Possible redevelopment of Safeway on Kingsway in East Vancouver | Daily Hive

Safeway Collingwood at 3410 Kingsway, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

The Safeway Collingwood grocery store property on Kingsway in East Vancouver could potentially be redeveloped.

Property owner Crombie Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) has partnered with local developer Wesgroup Properties to create new developments at four Safeway locations in Metro Vancouver, including the store at 3410 Kingsway — situated at the southwest corner of the intersection of Tyne Street and Kingsway. This was revealed in the company’s 2025 first quarter fiscal report last week.

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This is a substantially sized property, spanning more than 3.6 acres on an entire city block — among the largest standalone Safeway store locations in Metro Vancouver. Most of the property is used as a surface vehicle parking lot, and there is also a separate small BC Liquor store building at the southeast corner of the site.

According to BC Assessment, as of July 2024, the property is worth about $84.7 million, almost entirely from the value of the land.

safeway collingwood 3410 kinsgway vancouver

Safeway Collingwood at 3410 Kingsway, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

This Collingwood store is one of two locations in which Wesgroup has newly acquired a 50 per cent limited partnership interest from Empire Company Limited — the other being the Safeway at Lynn Valley Centre in North Vancouver District.

As well, Crombie and Wesgroup have formed two entitlement partnerships for Safeway West Broadway at 2733 West Broadway in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood — situated at the future Macdonald Street Station on planned UBC SkyTrain extension route — and Safeway Burnaby Heights at 4440 Hastings St. in Burnaby.

Safeway Burnaby Heights, occupying almost the entire city block at the southwest corner of the intersection of Willingdon Avenue and Hastings Street, sits on a lot size of 3.02 acres. The 2004-built property is assessed at $64.03 million, which comes almost entirely from the land value.

4440 hastings street safeway burnaby heights

Safeway Burnaby Heights at 4440 Hastings St., Burnaby. (Google Maps)

For Crombie, the joint venture for each of these four locations will “unlock embedded value within its development pipeline, advancing these projects through the entitlement, design, and approval process.” Over the years, Crombie has been incrementally optimizing the use of its acquired Safeway properties; in 2013, it acquired 68 of the chain’s locations in Western Canada for $1 billion.

It is emphasized that all costs for these entitlement processes will be shared equally between Crombie and Wesgroup.

“These partnerships further establish a stable revenue stream through Crombie’s development and management platform, delivering immediate cash flow through fee income across all four properties. Once entitlement is achieved, both parties will align on the optimal path forward, including timing and participation,” reads the fiscal report.

1170 East 27th Street North Vancouver Safeway Lynn Valley Centre

Concept of the Safeway Lynn Valley Centre redevelopment proposal at 1170 East 27th St., North Vancouver. (Arcadis/Crombie REIT)

For the Safeway Lynn Valley Centre project at 1170 East 27th St., there is already an established design, with Crombie previously working with Empire Company Limited and architectural firm Arcadis on the submitted application for a mixed-use development.

This North Vancouver proposal calls for four residential buildings between nine and 12 storeys — all connected by a podium — containing a 43,600 sq. ft. replacement grocery store, 1,800 sq. ft. of retail/restaurant space, 13,400 sq. ft. of civic space, 479 homes, and 661 vehicle parking stalls within three underground levels.

In a different partnership with local developer Westbank, Crombie is also pursuing the very prominent redevelopment of the Safeway next to SkyTrain’s Commercial-Broadway Station, which will enter public hearing this week for Vancouver City Council’s review and approval.

1780 east broadway vancouver commercial broadway

May 2024 concept: redevelopment of Safeway at 1780 East Broadway, Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Westbank/Crombie REIT)

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