Langley City’s long-empty nightclub on 203rd Street was demolished this week, but what will eventually rise in its place remains uncertain.
The nightclub, which has gone by a wide variety of names over the years, including Citrus and China Beach, was due to be demolished more than a year ago.
City officials were pleased to see the empty building being reduced to rubble on Monday.
“It was getting to be an issue for us with people trespassing,†said Francis Cheung, Langley City’s chief administrative officer.
There had been issues with people trying to steal metal from the empty building, he said.
After one last run as a nightclub, it was closed last year. The original plans called for the building to be knocked down in March, 2013. That was later moved back to August, but the building remained in place.
By now, construction was to be underway on one of the largest commercial and condo projects in Langley City’s history.
In 2012, Langley City approved a 15-storey luxury condo development dubbed Charleston Place for the corner property.
Calgary-based P2000 developments planned to build a flat-iron shaped building with condos ranging from 850 to 2,000 square feet, and starting at $380,000. The plan was for between 46 and 52 condo units, with a rooftop garden on the seventh floor. The condo tower units would have been set back from the retail spaces below.
Lower floors would have had commercial tenants such as a pharmacy, doctors, medical services, and lawyers.
Local realtors and politicians were enthusiastic about the project at the time.
Now the project’s website has a single page, which reads “Charleston Place is on hold. Please check back at a later date.â€
The City says a new person is now speaking to them about the project, and so far it has not received any information saying that the project will not be going ahead, or that the owners want to modify their plans.
The rezoning to C1 Commercial is still valid and the project could go forward, said Cheung.