The Squamish Oceanfront Development Corporation (SODC) and Capilano University may have agreed to a possible partnership, but others must get on board before that turns into an ironclad deal.
The SODC has long dreamed of having an academic component to their municipal development, but the university doesn't want to be the first Oceanfront development partner to put the shovel in the ground, according to its finance and administration vice-president Cindy Turner.
"We can't have the first students arrive on a vast area of nothing, word would get out and no one else would come," she said. "[We'd want] coffee shops, a recreation centre, maybe a library and a few other amenities around."
On July 21, Capilano University agreed in principle to enter the Oceanfront, with a five-acre property swap deal that would bring the university into the middle of the project.
Capilano entered the deal because the current downtown campus isn't meeting their needs.
"Right now we have a small campus in a really horrible location in terms of not being able to be seen," said Turner.
"We want to be able to offer community programs such as elders college and children's camps. We can offer music classes, Italian, Lego building camps, cooking classes
"Things like that are sort of how you blend into a community and when the university's in the middle of the community, it makes it possible because people can walk by and decide to enrol."
Turner also recognized the ideal university environment is one where every necessity and amenity is at least within walking distance.
"Students want somewhere to live and they want to have fun so you need the recreation, the lounging space, the performing arts theatre, you need that whole community to make it a great university experience," she said.
She said the plan perfectly suits what students are looking for in terms of learning, living, playing and exploring.
"It's a wonderful place for them to be," she said. "But we couldn't build that community so that's where the developers step in."
The school is confident SODC planner Trevor Dunn has enough experience to get the domino effect started, but they'll wait until that happens.
"We wouldn't mind if we were there six months earlier before other people, but we would pretty much have to know for sure that some of these [amenities] were going in like right now," she said.
Dunn said a certain level of assurance is possible thanks to the sub area plan and the community park on the south eastern tip of the peninsula, slated to get underway by next year.
"Getting the sub area plan approved gives developers the confidence that they're going to be able to move forward with the plan and aren't going to be rejected by the community," said Dunn.
The entire 4.9 acres Capilano has agreed to take is designated Education and Institutions in the draft sub area plan, which allows for educational, institutional, social, recreational, student housing and commercial uses.
"It's all a package so as you start to get momentum on the park and the Blue Barn and the university then people start to recognize this is a real thing," said Dunn.
The draft sub area plan was presented to council on July 27 and a motion to scrutinize the plan more closely during a Committee of the Whole workshop in September passed unanimously. A public hearing will also be held in the fall.
