The Capital Regional District has sold one of the two Esquimalt warehouses it purchased in 2014 to house the regional sewage-treatment facility.
Spinnakers Brew Pub, which has been leasing space in one of the warehouses for the last three years, has purchased 808 Viewfield Rd. for $11.25 million.
The CRD originally spent $17 million for two warehouse buildings on the four-acre property in 2014 as a potential site for a sewage-sludge plant.
An outcry from neighbours killed the proposed plant scheme, and the CRD has been trying to sell the property ever since.
The site has two large warehouses, each on its own lot.
The sale is good news for taxpayers, CRD board chair Colin Plant said in a statement, as the proceeds will be used to pay down the short-term loan on the original purchase, with an “overall positive return” expected when the second property sells.
Any return on the investment will be credited to the Core Area Wastewater Treatment Project participants, he said.
Spinnakers owner Paul Hadfield said the warehouse purchase made sense for his company.
“At the end of the day, we realized it would cost us $25,000 more this year to own rather than rent,” he said, noting the acquisition also gives Spinnakers long-term security and removes the spectre of a new owner taking over the property.
Spinnakers has used the facility, which has a large refrigerated room, to house its bottling and canning lines and for storage.
The warehouse Spinnakers bought is occupied by the brewer, the Mustard Seed Street Church and the Flying Squirrel Trampoline Park. The Flying Squirrel continues to lease its space, while the Mustard Seed is attempting to secure its portion of the warehouse, where it operates the Viewfield Food Security Distribution Centre, through a strata-title arrangement.
The Mustard Seed, which is working with Camosun College to create a program at the site to help those with barriers to employment find jobs in the food sector, was able to provide funds toward the purchase price of the property with help from a provincial grant, the Victoria Foundation and financing from Vancity.
That allowed Spinnakers to buy the site. Meanwhile, Spinnakers and a team of lawyers worked to create a strata on site. That strata still requires approval.
Spinnakers is holding the Mustard Seed’s title in trust.
When the strata is approved and the title is registered, the Mustard Seed will formally take ownership of its space.
“The Mustard Seed gets long-term security and tenure and will pay significantly less for the space than they had been,” Hadfield said.
The second warehouse, at 836 Viewfield Rd., is a similar size and is still owed by the CRD. That building houses Driftwood Brewery and other short-term tenants and remains listed for sale or lease.
