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Pattison Group expands into Victoria’s mid-town

Purchase of Denny’s restaurant site locks in key block in capital city for B.C.’s biggest billionaire
Denny’s restaurant purchase locks up block. | Times Colonist

The Jim Pattison Group of Vancouver has reportedly acquired the high-profile property currently home to Denny’s Restaurant at the corner of Douglas and Finlayson streets and across from Mayfair Shopping Centre in Victoria’s north Douglas area.

The restaurant and parking lot are the last piece of a sizable puzzle for the billionaire businessman, who now owns the block bordered by Douglas and Finlayson streets, Burnside Road and Frances Avenue.

Those properties include Pattison’s former Toyota dealership, which moved across Finlayson Street five years ago, and the Campus Auto Group along ­Burnside Road.

The acquisition was reported by construction news site ­Citified.ca. A call to Pattison’s corporate office in Vancouver to confirm the sale and ask about future plans for the Denny’s site was not immediately returned.

The Pattison Group is headed by billionaire Jim Pattison, 92, considered the richest person in British Columbia with a net worth of $5.7 billion, according toForbes magazine.

The area around Mayfair Shopping Centre — dubbed ­Midtown — is considered prime space for residential development. It sits along a major transit thoroughfare, with dedicated bus lanes now completed.

Ground was broken November 17 on what will be the largest mass-timber condominium ­project in the region, on Frances Avenue.

Tresah, a two-phase, 245-unit condo project rising 12 storeys, is an $80-million project by Mike Geric Construction.