Developers eye passenger ferry across Mamquam Blind Channel
John French
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Industry is out and people are moving in after Interfor completed a deal to sell the company's sawmill lands on Squamish's waterfront.
Developers John Norton and Ned Pottinger are the new owners of the property and they plan to develop the site as soon as possible.
The purchase price of the land was not disclosed. The land was valued at $6.59 million for tax purposes in 2003 when the land was zoned for major industry with an operational sawmill.
The developers are now working with the District of Squamish (DOS) planning department to create a vision for the site and start the process of making the various applications needed to make way for redevelopment.
Squamish Mayor Ian Sutherland said the investors are very capable of the redevelopment task ahead for the waterfront site.
Norton said he has previous experience with waterfront development, pointing to a development project he did on the south side of Vancouver along the Fraser River.
"I'm so excited about this project," Norton said. "People don't realize that Squamish is halfway between the finest ski resort in North America and a world class city. You don't need the Olympics to make it sparkle."
He and Pottinger envision 1,350 residential units in the form of apartments and townhouses in a marine and water-focused development.
The units will range in price from expensive right down to affordable for first-time home buyers. Norton feels the housing will be of interest to locals, baby boomers and second home owners who can't afford Whistler.
According to Norton, the existing docking facilities on the site will be upgraded so a marina can be built. A key element Norton wants for the development is a small passenger ferry service to take people across the Mamquam Blind Channel.
Very little in the way of commercial space is planned for the site because Norton and his partner don't want to detract from the efforts to revive the existing downtown core and any new commercial spaces created by the Squamish Oceanfront Development Corporation.
The developers want to start moving as soon as possible. Norton expects construction to begin in 2007. "We're hoping to have people move in by 2008," he said. At build out Norton expects the value of construction to be greater than $800 million.
Sutherland said the meetings between the developers and local planning staff have been positive. "It is very important as a community to move forward," said Sutherland. "We are going through a transition and that piece of land is vital to the community. We said all along that we wanted the Interfor mill to stay and that couldn't be done so we told [Interfor CEO] Duncan Davies that we wanted the future of the lands to move forward as quickly as possible."
According to Sutherland, the Interfor development will help downtown Squamish by increasing residential density in the area.
