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UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Sandown Park Shopping Centre
Use: commercial
Address: 10330 McDonald Park Road
Municipality: North Saanich
Region: Saanich Peninsula
Storeys: 1
Sandown Parking Shopping Centre is a 140,000 square foot retail plaza along McDonald Park Road in North Saanic... (view full profile)
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[North Saanich] Sandown Park Shopping Centre | Retail


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#1 AnonAnnie2

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Posted 10 May 2010 - 07:33 PM

VANCOUVER ISLAND'S ONLY HORSE TRACK CLOSING FOR GOOD


I went there last year to take some pictures, the poor manager had a fit, he was certain I was some 'authority' there to find something wrong to shut him down. I really felt bad for the guy.
Walking around the place I could see, feel, smell and hear the ghosts of yesteryear - it really is something, like stepping back in a race-track time-warp.

I'll make a point of going back before they close it off totally, its sad in a sad way.

#2 Holden West

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Posted 10 May 2010 - 08:55 PM

I went to Sandown about, what, 20 years ago, I guess.

It was an exciting, bustling place full of people. Of course, it was much more exciting than watching a video gambling machine.
"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

#3 spanky123

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Posted 11 May 2010 - 06:44 AM

There have been a couple of people working to try and turn this into an RV park. Wonder if that is the plan now.

#4 victorian fan

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Posted 11 May 2010 - 07:24 AM

They lost me when they switched to harness racing.

#5 Bingo

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Posted 11 May 2010 - 08:23 AM

It's 90 acres in the ALR. I hope it stays that way.

#6 Holden West

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Posted 11 May 2010 - 08:26 AM

ALR? But who would be willing to spend millions buying and developing a farm nowadays? I too, am curious about what could happen here.
"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

#7 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 11 May 2010 - 09:03 AM

It's 90 acres in the ALR. I hope it stays that way.


Why? For the past 50 years have you been missing the blueberries they used to grow there?

#8 phx

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Posted 11 May 2010 - 09:43 PM

They should relocate the track to Beacon Hill Park.

#9 Holden West

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Posted 11 May 2010 - 10:27 PM

^Because in Victoria, anything old is good, right? I'm sure the Friends of Beacon Hill Park will be delighted.


"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

#10 AnonAnnie2

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Posted 12 May 2010 - 06:30 AM

.......William A. Randall, a member of the B.C. Horse Racing Hall of fame, built the Sandown track in 1955, that organization's website states. He was also a key player in the formation of the B.C. Jockey Club prior to the 1961 season.

........Sandown is owned by two companies and encompasses 91 acres, all in the agricultural land reserve. B.C.'s Land Title registry states that Colwood Park Association Ltd. of Vancouver owns the property.


From Times Colonist



#11 piltdownman

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Posted 12 May 2010 - 04:41 PM

The Victoria Jockey Club was founded in 1861 and raced at Beacon Hill Park. Am I the only one that would like this important part of our heritage restored for its 150 year old anniversary?

Looks like me missed out on a great stimulus opportunity.

#12 Rob Randall

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Posted 12 May 2010 - 09:00 PM

.......William A. Randall, a member of the B.C. Horse Racing Hall of fame, built the Sandown track in 1955, that organization's website states. He was also a key player in the formation of the B.C. Jockey Club prior to the 1961 season.


Interesting. My uncle is William A. Randall but as far as I know our families aren't related.

#13 AnonAnnie2

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Posted 13 May 2010 - 05:38 AM

Interesting. My uncle is William A. Randall but as far as I know our families aren't related.


Oh! the stage is set Rob! the stuff of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy's mysteries! Maybe you are directly related? maybe you could be willed the track and maybe...

#14 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 13 May 2010 - 07:54 AM

Maybe we can take some of those dogs being euthanized in Ontario, ship them over here and set up dog racing at Sandown? Don't they usually tow some type of rabbit in front of the dogs - I know where we can get lots of those real cheap locally.

Rob, if you do indeed own it, or have some ties, would you approve of such a plan, to save those poor animals from death (the dogs, not the rabbits)?

