Squamish’s Les McDonald says he is concerned about the future of his restaurant and by extention about the commercial success of downtown.
McDonald, the owner of the popular Copper Coil Still & Grill located on District land at the south end of Cleveland Avenue, wants to renegotiate a longer lease with the District.
He is currently two years into a five-year lease, but wants a new seven-year lease.
A quick renegotiation is important, McDonald told The Chief, because an investor with deep pockets has approached him with an offer to open five new Copper Coils in the Lower Mainland. The investor would also pour some funds into the Squamish Copper Coil.
“That is why we really approached the District. We wanted to say here’s a real made-in-Squamish success story,” he said. “Instead of a chain coming into Squamish… the brand of the Copper Coil has the opportunity – and the brand of Squamish has the opportunity – to grow.”
Without a new lease, in the next few weeks the investor will walk away, according to McDonald.
The Copper Coil, which currently employs 39 staff, opened in October of 2015.
McDonald said he’s been trying for three months to renegotiate the lease, but the District has stalled, he said, telling him to wait about three months while District staff complete a real estate strategy.
The strategy will set out a plan for all District-owned land, according to Mayor Patricia Heintzman.
“It is really important because how we have been doing things for the last 20 years has been really ad hoc,” she said of the strategy.
“The idea is we look at all of our lands, look at our municipal needs and take a real philosophical view of, do we strategically want to keep key pieces of land for the future?”
While she said she sympathizes with McDonald and wants his business to succeed, one business shouldn’t derail a strategy for the community.
McDonald said he has heard a new municipal hall could take his restaurant’s place on its prime, downtown property, a location more appropriate for a business, according to McDonald.
Heintzman said no decision has been made about where a future hall would go.
She added it is feasible that ultimately the real estate strategy will conclude the property the Copper Coil is on should be sold because it is such a valuable commercial spot.
Heintzman said that the real estate strategy is currently in a preliminary data collection phase, but will involve extensive consultation before council adopts it.
McDonald said without a new, longer lease, he will have to start looking for a different location for his restaurant.
“We can’t sit here with a big question mark. We need to plan for the future,” he said, adding he wants to make an approximately $90,000 investment into a retractable roof system for the Copper Coil’s patio, but won’t go ahead unless the future of the restaurant is secure.
McDonald acknowledges he knew when he opened the business that it was a short-term lease.
“The reality is most people wouldn’t open a restaurant without a 10-year lease, there’s so much investment,” he said.
McDonald launched an online poll asking if people support the District extending the lease of the Copper Coil Still & Grill and, secondly, if local businesses should have a say in the District’s real estate strategy.
McDonald said responses have been overwhelmingly in favour of both, with 91 per cent positive returns.
“I am hoping that this poll creates some engagement with the District,” he said.
