Zero proposals for Block 10

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Vancouver’s Block 10 — the last completely empty block in the downtown redevelopment area — has long been hyped by city officials. The city council voted last August to publish a “request for interest” to signal to the private sector that it was ready to entertain ideas, and the city-owned parcel was described by councilors in glowing terms.

The deadline was April 30. The city received zero formal proposals, Teresa Brum, the city’s economic development manager, told the Vancouver City Council on Monday.

Block 10 has been vacant for 20 years, she said.

“We saw a tremendous amount of interest, and a lot of requests for information, (but) we didn’t get a response for that,” Brum said. She heard two contradictory reasons why there was no love for Block 10. One, that developers are so busy right now that they don’t have time to submit a proposal and two, it’s just a bad time for development.

The city will put out another request for interest for Block 10, but it will wait a few months. It’s too soon, Brum said.

After all, you don’t want to look desperate. You need time to heal from rejection, and reflect on what went wrong.

Block 10, which Vancouver’s Downtown Association spruced up last year into “Heritage Square”  has been inhabited by several businesses over the decades.

Now, as I tweeted Monday, I think I’ll just call it Bridget.