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July 2016
our history
Caulfeild Village - the beginning by
hris Stringer C with Don Milliken
I
n the early 1980s the Caulfeild Village Shopping Centre and Rockridge school sites were forested land that Headland Drive wound through on its way from the Upper Levels Highway to the newly developed residential areas of upper Caulfeild. The District of West Vancouver required land owners and developers of the
Photo: Glenn Owen Don Milliken, “That’s Someplace Special.”
property known as Caulfeild Plateau to assemble a Caulfeild Land Use Plan Contract. This became official in 1978. In addition to residential use, the plan would include areas designated for hiking trails, parkland (Plateau Park), green belts, tennis courts, a high school and a shopping centre. The residential areas began development immediately after approval of the plan. British Pacific Properties, then the owner of Park Royal Regional Mall, owned the shopping centre lands. Don Milliken, Sr. Vice President, Shopping Centres, of Jack Poole’s Daon Developments, met with Peter Finch, then President of British Pacific Properties. “Purchasing the shopping centre site didn’t happen easily,” says Don. “Peter and I had many enjoyable meetings over
tea and biscuits. Peter had two concerns: the size of the supermarket, as he felt it would compete with supermarkets at Park Royal, and that BP’s long term plan was to develop the shopping centre themselves. But we made a deal after I agreed that we’d limit the supermarket to 25,000 square feet of the 70,000 square foot planned shopping centre. This was at least 10,000 square feet smaller than we’d have preferred.” “The shopping centre site was 5 acres,” says Don. “We dedicated 1.5 acres to the west and south as a green belt to serve as a buffer for our neighbours. For the benefit of our neighbours, we didn’t plan for a rear driveway. All loading and garbage collection is from the front. That’s unheard of. I lived on nearby Alderfeild Place at the time. I still live in the neigh-
Photo: Courtesy of West Vancouver Memorial Library archives Safeway at Caulfeild Shopping Centre in 1987.
bourhood - now in lower Caulfeild. My goal was to create a very friendly neighbourhood shopping centre without, for example, a gas station on the street. I hired architects Ernie and Grace Collins who had much experience designing high-end homes in West Vancouver. Their goal was to create a very residential feel at Caulfeild Village.” “I headed to Calgary to meet with Canada Safeway. They wanted a larger store but we signed a lease after agreeing to add a few unique features such as skylights and some higher-end finishes to their store. I suggested a unique name and they chose ‘Someplace Special’. We then went to other key tenants such as Pharmasave, BC Liquor Stores, the Bank of Montreal, and Starbucks. I had experience with Starbucks in Seattle. Caulfeild Village was Starbucks’ first Canadian location. Nobody knew what Starbucks was, hard to imagine now, and they did poorly for six months. But that changed and the rest is history.” The District building permit approval, site clearing and construction met with considerable neighbourhood resistance. But, with the strength of the Land Use Contract, the project proceeded. Then District of West Vancouver mayor Derrick Humphreys was a supporter and officiated at the opening of Caulfield Village in Fall 1987. It was immediately embraced by West Vancouver and has been a great success since opening. Milliken recalls meeting some of the objectors shopping at Caulfeild Village on opening day. Milliken’s company, Milliken Development Corporation, is developing, and is an ownership partner in, Maison Senior Living which is under construction on Taylor Way at Keith Road in West Vancouver. www.maisonseniorliving.com