The Vancouver Sun reported today that Molson Canada’s landmark brewery in Kits will be receiving a $32-million upgrade. Molson CEO Kevin Boyce announced that renovations will increase brewing and packaging capacity by 45 per cent, and turn 22 part-time jobs into full-time employment. About 184 people currently work at the Burrard Street brewery, one of only a handful located in the downtown core of a major North American city.
When asked in an interview why Molson doesn’t sell the 7.6 acre Kitsilano site for redevelopment and move the brewery to an industrial park, Boyce replied: “First of all we’re not a real estate company. It is a beautiful location. The reality is it is not inexpensive to build breweries, and to move it and replace it in its current configuration would be very expensive.”
While I’ve always appreciated the clock and tempatures updates atop the Molson building while driving home into Kitsilano, it seems like a shame that this prime piece of Burrard Flats real estate isn’t getting converted into a mix of commercial and residential real estate.
