Hardware complex adds hotel

VICTORIA — The Wansbrough family’s 3.85 acre site in Colwood, B.C., has come a long way since 40 years ago, when an 11-year-old Lloyd Wansbrough hawked refreshments for the opening of his father Bill’s hardware store. The Victoria Times-Colonist reports that the retail complex, which also includes a Lee Valley Tools, a rental apartment block, and a plethora of restaurants and other businesses, is also to be the site of the town’s first hotel. An 80-room, $11 million Holiday Inn Express will open its doors November 2, and reservations are already rolling in. The hotel, yet another example of the growing trend toward live-work spaces, is being developed by Westridge Lodging with Wansbrough as franchise owner.