They weren't built last year, but cross your fingers for next year.
District of Squamish council issued a string of one-year development permit extensions at its regular business meeting on Nov. 20.
First on the list was a four-unit townhouse project in Garibaldi Estates. The development at 40126 Government Rd. was issued two previous extensions, district planner Chris Bishop told council. It's now under new ownership and municipal staff expect to see a set of building-permit plans any day now, he said.
Coun. Patricia Heintzman noted she wasn't overly supportive of the project's design the first time around.
The rest of the extensions are for development company Solterra. They include two extensions in the company's 25-acre master-planned neighbourhood in downtown Squamish. Both The Falls and The Nature's Gate are phases of the Eaglewind development, Bishop noted. The Falls is a six-storey, 90-unit building and Nature's Gate is a 46-unit townhouse complex.
Given both projects have received previous extensions, Coun. Susan Chapelle questioned whether Solterra had plans to start construction within the next year.
That will likely depend on real estate market conditions, Bishop said.
“I would like to think the developer would want to build,” he said.
In June, Solterra Acquisition Corp. purchased 20 acres of district-owned land in the Squamish Business Park. The Vancouver-based developer is dishing out $8 million for the parcel over the next two years.
The project's backers requested that its letter of credit for the property be released and that a first mortgage be registered against an eight acre parcel and the district be provided with an option purchase to the land for $1.
Located north of Squamish Toyota and west of the Sandman Inn, the development would have a “campus” feel, Solterra's vice president Mike Bosa said at the time of the sale. The project's next steps included hiring an architect and brokers to compile a needs assessment of businesses, the community and local stakeholders, he said.
The Chief's attempts to reach Bosa for an interview by press time were unsuccessful.
