Western Star plant sold.

[forumdoug]

That only took 15 years to be finally sold off, now it can be called something other then the former WST plant.

Lowe's, while not great, would've been better, even if they relocated RONA rather than opening a second store. :(

[forumdoug]

or grow weed

It's zoned industrial so a licensed medical and/or future recreational marijuana cultivation and production operation would've actually been ideal. It's not near any schools and it's one the City likely would've been able to get behind. Decent paying jobs w/benefits and/or defined contribution/group RRSP retirement plan(s) likely, too. It would've created a real "buzz" for this City. :)

Cheers,
Doug

[forumdoug]

Sad that it took so long, and empty a lot..Ktown has done a good job of driving industry away from here..

Not all that empty 60 .. FortisBC is in there now along with Lordco with a warehouse and Don Folk with a detail and storage lot. Alteck , a power line installation company was in there along with RackForce(?) being in there also. That's on top of the boat storage the owner leased out for 5 months a year. And yeah , those idiot movie people who just don't know how to slow down the crew vehicles while going from back to front...

But Kelowna does "do well" at getting rid of industry .

A soundstage is being planned for the Airport Business Park, too, so not necessary here. A licensed marijuana production operation would've been great in terms of decent jobs. What would the educational requirements be, I wonder? ;)

That explains why Allteck moved out to a new building on Penno or Appaloosa Rds in their own building this year or last. Lordco is in two (or three) warehouse buildings on Dilworth Drive, also owned by Callahan. Those are separate parcels and thus, not included. Were those warehouses even part of Western Star? Doubt it. If they were utilizing space in this property, it was likely temporary, short-term (i.e., month-to-month lease) storage and easily relocatable. Doubt Don Folk was actually in this parcel. FortisBC may be but again, likely short-term storage and easily relocateable, too.

RackForce, yes, that was the idea but was never publicized on their website, which says they're in the basement of one or more Landmark towers?

Cheers,
Doug

[forumdoug]

Self storage , vehilce renting and storage , repair et al . in one giant centralized location..

Uhaul itself doesn't do any self storage, vehicle renting, storage, etc. they use dealers for it. But once in a while they have move vehicles around for maintenance. So basically it will be a parking lot for all their trucks and trailers waiting to be shipped around the area. Doesn't require employees really. Just a storage yard.

Not true. This is a "classic Uhaul" move. Utilize independent dealers in small-format markets and, when growth rates sustain it and you've built profitable dealers, bring in some owned & operate self storage and truck rental facility. They'll make their O&O facilities as "priority" return centres for one-way rentals and prioritize their in-town rentals to these facilities by "upping" the revenue requirements for the independent dealers to maintain them.

I see Westbank Self Storage has already cancelled its long-term Uhaul rental dealership, though it may still be using their WebSelfStorage management platform for now. I expect M&H Auto Sales has got to be *bleep* off about this - this will siphon the majority of their Uhaul business away from them. :(

Cheers,
Doug

[forumdoug]

They bought Rona instead ..Last year

Yes, but the land Rona is on is a lease with the owners wanting it back to expand. The original plan was to build the new Lowes and then close the Rona as the brand is being amalgamated.

I suspect Lowe's was the one that shelved these plans to acquire the site, or lease the site, from Callahan, which made the site available for Uhaul to purchase. :)

They'll likely stay in the RONA store for now, perhaps "downsizing" their plans to include just a renovation/"retooling" (pardon the unintended pun) and rebrand maybe and then move in another 10 years or so. :)

[MAPearce]

I'm guessing the former ancillary parcels of Western Star's plant that were previously used by Sitel and now just Natures Formulae (think that's the name) on Leckie Pl would be excluded. My understanding is that it would just be the parcel sited at 2076 Enterprise Way, still a big parcel. :(

Callahan Property Group has the "for lease/sale" sign up but property records indicate the seller as '3752 Investments Inc,' which I understood to be an Argus Properties Ltd (other Callahan brothers' company) subsidiary/affiliate?

