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“It’s disastrous. It’s an ugly spiral going on,” Jackson said. “(The Lower Mainland) is becoming a playground for the super-rich, and the way it’s going you won’t be able to buy a coffee here. These small shops can’t afford to stay.”

Jackson complained to Richmond city hall over the soaring tax bill, and said he was told that increased assessed values were to blame.

Jackson manages about 100 small retail tenants in similar mall properties across the Lower Mainland, and he said many are in danger of closing down. He said one factor driving taxes higher is municipalities rezoning for “mixed-use” retail and residential buildings. Even if mall owners don’t evict their retail tenants to enable developers to build condos atop new retail space, Jackson said, they will still be charged tax rates for the so-called “highest and best use” of the property, which is high-density housing.

Also, Jackson believes speculators and developers are snapping up commercial properties in anticipation of high-density residential zoning.

Therefore, at properties such as the mall he manages at Garden City Road and Capstan Way — which is only zoned for retail use — it is possible that assessors could be assigning higher values due to property transactions occurring elsewhere in Richmond.

Jackson said he feels “horrible” for the small businesses at his Richmond mall such as Pho Han, a Vietnamese restaurant.

“It’s a husband and wife that work ten hour days, six days a week. They have two kids doing homework in the kitchen because they can’t afford to pay for daycare,” Jackson said. “How can businesses like this survive?”