Fore! sale
Kamloops is attracting investors from Oahu to Ontario with the recent listing for sale of the Tobiano golf course.
NAI Commercial is handling the listing on behalf of the Business Development Bank of Canada, which proceeded with a sale of the property in mid-June. The offer doesn’t include development lands adjacent to the course, which are under the control of BMO Financial Group. Approximately 1,250 residential units remain to be built as part of the community.
The golf course was to be the centrepiece of an 18,000-acre master-planned resort community when it was announced to much fanfare in 2005. Tagged at $500 million, the development was billed as pioneering.
“We tend to go into areas that other people have overlooked or haven’t recognized the potential,” Mike Grenier, president of project owner Pagebrook Inc. told this columnist at the time.
Pagebrook intended to provide infrastructure while selling tracts to developers who would build the four neighbourhoods planned for the site. A five-year construction timeline was planned, but a cooling of real estate markets in 2006 followed by the crash of 2008 put paid to the prospect. The project entered receivership in 2011.
Today, Gary Haukeland of NAI and listing partner J.D. Murray have 14 signed non-disclosure agreements from potential buyers of the development’s much-lauded golf course.
“We have a group from Honolulu and Toronto flying in,” Haukeland said. “It’s getting a lot of attention because it’s been a very highly rated golf course from its inception.”
The successful purchaser will receive a 231-acre golf course and associated facilities, including a 120-seat restaurant.
Haukeland said a timeline for the sale hasn’t been set, but he expects competing bids to come forward when the deal goes to court for approval.
Concert set for North Van
North Vancouver city councillors have given a green light to Concert Properties Ltd.’s plans to rezone the Harbourside site for mixed-use development.
Concert held a public information meeting regarding its plans for the 65-acre property at the end of March. This was followed by two townhall sessions in April. A public hearing in June led to councillors approving the new vision for the property, which will shift from being strictly a business park to being a mixed-use neighbourhood.
Harbourside has approximately 885,000 square feet of office and light industrial space. Concert is now set to apply for a rezoning that would allow up to 800 residential units on 12 acres of waterfront property. The site’s commercial capacity will be unaffected by the additional uses. •
