The University of Victoria’s real estate division may be considering contracting out the management of one of its assets after tapping the city’s hospitality industry to determine how to make the most of it.
UVic Properties, which manages real estate holdings including the Vancouver Island Technology Park and Marine Technology Centre, has been asking what it should be doing with its Swans Hotel and Brewpub property as the neighbourhood around it starts to change.
From those discussions, there have been rumours that any number of other local brewers may be taking over the operation, though insiders have suggested that the Truffles Group, which owns the Canoe brewpub and chain of Cascadia Liquor stores, has secured the contract.
“We are certainly looking to revitalize Swans and based on our discussions with local hospitality experts. We are considering a variety of options at this point,” said Peter Kuran, president of UVic Properties. “We do not, however, have any agreements in place at this time.”
Danielle Smeltzer, regional manager of the Truffles Group, would not comment on the rumours, but said the company is continually looking at new business opportunities to expand its portfolio.
‘‘In a dynamic and emerging market such as Victoria, there are ongoing potentials that emerge regularly that go through a comprehensive litmus test by our team, which can sometimes take several months (or even years) to consider and finalize,” she said.
There had been other rumours circulating that the hotel and brewpub were being sold to
various parties, including Phillips Brewing.
Brewery owner Matt Phillips said that is simply not true.
Kuran said the idea of speaking with businesses in the hospitality industry was to “hear their comments and suggestions on how to best ensure the profitability of the property going forward. What should we be doing differently? What investment in the property was needed?”
“As part of the stewardship of the properties held by the university, or for the wholly owned subsidiaries of the university, we regularly look at how each property is performing and what is the best way forward for each property,” he said.
Kuran said it makes sense to look at the property’s role given the changing landscape around it with the Johnson Street Bridge taking shape, new residential being developed across the street in the Janion building and proposed residential for the Northern Junk properties a block away.
“It's a very exciting time for this area of Victoria and we look forward to being a part of it, with the Swans property for a long time,” he said.
What they are not doing is selling the hotel and pub that was built by businessman and philanthropist Michael Williams.
Swans opened in 1989. When Williams died in 2000, he left the hotel and other real estate holdings to UVic.
“The Swans property is not for sale and there is no intention of putting it for sale,” Kuran noted.
