According to a report that was supposed to be confidential, Wal-Mart is going to pay in the neighbourhood of $1.5 million at $193,000.00 per acre for the 7.5 acre (3 hectare) lot it wants in the Squamish Business Park.
The information is contained in a 19-page purchase and sale agreement that was signed by Mayor Ian Sutherland and a Wal-Mart official in February of 2004.
Not all the terms and conditions of the agreement are finalized, so the deal is not complete and Sutherland told The Chief some aspects of the deal may have changed.
Sutherland also noted that the document mistakenly released to the public was based on a set of negotiations that were initiated by the previous District of Squamish (DOS) Council.
"The negotiations with Wal-Mart started before the Olympic announcement," Sutherland said.
The DOS revealed in 2002 that Wal-Mart and the District were negotiating a deal through FirstPro. To alleviate fears within the community, the DOS announced some of the terms of what it called a conditional land sales agreement by issuing a news release on Jan. 21, 2003.
Sutherland confirmed on Tuesday that the report was not intended to be a public document, but he did not believe the fact that the document is in the public domain will negatively impact the deal.
The report was made available for anyone who attended the Wal-Mart lands rezoning public hearing on Sept. 14, 2004.
Since the launch of the negotiations between the DOS and Wal-Mart land values in the business park and throughout Squamish have increased significantly. Sutherland said when the DOS sells land the end price is tied closely to assessed values.
"Any land we purchase and sell is based on the appraised value at the time," Suthlerland said. "We don't sell land above assessed value and generally we don't buy land at over the assessed value."
The deal with Wal-Mart has been more than three years in the works and Sutherland admitted there is still a great deal of work that has to take place before the land sale and purchase agreement is finalized.
He said issues relating to the road network around the store and the highway access are resolved and an announcement is expected soon.
"We kind of know the lay of the land," said Sutherland. "We have an idea of where the highway access is going to be."
Experts are analyzing the plan to make sure it will work and Sutherland said lawyers are also reviewing the plan.
Another barrier preventing the Wal-Mart project from advancing is the fact that the three hectare lot Wal-Mart intends to buy still does not legally exist. Wal-Mart and Home Depot both want to buy plots in a large parcel currently known as Lot 40. The large parcel stretches from the finished portion of Discovery Way to Pioneer Way at the north end of the business park. Lot 40 needs to be subdivided before any construction can begin.
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