Jump to content

      



























Photo

Former Mayfair Lanes Project


  • Please log in to reply
21 replies to this topic

#1 Baro

Baro
  • Member
  • 4,317 posts

Posted 13 May 2019 - 09:03 AM

I couldn't find the old thread on this but it was being discussed in my office and I can't remember all the details on this.  I know Mayfair Lanes was demo'd to build a Superstore, but then that all fell through.  Some folks in my office were saying it was the local grocery store cartel that put pressure on the city to block competition, what was the full story here?


"beats greezy have baked donut-dough"

#2 aastra

aastra
  • Member
  • 20,650 posts

Posted 13 May 2019 - 09:15 AM

Would the local cartel include Walmart and Target? Because they both expanded into groceries after the bowling thing fell through, right?


  • jonny likes this

#3 Mike K.

Mike K.
  • Administrator
  • 83,184 posts

Posted 13 May 2019 - 09:19 AM

The local grocery cartel put a stop to a multi-billion dollar conglomerate’s plans to open yet another store in addition to the dozen they already operate throughout the CRD? I think that’s a little rich. Loblaw has two grocery stores in the region and operates the Shoppers chain. They’re very well established already.

Companies of that size and financial backing can sit on empty land for decades before making a move.
  • DavidSchell likes this

Know it all.
Citified.ca is Victoria's most comprehensive research resource for new-build homes and commercial spaces.


#4 Baro

Baro
  • Member
  • 4,317 posts

Posted 13 May 2019 - 09:26 AM

So what officially killed the Mayfair lanes redevelopment?


"beats greezy have baked donut-dough"

#5 Cassidy

Cassidy
  • Banned
  • 2,501 posts
  • LocationVictoria

Posted 13 May 2019 - 09:42 AM

So what officially killed the Mayfair lanes redevelopment?

Loblaw (the owners) did.

They have had a few development permits prepared for the property, and the last one they had never even made it to Saanich Concil before Loblaw pulled it from consideration.

 

Loblaw obviously feels the property represents a wise investment, despite dragging their heels in terms of developing it, at least such that they consider it valuable enough somewhere in the future to keep on paying upwards of a quarter of a million dollars each year in property taxes to Saanich.


Edited by Cassidy, 13 May 2019 - 09:42 AM.

  • Baro likes this

#6 Rob Randall

Rob Randall
  • Member
  • 16,310 posts

Posted 13 May 2019 - 10:05 AM

I think both Uptown (T&C) and Superstore (Mayfair Lanes) were announced in 2006 but I don't know if Uptown was public knowledge when Superstore bought the bowling alley. I don't think we know for sure what killed it but it might have been the Uptown announcement. 

 

Also, I don't think Superstore's parent company was doing all that great financially at the time.


  • Baro likes this

#7 jonny

jonny
  • Member
  • 9,211 posts

Posted 13 May 2019 - 10:06 AM

I theorize that Loblaws is simply playing the long game and is waiting to buy up the Tim Horton's and Esso. 


  • Dr. Barillas likes this

#8 Baro

Baro
  • Member
  • 4,317 posts

Posted 13 May 2019 - 10:09 AM

That's good to know,  the water-cooler talk was very much that the big bad meddling city blocked the project on behalf of local grocers.  Instead, the property owners simply decided not to build and hold the land long term instead.


  • Mike K. likes this
"beats greezy have baked donut-dough"

#9 Mike K.

Mike K.
  • Administrator
  • 83,184 posts

Posted 13 May 2019 - 10:09 AM

That’s exactly it. They are waiting out the TH property, and/or the gas station.

Know it all.
Citified.ca is Victoria's most comprehensive research resource for new-build homes and commercial spaces.


#10 jonny

jonny
  • Member
  • 9,211 posts

Posted 13 May 2019 - 10:12 AM

Loblaw's balance sheet shows $30B in assets. I'm guessing they're not to worried about holding one little property in Saanich BC. 



#11 RFS

RFS
  • Member
  • 5,444 posts

Posted 13 May 2019 - 10:13 AM

I vote they build this

Attached Images

  • 250B4F02-F655-4C88-9095-0EFD56DF798E.jpeg

  • Kapten Kapsell, Dr. Barillas and Brantastic like this

#12 jonny

jonny
  • Member
  • 9,211 posts

Posted 13 May 2019 - 10:16 AM

^ That's so much better with Douglas St frontage than Tolmie St frontage. 


  • Nparker and Brantastic like this

#13 sdwright.vic

sdwright.vic

    Colwood

  • Member
  • 6,681 posts

Posted 13 May 2019 - 10:21 AM

I theorize that Loblaws is simply playing the long game and is waiting to buy up the Tim Horton's and Esso.


Now that 7-11 owns all the Esso gas bars, I am going to venture a guess that it will be a very long wait for that piece of property.
Predictive text and a tiny keyboard are not my friends!

#14 Rob Randall

Rob Randall
  • Member
  • 16,310 posts

Posted 13 May 2019 - 10:23 AM

7-Eleven owns the gas station? Or do they just run the food and beverage inside?



#15 sdwright.vic

sdwright.vic

    Colwood

  • Member
  • 6,681 posts

Posted 13 May 2019 - 10:26 AM

A deal by Imperial Oil Ltd. to sell its remaining 497 corporate Esso retail stations for $2.8 billion will translate into more 7-Eleven convenience stores in Alberta and British Columbia.

https://www.google.c...ar-megadeal/amp
Predictive text and a tiny keyboard are not my friends!

#16 jonny

jonny
  • Member
  • 9,211 posts

Posted 13 May 2019 - 10:46 AM

If Loblaws offered enough 7-11 would sell. That's the way the world works. 

 

They wouldn't necessarily even need or want both the TH and Esso properties. Perhaps owning the TH and Swiss Chalet property would be enough. 



#17 aastra

aastra
  • Member
  • 20,650 posts

Posted 13 May 2019 - 10:48 AM

 

I vote they build this...

 

I vote for some broad Chard-style redefinition of possibilities and expectations. It would be great if a process similar to what happened downtown could happen along the Douglas Street strip. Right now we're still in the "it will never happen" phase, but ten years from now we could be in the "of course it's happening, nobody ever doubted it" phase. Somebody just needs to get the ball rolling.



#18 Rob Randall

Rob Randall
  • Member
  • 16,310 posts

Posted 13 May 2019 - 10:51 AM

If Loblaws offered enough 7-11 would sell. That's the way the world works. 

 

An unsubstantiated rumour at the time originating from a Mayfair Lanes employee said Loblaw's paid five times assessed value for the bowling alley.



#19 Mike K.

Mike K.
  • Administrator
  • 83,184 posts

Posted 13 May 2019 - 11:36 AM

They paid a relatively handsome sum, but it wasn’t beyond the realm of a typical transaction for the magnitude of land and a money making business. A close friend of mine is the son of the former owners.

Know it all.
Citified.ca is Victoria's most comprehensive research resource for new-build homes and commercial spaces.


#20 van-island

van-island
  • Member
  • 92 posts

Posted 10 July 2019 - 03:22 PM

I heard that the proposal for the Superstore was similar to the Richmond BC store (i.e. on stilts) and CoV rejected it due to that. But I may have dreamed that solely based on my disgust at the Richmond store's design.

 

I am holding out hope for a huge T&T grocery store on that site, bringing amazing asian culinary delights to Victoria.


  • Dr. Barillas likes this

You're not quite at the end of this discussion topic!

Use the page links at the lower-left to go to the next page to read additional posts.
 



0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users