CPG owns 2076 Enterptrise ,the ancillary are Argus as far as I've been told by a guy who's been at that plant before it shut down , while it shut down and is still in it today ..

He was there through the whole "messy divorce" between two brothers and CPG and Argus are not "affiliated" if you get my drift ..

[MAPearce]

A soundstage is being planned for the Airport Business Park, too, so not necessary here. A licensed marijuana production operation would've been great in terms of decent jobs. What would the educational requirements be, I wonder? ;)

That explains why Allteck moved out to a new building on Penno or Appaloosa Rds in their own building this year or last. Lordco is in two (or three) warehouse buildings on Dilworth Drive, also owned by Callahan. Those are separate parcels and thus, not included. Were those warehouses even part of Western Star? Doubt it. If they were utilizing space in this property, it was likely temporary, short-term (i.e., month-to-month lease) storage and easily relocatable. Doubt Don Folk was actually in this parcel. FortisBC may be but again, likely short-term storage and easily relocateable, too.

RackForce, yes, that was the idea but was never publicized on their website, which says they're in the basement of one or more Landmark towers?

Not too sure what you know about the actual plant at 2076 but the building would need a pant load of work structurally to accommodate a sound stage or marijuana production . The front of the building is office space and I'd guess would have to be gutted and reconfigured to make it usable for anything other than office .. I'd be willing to guess a new "build to suit". would be the better way to go.

Allteck was busting at the seems when they left and needed more room period . I'm sure Callaghan had the room and would have done a "built to suit" for them , but what would be the point ? It's like a lease it or bite the bullet on land and building cost , then own it for marginally more than a lease .. I know what I'd do..

Lordco may have moved but it wasn't that long ago ( 4 weeks maybe) that Bigger trucks pull up to our door looking for them and we send them around the back to where they are/were and don't see them coming out as if they still aren't there..

Not too sure if it's Don Folk ( he sold) or Jacobsen ( doubt that) but there are a tonne of brand spanking new Chevy Camaros and other vehicles parked where Allteck was...

Lastly , Rack Force was there 8 years ago briefly when I started working there and left shortly after.. Where they are know , don't know , don't care but I'm sure their doing fine .

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

Bought by U Haul....man they are investing heavily in the Kelowna area.. Should be a few jobs..

Love the sarcasm! :)

Indeed, while I agree with Uhaul on principle of repurposing old, dilapidated buildings, the Western Star building wasn't one of those. It may have been vacant but I'd have rather seen Uhaul buy the old BC Tree Fruits packinghouse building at Richter St & Clement Ave as they were rumoured to a couple years ago.

Also, they've promised to revitalize the old Zellers property + building in West Kelowna but haven't. They've not updated us with any updated building interior photos (have all promised 1000+ interior climate-controlled units been built?) nor have they removed graffiti from the building's exterior, repainted the building, added illuminated signage to the building, repaired the concrete parking lot and put up a proper, substantive and decorative wrought iron fencing for their outdoor equipment yard - sticking up only a few rather flimsy metal barricades you might see for crowd control at an outdoor concert tied together with, literally, string/rope and signs that flap in the wind. Oh and they've add the Marios Towing signs, too. :(

Uhaul also doesn't provide many jobs, let alone good paying jobs. Most are part-time, often require drivers' licenses and pay close to minimum wage. Of the management jobs, they are significantly below market for similar management positions. :(

I'd be surprised if this employs more than 10 people including management when all is said and done. :(

Such a shame!

Cheers,
Doug

I wasnt being sarcastic..i did not say how many jobs or what they paid, just meant it may mean a few extra jobs..
But given the size of the building on Enterprise , and having been in it, I suspect far far more than 10 jobs per each of these two locations.... Its a large chunk and a very big building...I used to do contract work in there..am familiar with the size.

[GordonH]

That only took 15 years to be finally sold off, now it can be called something other then the former WST plant.

Lowe's, while not great, would've been better, even if they relocated RONA rather than opening a second store. :(

Traffic on Enterprise is bad enough now, adding a big box store would have been even worse.

