“Very real possibility” that the Fire Pit closes due to cost increases

West says the Fire Pit is facing around a $1500 monthly rent increase, back dated to January 2025, and the CAM fee has gone from around $500 to $16,000.

“We’re trying to figure out a little under a $40,000 increase to our expenses for the year,” West said.

“We’ve been operating in the community for the last 22 years supporting people and prevention to HIV and hepatitis C at a very low barrier level. We provide nutritious meals, connection to culture, connection to Elders, and just positive social support, so it really hit us quite hard and we’ve been kind of scrambling ever since trying to figure out how to navigate this situation,” West added.

It’s been a challenging situation for Positive Living North, and its property manager says he wants to do what he can to help. Robert Hillhouse, a property manager with Majestic Management, says he’s always supported the Fire Pit’s objectives and what they do for the community, and says that is reflected in several actions he and Majestic Management have taken. Among them is forgiving half of the Fire Pit’s monthly rent for years to try and keep the space affordable.

“They’re paying $8.50 a square foot, which is some of the lowest rent in Prince George, lower than an unfinished warehouse. And yet, their space is air conditioned, they’ve got a full kitchen, it’s a finished space. If you go inside and take a look, it’s a nice space,” Hillhouse said.

“I support what they’re doing. I have since day one when they first moved in, we managed to get them funding, a half million dollars worth of funding, in order to provide the leasehold improvements. They’d already signed a lease with us, and then we managed to get the funding for them. It wasn’t like an inducement to come rent from us,” he continued.

Regarding the rent increase, Hillhouse explained there are two components to commercial rent: base rent, and additional rent. He says base rent is the money that goes to the landlord, and additional rent is things like property taxes and utilities. Increases to additional rent items have forced the rent increase, although Hillhouse noted that “we’ve given no increase on base rent, which is what we’re paid for.”

“Over the years, we’ve really worked with them, and even now we’re trying to work with them. But we understand that these costs, which are pass throughs, have climbed. We’re not being onerous ogres here, we’re not threatening to terminate the lease or change the locks. But the reality is costs have gone up. Insurance, construction costs, security issues, it’s not what it was ten years ago in Prince George,” Hillhouse said.

As for the CAM fee, Hillhouse says this is a combination of the relatively recent need to pay for security, on top of several outstanding payments over the years.

“If you were to go to this building, there are scorch marks on the outside of the building from fires that have been lit, people break windows, stuff happens in the downtown, and it necessitates that most businesses in the downtown have to pay additionally for private security,” he said.

These factors have all culminated in the challenge to overcome around $40,000 in additional costs a year, a situation that Positive Living North says is putting the Fire Pit at risk.

“We’ve had 22 years of building rapport with our community and supporting it, so it has been a heavy blow to even our patrons who access the Fire Pit about the potential for there not to be a Fire Pit. So we’re just really fighting for the Fire Pit as much as we can for the folks that need it the most,” West says.

“At this point, we are just having conversations with the community. We are looking at fundraising, so we do have a donate button on our website. And we are looking at potential other locations to have our services because we do still see the need for this service,” she continued.

Both West and Hillhouse expressed an interest to hopefully find solutions for this situation to keep the Fire Pit running.

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by Tommy Osborne

“Very real possibility” that the Fire Pit closes due to cost increases

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