This town’s transformation could include a ski resort and an LNG plant
Article from Business in Vancouver
Several large residential projects on Squamish’s development horizon promise to increase the town’s appeal for residents who make the 45-minute commute to Vancouver and entrepreneurs who want to start businesses in the waterfront community.
The District of Squamish is nearing the end of a rezoning process that would allow two packages of district-owned land to house about 1,100 residential units.
District council unanimously supports rezoning the 100-acre oceanfront land and selling it to a group made up of local developer Bethel Lands Corp. and Texas-based Matthews Southwest.
Adjoining land that is on the same peninsula as the oceanfront property, about two kilometres south of downtown Squamish, could house an additional 2,000 units, District of Squamish Mayor Patricia Heintzman told Business in Vancouver.
“It’s very challenging to find a place to rent or buy in Squamish,” she said. “We have bidding wars on homes, and I think the developers have been caught a little flat-footed.”
Squamish’s single-family home prices have risen 9.4% in the past six months, according to Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver data.
In 2007, the district turned down Kingswood Properties’ proposal to develop its 400-home, eight-acre Scott Crescent project in part because of concerns about increased traffic.
But the district eventually rezoned the land, and Kingswood Properties president Lorne Segal told BIV that he’s “fine-tuning” plans for the area, which faces the Mamquam Blind Channel, and will likely apply for a development permit later this year.
Kingswood’s more ambitious project, however, is across the road from the Scott Crescent site.
Last August it partnered with Bosa Properties to buy the 54-acre site, which housed an Interfor sawmill until 2004, for an undisclosed amount. The District of Squamish has already rezoned the land to residential, allowing Kingswood and Bosa to build up to 1,400 units.
Segal said Kingswood and Bosa will likely want to reduce the number of units by building more townhouses and fewer condominiums.
New residential development follows last year’s launch of the $22 million Sea to Sky Gondola tourist attraction.
It also comes as Squamish residents and politicians mull controversial proposals that are poised to have an even bigger impact on the community.
Pacific Oil and Gas is proposing to build the $1.7 billion Woodfibre LNG project south of the town while other proponents are going through an environmental review in a bid to build the Garibaldi at Squamish (GAS) ski resort which is 20 kilometres north of Squamish.
Heintzman is not sold on the benefit of either mega-project.
She questioned the viability of the ski resort given what she believes is little snow in the area and has doubts about how many jobs the LNG plant will bring.
“The [$600 million] highway improvement obviously opened the possibility for a lot of people who wanted to live here and have the ability to commute,” Heintzman said. “It’s brought a whole new demographic of human capital into the community – a very smart, entrepreneurial professional.
“It’s changed the demographic of Squamish. The trick now that we have this human capital is how to entice entrepreneurs and businesses to come here. Ideally, we’d like to have fewer commuters. We want jobs in Squamish.”