Dream big, but in the end, ideas for the Oceanfront peninsula need to make financial sense. This is the approach of Drew Stotesbury, recently appointed CEO of the Squamish Oceanfront Development Corporation (SODC). Stotesbury said before canals, curved streets and roundabouts are built, the numbers will be crunched
Stotesbury is part of a team of former Intrawest real estate executives, David Greenfield and Trevor Dunn. Their task is to create a business plan for the development of the publicly owned Squamish Oceanfront Lands. Call it a litmus test.
"The ongoing planning process called Create the Oceanfront established the community vision for the entire peninsula, and the SODC business planning process creates a road map of how to turn that vision into reality," Stotesbury said.
But that reality needs to be sustainable. Stotesbury said he has a self-imposed mandate not to make any recommendations that are not viable from a capital perspective.
"It's one thing to raise money for an iconic public building, but another to sustain it - unless you have the right formula," Stotesbury said.
As a real estate guru of sorts, Stotesbury knows what he is talking about. Stotesbury is a chartered accountant by training with experience in all sides of real estate from developing to operating.
Stotesbury was most recently the President for Intrawest Placemaking and had responsibility for all resort real estate development activity for Intrawest resorts throughout North America and Europe. This includes financial and strategic partnerships, land sales and horizontal and vertical developments in over 25 locations.
"My personal experience is but one small part of our team. For example David Greenfield has a masters in planning and has been developing experiential communities around the world for over 20 years," Stotesbury said.
The clock is ticking for the team with an August deadline for the first draft of the business plan. Stotesbury is not worried. The review and discovery stage is complete and the team is moving ahead with a concrete plan.
"We have identified six primary drivers of the redevelopment and have conducted workshops with subject matter experts for each," Stotesbury said. "We are taking those results and from there we think we will have the nucleus for the business plan,"
The six drivers for the Peninsula Land Collective include marine based industry, knowledge based industry, arts and culture, education, knowledge based industry, tourism, and natural attraction and big idea. While not yet discovered, the "big idea" is intended to drive visitors through downtown Squamish to the oceanfront.
"We are not planning in a vacuum. We are planning with access to an incredible database of public information. That said, this is a very confusing process and I encourage people to listen to the mayor's webcast on the district's website. He goes to great pains to explain various planning exercises," Stotesbury said.
While the business plan takes shape, he said it's important to remember that Squamish is a relatively small town and redevelopment is not going to happen overnight.
"But part of the business plan is to lay the groundwork that allows that to happen,' Stotesbury said. "We are not trying to create a resort, we are creating a community."
AGM postponed
The SODC annual general meeting was postponed after council passed a motion to reduce the number of SODC board of directors to 13 from the original 15. There are currently 13 directors on board and the decision helps reduce vacancies, according to Mayor Greg Gardner.
"We have 13 directors right now and I think from my point of view that is enough for a board of directors to move business forward," Gardner said.
The re-scheduled AGM will be announced in the near future.
