Westminster Club may be selling its penthouse space on Columbia Street but it isn't prepared to go down without a fight.
Formed in 1889, the business and social club has been located on the top floor of the Westminster Building since it opened in 1922. On Monday, the Westminster Club's penthouse floor at 713 Columbia St. was listed for sale at $2.15 million.
"It was a painful decision to come to," said Allen Domaas, president of the club. "In the end it wasn't hard. We had been taking progressively larger mortgages to get some capital to refurbish."
As membership declined through the decades, the club spent less money on upkeep of its penthouse premises. A decision was made that in order to attract more members, the space needed to be refurbished.
Marc Lotzer, managing consultant of the Westminster Club, said the club was unable to secure a new mortgage at a reasonable rate that would allow it to move forward with the next phase of its renewal program. Rather than suffering through a high rate of interest, the board of directors decided to put its floor up for sale.
The Cushman and Wakefield brochure states that the 7,429 square foot property is 100 per cent of the strata interest in the entire seventh floor of the building. Options for the new ownership include having owner-occupied premises, using the floor to rent to individual office spaces, leasing the space back to the Westminster Club and maintaining the existing improvements and operating the facility as a private club for special events, catering or restaurant facility,
Domaas said the club will consider all of its options when the sale completes, which could include leasing back its current space or moving to a new location. At this time, the club's board of directors is focused on selling the club's current real estate asset.
"The future of the club will be decided at a later date, and then, only with the input of the valued members," Domaas said.
Domaas estimates the club had a membership of more than 400 at its peak. As larger engineering and accounting firms have moved out of the city, they've taken members with them.
"We are down to less than 100," he said. "It's been difficult."
Domaas took over the helm of Westminster Club in 2008, around the same time that the City of New Westminster was developing its plans for the future of the downtown. While the area around the Westminster Building is starting to benefit from projects like the upgrades to Columbia Square, the construction of Plaza 88 and the arrival of new condominiums, Domaas said the club couldn't get a mortgage rate that would allow it to carry on.
"It didn't work for us," he said. "We are selling the floor. We are not closing the club."
A press release from Westminster Club states that the "unfortunate reality" is that it was unable to complete the refinancing of the club to take it to the next level at the very time that it began to see growing interest in membership and renewal of its premises in the Westminster Building was underway.
Domaas believes New Westminster would benefit by having a club where people from all corners of the city can socialize and talk business. Whether that means finding a new location or hosting events in various locations remains to be seen.
"You think about how they have had to move around," he said about the local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion. "Little by little they keep chugging along. An association like Westminster Club is more about the people than the place."
In recent years, Westminster Club has made a huge effort to revitalize its penthouse space so it could attract more members. A press release noted that much of the work done to "renew an operationally broken facility and a tired venue" has been done by staff and members.
"It is our firm belief the Westminster Club is needed now more than ever by businesses within New Westminster to provide a venue for business people to meet and build relationships in a safe and friendly atmosphere," Domaas said. "This is particularly true as the city renews itself and attracts new businesses and residents to the community seeking to build strong ties to the current citizens and businesses in the city."
Westminster Club, one of the oldest not-for-profit organizations in B.C., was registered under the Societies Act of B.C. in 1928. Domaas is optimistic the club will continue to exist even if it's not in the Westminster Building.
"We have been a club for 122 years," he said. "I certainly don't want to be known as the guy who closed Westminster Club."
According to the Westminster Club's website, it was originally created to be a private club where gentlemen from the surrounding community could gather to socialize, read, drink, dine, shoot billiards and play cards.
"When a fire gutted the city core in 1898, the club drifted from place to place until the construction of the Westminster Building in 1912 (then known as the Westminster Trust Building)," said the website. "The club took up residence on the top floor of the Westminster Building and remains there to this day."
