A property dispute that doomed Q Nightclub and Lounge in downtown Vancouver has sparked another lawsuit, this time with the building’s owners.
Main Street Ltd. Partners seeks $800,000 in damages from C-Tran and restored access to a back exit that it relied on before the transit agency built its bus terminus, Turtle Place, next door.
The nine-page complaint filed last week in Clark County Superior Court argues that owners Wayne Magnoni and Claudia Willis lost “significant” value on their property, 704 Main St., when C-Tran terminated an easement in 2015.
The easement provided, among other things, use of an important back exit. Without it, the 9,600-square-foot building stood in violation of city fire code. The building and its tenant, Q Nightclub, were shut down months after the easement was terminated.
The complaint argues that Main Street Ltd. Partners is entitled to the easement, per the deed it received when it bought the building in 1994. It claims C-Tran “unreasonably interfered with Main Street’s right to use and enjoy” the easement and lessened the property’s value.
Despite its size and downtown location, the building has sat vacant since the shutdown. Owners have said that they would like to rent it out as an office. Past tenants mainly consisted of restaurants and nightclubs.
The same easement has already gone to court. Last year, owners of Q Nightclub sued the city of Vancouver for $22.5 million, hoping to recoup their losses.
C-Tran said it would be inappropriate to comment on specific details of the latest case, but added: “We want to reiterate that C-Tran is the legal owner of the property in question, and we look forward to the opportunity to once again demonstrate that as the legal process moves forward,” the agency said.
Representatives for Main Street Ltd. Partners declined to comment, saying only that the complaint “speaks for itself.”
