394 replies to this topic

[amor de cosmos]

University Heights Shopping Centre has been sold for about $52 million to a Vancouver-based firm associated with the Khosrowshahi family’s Persis Holdings Ltd., the founders and former owners of the Future Shop electronics chain.

The sale closed Oct. 15. The mall was previously jointly owned by Ephrem Sz Kwing Lai, Lai Sze Nuen, and Wilson Lai.

A Persis spokesperson could not be reached Wednesday to speak to any changes that may occur at the site.

Located at the corner of Shelbourne Street and McKenzie Avenue in Saanich, University Heights has 199,138 square feet of leaseable area and the site covers 10.7 acres. It was built in 1988 and has expanded since.

http://www.timescolo...llion-1.2104327

[Nparker]

It was built in 1988 and has expanded since

University Heights was built LONG before 1988. I remember going to KMart as a child and that was back in the late 1970s.

[jklymak]

I think the enclosed mall was part of a makeover in 1988.  Not sure if it even exists as a going concen except for the movie theater.  Before that it was a strip mall w/ Safeway and Kmart.   

[aastra]

Before the current multi-level mall, parkade and movie theatres were built in the late 1980s there was a very small enclosed mall with just a few stores in it. I want to say maybe 5 or 6 stores? It was accessible from the back entrance of K-mart. There was a Radio Shack in there, I remember that much.

[AllseeingEye]

Before the current multi-level mall, parkade and movie theatres were built in the late 1980s there was a very small enclosed mall with just a few stores in it. I want to say maybe 5 or 6 stores? It was accessible from the back entrance of K-mart. There was a Radio Shack in there, I remember that much.

Yep I grew up in the Cedar Hill /Ruby (McKenzie) Road neighborhood to 1972 at which point the original "mall" had certainly been built. I remember the broader site in the late 60's pre-mall, as the area where older teen-aged boys went pheasant hunting with bow and arrows. I think the reference to '1988' refers more or less to the current configuration including the movie theatres, which the original iteration certainly did not have.

[insanelydeadlydisease]

Hopefully they don't change it too much. It's such a great facility.

[Bingo]

Hopefully they don't change it too much. It's such a great facility.

 

My favourite place to see a movie, and there's lots of parking

[VicHockeyFan]

[Matt R.]

Oh I love that one. Spent a lot of time there as a kid!  

 

Matt.

[Mike K.]

BREAKING: someone walked into Home Depot, poured accelerant onto paint cans and lit a fire.

The store, and possibly the entire shopping centre, was evacuated.

This happened approximately one hour ago.

[Mike K.]

We now have confirmation the entire shopping centre was evacuated.

[rjag]

I was just there about 5 mins before that and was at the Esso filling up when I saw the fire trucks...pretty scary stuff

[Mike K.]

Did you see smoke or flames, anything of the sort?

We're now learning traffic in the area is an absolute mess.

[Rob Randall]

No visible fire but a faint smell of smoke can be detected on UH property.

Apparently, minutes before the incident, HD customers were getting frustrated in line because a Canada-wide outage brought down all debit and credit card operations. Perhaps an impatient customer was mad as hell and wasn't going to take it anymore?

Traffic in that whole Shelbourne/McKenzie area is crazy, and residential side streets are crowded with rerouted cars, so avoid it for now.

Edited by Rob Randall, 09 April 2016 - 11:54 AM.

[rjag]

nope, it was a zoo though because the garden centre is now open and I had to park in the far corner by Canadian Tire. Traffic at the parking lot prior to the incident was really heavy. I've never see it so busy. I left and was at the Esso gas station filling up when all the fire trucks and cops started rolling into the area. From that vantage point being lower I couldn't see where they were heading but I only knew it was close by and in the opposite direction of where I was heading.

 

Did they catch the guy?

[Bingo]

That Shelbourne Corridor is crazy at it's finest.

[VicHockeyFan]

 

Did they catch the guy?

 

 

How sexist!

 

OP:   BREAKING: someone walked into Home Depot, poured accelerant onto paint cans and lit a fire.

 

[sebberry]

How sexist!

 

More often than not, arsonists are male.

[Bingo]

BREAKING: someone walked into Home Depot, poured accelerant onto paint cans and lit a fire.

 

How long before they close their paint department?

[Rob Randall]

A HD employee told us he heard from someone in the paint department that it was a man. He said he lit "an incendiary device" but he may have meant an accelerant. CHEK news is there and we should hear the facts tonight.