There’s no “Sold” sign going up at the Waneta Plaza, but there could be one going up on a historic downtown Trail landmark in the early fall.
The Crown Point Hotel was listed for sale the Canadian Real Estate Association website, realtor.ca and a local investor has put in a bid.
He doesn’t have keys to the front door yet, but Brian LeRose is hoping to have a set in September.
“Our commitment is made to buy the hotel and to build a boutique hotel in downtown Trail,” said LeRose. “It’ll bring more rooms, and help us compete against other cities,” he explained. “If we get another 50 rooms and bring business to Trail, for a wedding or for anyone else who wants to do a function, this gives us more rooms to compete with and more to offer.”
Meanwhile, the recent rumour circulating in town is that The Jim Pattison Group, the second largest privately held company in Canada, scooped up the property earlier this year.
It’s all just a tall tale and one of many Linda MacDermid has heard in her 31-year career as the mall’s property manager.
“The mall is still owned by Anthem (Properties) and it’s still me managing it,” MacDermid confirmed to the Trail Times on Monday.
And it isn’t just the newspaper asking the question. MacDermid said she starting getting calls a few weeks ago, including one from a local business group, after someone reported seeing Jimmy Pattison himself at the Trail airport.
“This has been going on for weeks,” MacDermid reiterated. “I’ve heard the mall has been sold many times in the (three decades) I’ve been here, but we are not sold, it is still Anthem (Properties).”
And although the Crown Point hasn’t changed hands yet, LeRose says he’s already had plenty of phone calls about the investment.
“People ask, “Why Trail?” he said.
“I say ‘Why not Trail?’ - my interests are here, this is where I’ve always been … so when my young staff came to me and said they wanted me to buy the Crown Point, if we get more rooms we’ll be able to bring more business to town.
“I said, ‘Alright, you guys are going to do the work’ - and I’m proud of them they just want to do, do and do,” he added.
“We are not interested in selling, we are interested in buying the building and developing it, our intention is to own it for at least the next 50 years and make it a nice hotel that people can utilize.”