Local Buys Westbank Shopping Centre for $14M

[oneh2obabe]

For the first time in its 21-year history, Westbank Shopping Centre is under local ownership.

A company controlled by Ray Kandola, the co-founder of City Furniture & Appliances, has purchased the 74,000-square-foot mall at the corner of Highway 97 and Gosset Road for just under $14 million.

The previous owner was King Sett Capital, a real estate investment firm in Toronto.

"Westbank Shopping Centre has been through several owners, none of them local, since it first opened in 1996," said Coldwell Banker realtor Bill Raine, who represented Kandola in the purchase.

"So, the big difference now is local ownership. Tenants are happy they can deal with someone in West Kelowna instead of having to get in touch with someone they don't know in Toronto. What is interesting is when we began the buying process early in 2017, there were a significant number of vacancies. Now we are nearing 100 per cent occupancy with new tenants moving into the centre."

http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/busin ... 0c5a7.html

[TreeGuy]

The best part of that mall is Mei Wei. The worst part is the U-Haul eyesore.

Mr Kandola has done very well for himself.

[stuphoto]

The worst part is the U-Haul eyesore.

I've been in there once since U-Haul moved in, and I agree with you. It was an eyesore and in my opinion looked better as an abandoned building.

I am wondering why your bylaw isn't doing anything about it.

[Thinktank]

What does that mall need? It's lacking something. And the whole area needs beautification of some
sort.

[forumdoug]

The worst part is the U-Haul eyesore.

I've been in there once since U-Haul moved in, and I agree with you. It was an eyesore and in my opinion looked better as an abandoned building.

I am wondering why your bylaw isn't doing anything about it.[/quote]

It's funny how Uhaul has misled us so far. When they announced their opening of O&O Uhaul Centres in Kelowna and West Kelowna over a year ago now, they said 1000+ indoor, self-contained and climate-controlled storage units of varying sizes would be in place once renovations were finalized by, presumably, mid-2017, at the latest. A check of their website shows virtually only indoor car/RV storage or non-permanent U-Box units are available. What a let down. Kelowna needs to increase its supply of self storage units to put pressure on pricing vis-a-vis established competitors. Hopefully, by completely gutting the front portion of the West Kelowna location, they're actually going to do this now. It's just odd they went to the trouble of repainting the building first before taking apart a portion of the front of the building. :)

Cheers,
Doug

[forumdoug]

What does that mall need? It's lacking something. And the whole area needs beautification of some
sort.

Well, it's difficult to anchor a shopping mall with one bank branch, a movie theatre (only popular in the evenings and certain weekend matinees), a liquor store, a dollar store and a furniture store.

The exterior siding of all the buildings needs a major refresh, as do some of the concrete and sidewalk curbing, which are in disrepair. They may have gotten a discount to assessed value, but it was still sold for at least twice what KingSett Capital & the Ontario Pension Board paid for it about 5 years ago when they bought it off H&R REIT's Primaris Retail division (owner of Orchard Park Shopping Centre). Prior to that, it was developed and owned by David Podmore's privately-owned Concert Properties Ltd real estate group. So, yeah, they got it for a bit of a discount but it needs work.

A grocery store would be helpful (i.e., a Nester's Market seems like the only option as it's smaller format and a No Frills is out of the question given its proximity to Loblaw's Real Canadian Superstore) but unlikely, an insurance brokerage would be good too and maybe one of those cell phone repair places. :)

Cheers,
Doug

[stuphoto]

Personally if I owned the property I would just refuse to renew the U-Haul lease unless they really step up their game. Then work on getting a store like Safeway in that location.

I don't know about cell phone repair shops.
I'm used to seeing them in some pretty scummy looking locations.

[Symbonite]

I thought that the Zellers building is actually separate from the strip mall location

[Urban Cowboy]

I thought that the Zellers building is actually separate from the strip mall location

It is separate from the part that this topic entails. The strip mall runs up to the Highway, and Wendy's & Tim Horton's is up by the Highway, whereas the old Zellers building is way at the back.

[Jhunter199]

The U-Haul (old Zellars building) was not included in the sale as it has a different owner.
Says that in the original article.

[oneh2obabe]

The three separate parts of the mall were Zellers, Extra Foods (until Kandola bought it) and the main section below the road running through the mall off Bering to Gossett. Dollarama had to get permission from Kandola to build as it was being built on a section of the Extra Foods parking lot.

* * * * *

The property is really three parts.

The former Zellers building toward the back of the plot has a separate owner and is now a big U-Haul depot.

The former Extra Foods building was purchased by Kandola and turned into a City Furniture & Appliances store several years ago.

In the same building, Dollarama has a store.

Kandola said having his City Furniture store in the mall gave him the opportunity to see the rest of the property would make a good investment.

[Fancy]

I am wondering why your bylaw isn't doing anything about it.

And I'm wondering why you think bylaw should be doing anything? Seems to be a work in progress, I'm not sure what bylaw is being broken and, even if there were, maybe no one has complained.

[Fancy]

The former Extra Foods building was purchased by Kandola and turned into a City Furniture & Appliances store several years ago.

In the same building, Dollarama has a store.

I'm sure you mean the same lot as Dollarama is a stand alone store.

[oneh2obabe]

While it's a separate building it's considered as one because Kandola bought the Extra Foods building and land. Dollarama had to get permission from Kandola before they could apply for a building permit.

[Fancy]

I just think the way the Kelowna Courier worded the story is a little strange. It's obvious the Dollarama isn't in the same building and City Furniture is a separate building not attached to the rest of the mall - might have been better to say shopping centre.