About 149 acres of prime West Shore land, including two 18-hole golf courses and the country’s largest red-clay tennis centre, have officially hit the real estate market.
Last week, the B.C. Supreme Court granted the request of the receiver in control of Bear Mountain to put the property up for sale. The development, on hundreds of acres of land on Skirt Mountain in east Langford and the Highlands, has been in receivership since last fall.
On Tuesday afternoon, a large swath of development land and resort amenities at Bear Mountain were officially put up for sale.
Brandon Selina, senior vice-president with Colliers Victoria, which has been enlisted to sell the property, said marketing efforts are aimed at finding a master developer who wants to “continue the dream, build it out and run the golf course operations at the same time.”
While the individual components could be sold separately, the goal is to sell the entire project as a package.
“It’s quite unique and I think that it will get some eyes, not just from locals, but from around B.C., national or international master-plan developers,” he said, noting the zoning allows for all kinds of development, including townhomes, condos and what’s known as “missing middle” housing, including houseplexes.
The sale process will be done by securing qualified bids. Letters of intent from potential bidders, including the source of capital to be used for the purchase, must be submitted by Sept. 16.
The final deadline for bids is Nov. 3, with the receiver hoping to wrap up the process and close the deal before the end of the year.
The court appointed Alvarez & Marsal Canada as the receiver last fall with a mandate to oversee the operation of the companies that own and operate Bear Mountain Resort.
The partners in Ecoasis Developments, which had been managing Bear Mountain, were at odds over how the property should be managed and its land developed.
Sanovest Holdings Ltd. and 599315 B.C. Ltd., headed by chief executive Dan Matthews, are equal partners in Ecoasis Developments LLP, which was formed in 2013 under the company name Ecoasis Bear Mountain Developments Ltd.
Sanovest, which holds a $62-million loan on the Bear Mountain lands, asked the B.C. Supreme Court to appoint the receiver after Ecoasis Developments LLP failed to pay off the loan in full by last spring.
Sanovest claimed in filings last spring that there was a breakdown in trust between the two controlling partners — Sanovest director Tian Kusumoto and Matthews, the Ecoasis Bear Mountain Developments chief executive.
Sanovest asked for a receivership to preserve its assets and ensure fair treatment among creditors.
Ecoasis and 14 other associated companies known as the Developments Partnership were listed as respondents in the petition by Sanovest.
The two partners have been at odds on several issues, including how to market and develop the remaining lands, expense accounts and debts, including property taxes.
While the resort operations at Bear Mountain, including golf courses, tennis and other recreational facilities, were not under receivership when the order was granted last fall, Alvarez & Marsal Canada’s senior vice-president, Anthony Tillman, wrote in his sixth report to the courts that their inclusion in the sale was “critical” to the sale and marketing of Bear Mountain resort, with respect to enhancing overall value.
Tillman said they were likely to get more for the property if it was sold as a single entity rather than breaking it up into its parts.
He said it would also enable the “purchaser to retain comprehensive control over the project, encompassing the integration of amenity offerings, the strategic mix of residential products and commercial spaces, design coherence, and a phased build-out schedule.”
The sale does not include the Westin Bear Mountain Resort & Spa.
