One of Vancouver’s iconic watering holes is closing its doors.
Management with The Cambie Bar confirmed to Global News that the building housing the more than 120-year-old pub has been sold, and the business’s last day will be Nov. 30.
Known for its cheap pints and international crowd, the Cambie and the hostel above it holds a special place (or a special place of loathing) in the hearts of many who spent their youthful drinking years in Vancouver.
Back in 2001, the establishment earned the dubious honour of being ranked the #1 place to “get wasted on the cheap” by Vice Magazine.
A cryptic post to the business’ Instagram account pledged more information on the bar’s future on Monday.
Property records show the building changed hands on May 31 for $14.96 million. Its 2019 assessed value was $11.56 million.
Title records indicate the property was sold to a business named “300 Cambie Holdings,” which lists Steven Lippman as a director.
Lippman is known as the landlord behind a number of Downtown Eastside heritage restorations, including Wildebeest, Catch 122, Cuchillo, Kissa Tanto and Mamie Taylor’s, according to Vancouver Magazine.
Critics have accused Lippman’s past ventures of renovictions and of gentrifying the area.
The area around the pub has seen significant changes in recent years, not the least of which was the major redevelopment of the adjacent Woodwards building.
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Billed on its website as “Vancouver’s oldest bar,” the building at 300-320 Cambie Street was designed and built in 1899 by Vancouver architects Parr and Fee, according to the Vancouver Heritage Foundation.
It was not immediately clear whether the business was changing hands or whether the new owners plan to redevelop the property. The building is on Vancouver’s Heritage Register and listed on Schedule A of the city’s Heritage By-Law, which bars its demolition or significant alteration without a heritage alteration permit.
The fate of the second Cambie location in Nanaimo is also unclear.
Global News has requested more information from the bar’s owner, the Cambie Malones group.
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