Weihong Liu, a Chinese-born businesswoman who as lived on Vancouver Island since 2014, purchased Woodgrove Centre in September for a reported $200m. (File Photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

2020 IN REVIEW

Top Stories of 2020: Woodgrove Centre sold for reported $200m

Dec 16, 2020 | 11:07 AM

NANAIMO — The largest shopping centre on Vancouver Island officially changed hands in September from real estate company Ivanhoe Cambridge to a new Island-based investor.

NanaimoNewsNOW broke the news on Sep. 11 Weihong Liu, a businesswoman from China who has lived on Vancouver Island for six years, bought Ivanhoe’s 50 per cent share in the 725,000 square foot facility.

Liu said she made significant financial moves in her home country in order to complete the sale and devote her attention to transforming Woodgrove into a destination mall for families and seniors.

“Living, working, shopping, services, dining and entertainment all together,” she said during an impassioned hour long discussion on Sep. 28 with reporter Ian Holmes.

Health and wellness facilities, multi-family residential housing, rooftop garden and skywalk system are at the core of Liu’s vision for Woodgrove.

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Comments on initial Sep. 11 story through NanaimoNewsNOW’s social media networks were overwhelmingly positive towards the sale, welcoming fresh new ideas to the hub of Nanaimo’s retail sector.

Several readers immediately asked about the famous clock tower which stood at the mall’s centre court for decades before it was removed during a 2016 renovation.

““If we can find it we’ll put it back. If not we will build one exactly like that,” Liu said, excitedly after being shown pictures of the clock.

Renovations and improvements to the mall will take time.

Liu said several changes at the retail level are planned over the next one to three years. Proposed residential developments are five or more years down the road.

“This whole plan is to create a different kind of community that we don’t have now,” Liu said.

alex.rawnsley@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alexrawnsley