A prominent commercial space in uptown New West has been leased – but you’ll have to wait awhile to find out who will be moving in.
Last summer, city council approved a development variance permit that enabled the Uptown Property Group to renovate the building at 601 Sixth St. to make it suitable for new tenants. Westminster Savings/Prospera Credit Union had been located in the space, but decided to relocate to a smaller retail space elsewhere on Sixth Street.
The renovation included separating the second floor from the first floor, which was done by extending the second floor to close the atrium. The renovation triggered the need for a development variance permit because it meant the 2001 building’s parking didn’t meet current bylaw requirements.
With the financial institution having moved out of the space, renovations have been taking place inside the building at the corner of Sixth and Sixth.
Some local residents – including a Record reader “who is burning with curiosity” – have been wondering about what’s moving into the space.
Bart Slotman, vice-president of the Uptown Property Group, said the space was leased out about a year ago, but he’s not in a position to say who will be moving into the building.
“As it relates to the identity of the incoming tenants, I am unfortunately not in a position to tell you who it is,” he told the Record. “We typically operate under confidentiality clauses because those incoming tenants, they want to control when the information goes out. I am simply not able to give you that information right now.”
Slotman was unable to elaborate about the type of business that had leased the ground-floor space. He said it’s likely that information would be know by December 2022 or January 2023 – or earlier if the business put up its branding on the outside of the building.
“They will use all of the ground floor,” he said. “Then the second floor is being turned into conventional office space. We are working with a few groups on the second floor right now, but nothing has been confirmed yet.”
Follow Theresa McManus on Twitter @TheresaMcManus
Email tmcmanus@newwestrecord.ca
