Paula Simons: Hipster makeover planned for historic Strathcona Hotel
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The hotel, the oldest wood-framed commercial building on Whyte Avenue, is being sold to Ivan Beljan of Beljan Development. He takes possession in October.
“We want to remake it into a showpiece of a building,” Beljan told me Friday. “This is a key piece of real estate in the city. This is just the opportunity to really change a whole block.”
The hotel is at no risk of demolition. It has protected heritage status from the city and the province.
Beljan has actually been trying to buy it for years, to add it to his portfolio of Old Strathcona properties. (For tax purposes, the city values the property at just over $2 million. Beljan says he paid a little less than twice that amount.)
He currently owns 10 sites in the Whyte Avenue area, including the old Dominion Hotel building, the Crawford Block, just north across the back lane.
Beljan’s plans for the site aren’t finalized. Because the building has historic designation from two levels of government, he has to get two levels of approval for any renovations that might change its heritage character.
His proposal is to renovate the 48 hotel rooms into 34 separate apartments. Or perhaps 34 boutique hotel rooms — he’s not yet decided. On the main floor, he’s planning several small retail and restaurant bays. And, with the blessing of the city and the province, he wants to bring light into the murky interior by adding a rear solarium where the parking spots and beer cooler are now. It’s part of his continuing mission to transform the
back lanes of Old Strathcona into pleasant pedestrian arcades.
