It appears as though the Capitol 6 Multiplex on Blanshard Street between View and Yates is on borrowed time, at least in its current configuration as a movie theatre with some retail.
An aging Victoria multiplex will likely fade to black following Empire Company Ltd.’s announcement Thursday that it’s getting out of the movie-theatre business to focus on Sobeys, its grocery unit.
Andrew Walker, spokesman for the Nova Scotia-based company that owns Thrifty Foods, said its Empire Capitol 6 multiplex at Yates and Blanshard streets, which opened in 1981, will run “as-is” for now.
Empire is keeping the six-screen Capitol, which is not on the market, until it can “realize the real estate value of that property over time,” he said.
Empire’s four-screen University Heights cinema, at Shelbourne Street and McKenzie Avenue in Saanich, is being sold to Landmark Cinemas.
http://www.timescolo...eights-1.336788
I think it's pretty safe to say that Chard's project at the 819 Yates property will go ahead in the next few years. He has a solid track record in that respect.
That being said, what would you like to see where Capitol 6 is? Would you like the building to remain as is and just be repurposed? Should it be torn down and replaced? Would a high rise be out of the question if 17 and 12 storey buildings are put up at 819 Yates (as was the original Emaar proposal)?
I'm not sure, other than I think the existing building looks dated, ugly and unwelcoming. I would welcome something more aesthically pleasing in this spot, but I'm not sure it is a good place for a high rise.