Westbank Shopping Centre sold
Trevor Nichols - Jan 12, 2018 - Biz Releases

Image: Contributed

Prominent West Kelowna business owners are the new owners of the Westbank Shopping Centre.

The Kandola family, which owns West Kelowna’s City Furniture, today announced they have closed a deal to buy the building.

The purchase means both the management and ownership of the centre will now be local.

According to a firm involved in the sale, the Kandola family plans to update the mall over the next few months, but “no major changes are planned at this point.”

The Kandola’s purchase comes after the family moved to West Kelowna from Prince George, where they first built their furniture empire. Ray Kandola currently sits as a director of the Greater Westside Board of Trade.

The Kandolas West Kelowna City Furniture opened in 2013, and is located adjacent to the shopping centre, acting as one of the mall’s “shadow tenants.”

Bill Raine, the realtor who helped facilitate the deal, says potential tenants are now beginning to show new interest in the centre.

“When we began the buying process early in 2017, there were a significant number of vacancies. Now we are nearing 100 per cent occupancy,” he says.

When it opened in 1996, the Westbank Shopping Centre was the first major project built on Westbank First Nation land.

With approximately 74,000 square feet of leasable space, the centre is today anchored by Landmark Theaters, Lammle’s Western Wear, Liquor Depot, White Spot and TD Canada Trust.

The Kandola family reportedly paid “just under 14 million” dollars for the property. BC Assessment estimates its value is $17,082,000.

 


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