The fate of the old Colwood pub now hangs in the balance.
The Onni Group – the Vancouver-based developer of the Colwood Corners site – has announced it will gift the old building to any party interested in taking ownership of it. The pub is being offered free of charge but the new owner will have to pay for any costs related to its removal or transportation from the Colwood site.
Onni is asking that anyone interested in the building submit an application by Sept. 30. Once a person or group is chosen to take ownership a formal contract will be signed and the structure must be removed from the site by Oct. 15 or it will be demolished.
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“We’ve received a lot of interest in the future of the old Colwood pub. While, unfortunately, we are not able to refurbish or restore the building into operable conditions at the Colwood Corners site, we understand that it may hold nostalgia for many in the community, and so we want to allow the opportunity and creative ability to further its lifespan,” Rodney Rao, Onni development manager, in a statement.
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While it is most well-known as the Colwood Inn, the pub was most recently operated as the Cross Roads Bar and Grill. But the 1936 Tudor-style building has been siting behind a fence on blocks since it was relocated on the Colwood Corners site back in 2012 to make way for the Capital City Centre development project that never materialized.
READ MORE: Work to get underway on Colwood Corners site this month
Onni inherited the building when it took over ownership of the site. The first phase of the Colwood Corners development will include three residential buildings and 152,000-square-feet of commercial space featuring four anchor tenants. A development permit has been issued and this phase is expected to be completed by 2020.
To submit a request for the pub, email rrao@onni.com.
