If local developer Doug Day has his way, 250 rental apartments will soon sit at the entrance to the Oceanfront Lands.
Day and his partner Brent Davies want to build two 125-unit purpose-built rental apartment buildings on their property at 1400 Vancouver St. at the south end of downtown.
“It is absolutely desperately needed in Squamish,” Day said of the affordable housing proposal.
Day and Davies, a Vancouver restaurateur, bought the property for $1.75 million in January.
Squamish firm AKA Architecture and Design has been commissioned to draw up the project, which will have suites with one, two and three bedrooms, according to Day.
“The buildings will be quite attractive with modern architecture, lots of nice features and a children’s play area,” Day said.
“These won’t be condos that are temporarily rented,” he said, noting the units will be geared to long-term tenants.
Day said his motivation is more than altruistic. His family wants the long-term investment.
“The thing with building [and selling] condos and houses, it is almost like a cocaine fix,” he said. “You get a nice rush for awhile, you make a nice profit if you are lucky, but when the dust all settles you scratch your head and wonder, ‘Why did I do that?’… You don’t own the land anymore. You make money long-term by owning your real estate, not by selling it.”
The plan also includes a transportation route to the oceanfront, according to Day. “What we plan to do is fill in Cleveland Avenue all the way to Westminster Street and make that one of the entries to the Squamish Oceanfront Lands,” he said. “By connecting to Westminster Street… going east to west, Westminster Street will connect from Loggers Lane all the way over to Third and Fourth [avenues] and all the streets to the west of Loggers Lane. If you look at a map, it completes a really interesting transportation link for Squamish.”
The property is currently zoned industrial, but Day said he thought the district and council would likely look favourably on the rezoning for rental housing.
Day said he has been in talks with district staff who seem amenable to the plan, but he has yet to submit a rezoning application to the municipality.
Mayor Patricia Heintzman said though she couldn’t speak definitively of the project, because she hasn’t seen the details, she welcomed the idea of purpose-built rentals on the site.
“If he wants to build affordable housing, that is awesome,” she said.
“We will take purpose-built rentals anywhere, anytime, so absolutely great if he wants to do that.”
