The Roxy Theatre building on Quadra Street and neighbouring Stan Hagen Centre for Families on Hillside Avenue have been bought by a Victoria family to hold for future redevelopment.
The sale brings breathing room for the cash-strapped Blue Bridge Theatre Society, which is signing a three-year renewable lease with purchaser Strandlund Investments Ltd. for the former Roxy Theatre at 2657 Quadra St.
“The Blue Bridge will carry on there for the foreseeable future,” Rafer Strandlund said Tuesday.
The sale will allow the society to pay off its debt and upgrade the backstage area, Blue Bridge said in a statement. A federal grant of nearly $87,000 means the society will be able to install a new washroom that’s accessible via a ramp in the rear of the building, said Brian Richmond, the theater’s founding artistic director.
Additional improvements are planned for the backstage area, which lacks insulation or heating and will be upgraded and plumbed. “We lovingly call [it] the shack in the back and it is a very apt description,” said Richmond, noting the society had been carrying a debt of slightly north of $1 million.
Treasurer Jeb Gordon said the society, which is heading into a four-play season beginning April 26, is now in the “best position we have been in years” and will be able to set aside money to ensure future stability.
Sales for both buildings closed this week, said listing agent Ty Whittaker with Colliers sa国际传媒’s Victoria office, adding there was a lot of interest in the properties.
Purchase prices were not released, but the asking price for the Quadra Street building was $1.49 million. It is assessed at $985,200.
The Salvation Army building on Hillside Avenue was listed for $3.1 million, and was assessed at $2.769 million. It will be leased but a tenant has not been determined. The Strandlunds will rely on leasing consultants to help with that step, its new owner said.
The Strandlund family has deep roots in the Quadra-Hillside area, going back more than 70 years, and several family members continue to live nearby. Strandlund said his grandmother bought a house on Fifth Street that he bought from her and is now owned by another family member.
Three generations of his family watched movies at the Roxy, said Strandlund, who remembers going to $2 Tuesdays.
The family company, Fisgard Asset Management on Douglas Street, was founded by Wayne Strandlund, Rafer’s father, a prominent local businessman and former chancellor of Royal Roads University.
There are no immediate plans for the two properties, said Rafer Strandlund, who noted it could take a decade or so to see a project.
When it comes to any future development, “We are certainly going to do our best to make that corner a pretty special place.”
