Loblaw is preparing to redevelop its historic warehouse on Lake Shore Blvd. W. at Bathurst St., although the city hasn’t approved the grocery giant’s latest plan to build a store.

City planners say they’re baffled as to why the company is erecting construction hoarding along the west side of the Loblaw Groceteria Company warehouse on the intersection’s northeast corner.

“They haven’t contacted us for any permits. We just don’t know what they’re doing.” says city planner Jamaica Hewston. “We don’t know anything about (the hoarding).”

In December, the company updated its original 2004 rezoning application, but like the first proposal, the new plan calls for a partial demolition.

Loblaw wants to take down the entire warehouse, which was designated as a heritage property by the city in 2001, before restoring the west and south facades, one of the key sticking points for city approval.

The four-storey Art Deco warehouse has been vacant since 2000, when the Daily Bread food bank moved out. The brick exterior is in bad shape and some of the distinctive stone detailing at the top is crumbling.

The city rejected the company’s controversial 2004 proposal to completely demolish it so as to construct a Loblaw superstore.

That decision was appealed to the OMB in 2006, but no hearing took place because the company was still negotiating with the city and got sidetracked by other developments.

Planning staff say they haven’t had a chance to review the company’s latest submission, which, similar to the original proposal, calls for a two-storey grocery store with retail and company offices above.

But dismantling the building is “still considered a demolition,” said Hewston.

“It could be another year or two” before the project is given the go-ahead, she said. Because the building has a historical designation, preservation staff will have to report to council on the company’s demolition plans.

Despite that, Loblaw said in an email Wednesday that it is getting ready to reconstruct the property.

“We are moving forward on municipal approvals for a redevelopment of our Bathurst Lakeshore site, and hoarding has been erected on site in order to prepare for construction at a later date,” said Julija Hunter, the company’s vice president of public relations. “At the appropriate time, we’d be happy to share more information.”

The warehouse was originally constructed in 1927 as Loblaw’s manufacturing centre and head office. The company, founded by Alliston native Theodore Pringle Loblaw and his partner Milton Cork, ran a chain of self-serve grocery stores. Loblaw died suddenly in 1933 and the company was bought out by Garfield Weston in 1947.

The warehouse was designed by the architectural firm Sparling, Martin and Forbes, who also designed the Masonic Temple.

The appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board, which includes the rezoning and demolition application, remains open.