[MAPearce]

ts a large chunk and a very big building...I used to do contract work in there..am familiar with the size.

Is it the " Ghost of 60 " I see when I go to the can in he main plant ??

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

When you go in the Culdesac, the big warehouse was on the left with main employee parking on the right, then test track between parking and the tracks. At the end of said parking lot, you then hit the main gates for the plant, I believe that fence line is the east boundary of the portion you view from Enterprise.
I am thinking that part of a large U Haul depot would include a repair facility, sooner or later the rolling stock and trailers will need work, plus washing, and other stuff.
Not sure what you mean by Ghost of.. I usually did stuff in Cabco..right back corner in main building, and used the east back corner washrooms. The office space is quite large and goes around the west corner. The lunchroom was on the second floor at rear of the offices, but with windows toward the plant..
It must look huge without having 40 trucks in there all the time...

[MAPearce]

Not sure what you mean by Ghost of..

There's somebody's ghost in that plant....

The lunchroom was on the second floor at rear of the offices, but with windows toward the plant..
It must look huge without having 40 trucks in there all the time...

We're in the Ecoat , east and west touch up booths and the old maintanence shack is where I sandblast.. We use the washrooms in the main plant , above the work floor attached to the lunch room between the Enterprise main gate and the gate off the parking lot at the end of Leckie..

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

Pretty much always I worked after 3:30?....after the thundering horde left.
Which meant I had to get thru the gate at least 5 minutes before the quitting buzzer , or wait till all the traffic left.
Should have seen the lineup at the timeclock...worse on weekends... 4 minutes later it was almost a ghost town in there..
But then it was much quieter, just a huge carvernous space with only a few people moving around..
It was pretty good in there, huge fans, good ventilation, no open pits.. For the most part..they say Portland is an aging plant that is not a great working environment..

[forumdoug]

CPG owns 2076 Enterptrise ,the ancillary are Argus as far as I've been told by a guy who's been at that plant before it shut down , while it shut down and is still in it today ..

He was there through the whole "messy divorce" between two brothers and CPG and Argus are not "affiliated" if you get my drift ..

I definitely know that - the brothers may be blood-related but that's likely the extent of the relation. ;)

I knew that Argus owns the former Crown Packaging building & lot and I thought CPG owned the 2076 Enterprise Way parcel, as they do 1640-1656 Dilworth Dr (the "warehouses" I believe you spoke of), though I don't think those warehouses were part of the old Western Star site. The thing that puzzles me is I thought 3752 Investments Inc was an Argus company, unless I'm remembering it as an Argus company prior to the "messy divorce," and that ended up with CPG? Possible.

The ancillary parcels I meant are 2300 Leckie Pl, is that the one you meant? I think that used to be part of the old Western Star plant but I'm not sure who owns that now, probably Argus or Callahan as they pretty much "own" (most of) Kelowna. ;)

Cheers,
Doug

[forumdoug]

I wasnt being sarcastic..i did not say how many jobs or what they paid, just meant it may mean a few extra jobs..
But given the size of the building on Enterprise , and having been in it, I suspect far far more than 10 jobs per each of these two locations.... Its a large chunk and a very big building...I used to do contract work in there..am familiar with the size.

Doesn't take a lot of people to run a Uhaul dealership/self storage centre. 1000 units, 7-day per week operation, I'm guessing probably 2 full-time CSRs, a couple of part-time CSRs and a General Manager with several "lot/facility maintenance staff". If they're doing to have this as an Okanagan repair and maintenance shop for Uhaul, then yes, auto mechanics would be needed and those would be decent jobs but still, I imagine they could run things with a staff of 10 or less in that department, too, so you're looking at anywhere from 7-8 to upwards of 20, at the most, many of which are minimum wage. :(

If the latter is the case, expect companies like Fountain Tire, Fender's Autobody, Kal Tire and even their own independent Uhaul dealer, Headhunters, to see less repair and maintenance work contracted to them as Uhaul takes the work "in-house". :)

Cheers,
Doug