As renovations on Sooke Harbour House near completion, the owners have put the waterfront property on the market.
The hotel and restaurant are listed for $13.3 million.
IAG Enterprises, a North Vancouver-based real estate investment and holding company, bought the two-storey hotel for $5.6 million in a court-ordered sale in 2020.
“We are in the process of finishing up the final renovations right now and we’ve had some inquiries on it. So we thought we would test the waters,” said Alex Watson, IAG chief operating officer. “We are always evaluating all our properties and always evaluating the market.”
Watson said he expects the work, both internal and external, to be complete by year’s end. “I think we have done an amazing job of bringing it back to its former glory,” he said.
All 28 rooms have been redone, he noted. “That’s why it has taken two years.”
Watson, who had originally hoped to reopen the hotel in 2021, would not disclose how much has been spent on renovations.
“It’s a huge undertaking. When you really think about how long it takes somebody to renovate their kitchen — we’ve done substantially more than that.”
A B.C. Supreme Court order approved the sale of the 2.5-acre waterfront site for $5.632 million in 2020 after foreclosure actions were launched.
Sooke Harbour House had won a reputation as a top-notch destination, winning international accolades and attracting movie stars. Frederique and Sinclair Philip bought the property in the 1970s, focusing on locally grown food, including produce from their own garden, and earned commendations for their wine cellar.
In the fall of 2020, the Philips were awarded about $4 million in damages by a B.C. Supreme Court judge over a failed share-purchase agreement.
They lost control over the hotel to a buyer who agreed to purchase it but did not complete the agreement.
The Philips were dealing with companies SHH Management Ltd. and SHH Holdings Ltd. Timothy Durkin was the director and represented the companies in court, the judge said.
cjwilson@timescolonist.com
