A government-run BC Liquor Store will return to downtown Victoria as part of a mixed-use development currently underway along Pandora Avenue, Citified has learned.

 

According to sources familiar with the tenant make-up of 1008 Pandora – a purpose-built six-storey rental and ground floor commercial project by Vancouver-based BlueSky Properties – a BC Liquor Store will assume a portion of the building’s 50,000 square feet of commercial space alongside a Save-On-Foods grocery store (as reported by Citified on March 16th) and a Starbucks coffee shop. Additional retailers have yet to be confirmed.

 

A government-operated liquor outlet has not been a part of downtown Victoria’s retail make-up since the chain’s Bay Centre location closed over a decade ago, leaving its Quadra-Hillside and James Bay stores to serve downtown clientele.

 

Construction of 1008 Pandora is expected to complete by mid-to-late 2018, with retailers opening by late 2018 or early 2019.

 

British Columbia’s Liquor Distribution Branch operates nearly 200 BC Liquor Store locations throughout the province, 13 of which are situated within the Capital Region. The chain is the largest seller of alcohol in British Columbia and serves over 36-million customers annually. C