#15 Bernard

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Posted 14 May 2010 - 07:55 AM

The 90 acre will remain in the ALR. No matter what alarmist things people say about ALR land in BC, it is hard to remove and very little gets removed.

That said, the property is in 8 separate titles. The 4 largest are 8 ha and the smallest is 0.8 ha.

Total price for the site should be in the range of $7,000,000 to $11,000,000.

Can you develop a farm on that? I theory yes, but you need a lot of access to capital.

Let us say you put into blueberries and manage to get 85 usable acres and average 15,000 pounds per acre. This should give you a gross revenue of $1,300,000 to $2,000,000 per year.

To get it into blueberries you would need to spend about $5,000 per acre to get production started. I am assuming some of the existing buildings could be retro-fitted for cold storage. $1,000,000 should let you get it started.

Your cost to produce the blueberries would be around $800,000 to $1,000,000 a year.

So once the plants are in full production, you would have between $300,000 to $1,200,000 in net revenues per year. You would also be carrying a debt that could cost you about $200,000 to $250,000 a year.

#16 Bingo

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Posted 14 May 2010 - 07:52 PM

Maybe we can take some of those dogs being euthanized in Ontario, ship them over here and set up dog racing at Sandown? Don't they usually tow some type of rabbit in front of the dogs - I know where we can get lots of those real cheap locally.

Rob, if you do indeed own it, or have some ties, would you approve of such a plan, to save those poor animals from death (the dogs, not the rabbits)?


Excellent idea. Remove the traffic from ring road at UVIC, fence it in and install bleachers for students to watch dog racing. Or just fence all of UVIC and have a free for all.

#17 spanky123

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Posted 15 May 2010 - 06:26 AM

The 90 acre will remain in the ALR. No matter what alarmist things people say about ALR land in BC, it is hard to remove and very little gets removed.

That said, the property is in 8 separate titles. The 4 largest are 8 ha and the smallest is 0.8 ha.

Total price for the site should be in the range of $7,000,000 to $11,000,000.

Can you develop a farm on that? I theory yes, but you need a lot of access to capital.

Let us say you put into blueberries and manage to get 85 usable acres and average 15,000 pounds per acre. This should give you a gross revenue of $1,300,000 to $2,000,000 per year.

To get it into blueberries you would need to spend about $5,000 per acre to get production started. I am assuming some of the existing buildings could be retro-fitted for cold storage. $1,000,000 should let you get it started.

Your cost to produce the blueberries would be around $800,000 to $1,000,000 a year.

So once the plants are in full production, you would have between $300,000 to $1,200,000 in net revenues per year. You would also be carrying a debt that could cost you about $200,000 to $250,000 a year.


Hot much can you make growing pot? :-)

#18 Bernard

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Posted 15 May 2010 - 12:23 PM

Hot much can you make growing pot? :-)


The capital investment is much, much higher as the best stuff is grown hydroponically. You also have a much higher wage expense for people to work on the site and to guard the site. The type of firearms needed has become much more expensive as well, a large operation needs numerous full automatic weapons to be somewhat secure.

As a grower, the amount you get per pound is actually quite low, the growers suffer the same problem of being squeezed by the middle man. Very few commercial pot growers are making much money. The integrated business units seem to function better financially.

Marijuana is not a fast track to riches, the wholesale value of BC's pot business is in the range of $200,000,000 to $500,000,000. Most of the money made in the business are by the middle men that sell it on to the small dealers. Growers have a limited set of buyers they can sell to and almost no negotiation power. Are you going to argue with a biker holding some manner of fully automatic firearm?

I learned about a lot of this from a old hippie who had a patch in the hills somewhere in this province. He died of a heart-attack a couple of years ago. He had told me about how low the return was and how more firearms were around.

#19 LJ

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Posted 15 May 2010 - 07:19 PM

Wait till California legalizes cultivating and possession of pot, the bottom will fall right out of the BC market.

It has a very good chance of being voted in favour of.

If a US state legalizes it, and gets away with it without interference from the feds, it would make it that much easier for it to be legalized in Canada.
Life's a journey......so roll down the window and enjoy the breeze.

#20 Holden West

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Posted 12 November 2010 - 09:59 PM


"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

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