren’t kidding when we said RAIN or shine! Thank you to the City of Vancouver for their partnership on this effort. Photos captured by our video producer Casey Evans Media. This event is a part of our Spruce the Couve initiative which focuses on community cleanups, graffiti removal, power washing, new trash cans, and improved
Waterfront Gateway
On Oct. 21, the Vancouver City Center Redevelopment Authority (CCRA) selected LPC West, the west coast arm of national real estate firm Lincoln Property Company, as the development team to move forward with planning and development of the Waterfront Gateway. The Waterfront Gateway is a 6.4-acre city-owned site connecting the downtown core and waterfront, which has emerged as a desirable destination for businesses, residents and visitors. The site is bounded by West Sixth (north), Columbia (east) and Grant (west) streets and the railroad berm (south)
Public Art: 7th Street Mural
Check out our new mural on 7th Street, next door to Slow Fox Chili Parlor! SWIPE RIGHT to see the before and after! This mural activates a building that has been boarded up for approximately 40 years. VDA chose this project site to help promote connectivity between districts and to draw additional traffic to this blossoming block. Conceptualized by local artist Jane Degenhardt, “More Than Meets The Eye,” brings the observer out of the urban environment and into nature. ARTIST STATEMENT: “Wandering through the Pacific Northwest understory,
Downtown on the Rise: Block 10
Block 10, located at 8th & Washington, has officially topped off! Block 10 is the next premiere mixed-use project coming to Downtown Vancouver. It will be Holland Partner Group’s headquarter office while also delivering urban apartments and unique retail spaces. Block 10 will provide the following amenities to the downtown core: Two distinct four-story towers above a two-story shared parking garage and first-floor retail space One tower will offer 79,000 square feet of office space The other tower will have 110 apartment units - 20%
Spruce the Couve: Pacific House Lighting Project
Check out our recent lighting improvements at 9th & Main! These improvements are responding to the need of improved lighting in pedestrian corridors throughout downtown—guided by feedback received from business owners and the public. These improvements are a part of our clean and safe initiative, Spruce the Couve. Graffiti removal, power washing, new trash cans, improved lighting, and community clean-ups are all examples of tasks that are currently being completed under this program. Spruce the Couve will improve the quality of life of our residents, increase
JumpStart Downtown: E-Commerce Assistance Program
VDA’s newest initiative, JumpStart Downtown is live! JumpStart Downtown is an e-commerce assistance program providing businesses located in the downtown core tailored services to improve their online presence. These services will help mitigate the negative impacts of COVID-19 and will ensure business resiliency post-pandemic. SERVICES OFFERED: Website Assistance E-commerce development Competitive analysis Content strategy Search engine optimization Local listings development Social Media Assistance Branding / marketing Content analysis Messaging analysis ELIGIBILITY: Business must have experienced negative impacts from COVID-19 Preference is given to low/moderate income households (we encourage all
Spruce the Couve: Clean-up Challenge
Last month, we challenged our downtown businesses to gather a group of coworkers to take on a beautification project of their choosing in conjunction with our annual spring clean-up. Approximately 60 volunteers took on a variety of projects ranging from landscape beautification, mural installations, graffiti removal, litter pick-up, and power-washing. Seven wonderful projects were submitted for a chance to win a prize sponsored by Columbia Credit Union. In the end all teams won a prize, but two Grand Prize Winners - Gravitate and LSW Architects were
Spruce the Couve: Spring Clean-up
Over 70 hard working volunteers gathered 14.5 yards of debris & trash and planted 1,200 flowers in Esther Short Park for the Spruce the Couve downtown clean-up event on Saturday! THANK YOU to our dedicated volunteers and Frontier Landscaping for spending their Saturday enhancing our beautiful downtown as we welcome back the public. This was a collaborative effort between the Vancouver’s Downtown Association, City of Vancouver, and Parks Foundation of Clark County. Thank you to our video producer, Casey Evans Media, for capturing this effort!
Launchpad Program: Dandelion Teahouse Opening
We are excited to announce that our Launchpad winner, Dandelion Teahouse Apothecary, will be opening on Saturday, May 22nd. Downtown Vancouver businesses provided monetary resources and in-kind services to make this business dream a reality. Check out today's Columbian article highlighting Dandelion's story & offerings! The Columbian—Launchpad winner Marianne Wilson Stein will open Dandelion Teahouse & Apothecary on Saturday, May 22nd, in downtown Vancouver. Stein won the $40,000 prize from Vancouver’s Downtown Association in August. Her teahouse concept was picked from a pool of over 35 applicants