The Bellevue Hotel’s restoration and transformation is in its final stretch, after years of stalled plans since the discovery a gas station once operated on the property.
The location will become Cheeky’s Cannabis Merchants, one of Mission’s three recently-approved Cannabis dispensaries. The grand opening is anywhere from eight to 12 months away, and construction will start in three to six months, according to Brock Rodgers, the owner of the pot shop and the building.
The restoration of the buildings has been tied up with engineers, lawyers and the city since the gas station discovery – sparking a litigation process.
“The problem with these lawsuits is, it’s one of those ‘Get your shotgun out and shoot everything in sight’ things,” he said. “You’ve got Imperial Oil in it, the vendors in it, the engineer that did the report is in it … And they all stand in a circle and point at each other.”
Rodgers said they were ready to start renovating the building five years ago, when the company which did the original environmental assessment prior to their purchasing the property revealed they had overlooked the fact a gas station used to operate there.
The pending ligation is now “90 per cent wrapped up” Rodgers said, and the civil case will hopefully reach a settlement in the next 60 days.
Rodgers said he thinks one of the reasons Cheeky’s application was successful with city council was their commitment to renovating the old building.
“They needed to find a potential income stream to do that – and we have that.”
We’re excited about the project. We think it’s going to be a bit of a catapult for the downtown core,” Rodgers said. “Some of the [work] that’s been going on down there is attractive and hopefully we can become sort of a landmark building at the west entry to the city.”
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patrick.penner@missioncityrecord.com
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