Two first nations that bought the Willingdon lands in Burnaby have brought a third party into the deal - the Aquilini Investment Group.
"It's a real partnership. They have a lot of the capacity to move things forward," said Tsleil-Waututh chief Maureen Thomas.
The Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh nations teamed up to buy the 16-hectare patch of Crown land for $57.9 million, and now they are working with the Aquilini Investment Group to help with the redevelopment plans.
It's too early to say what will happen at the site, as nothing's been decided.
The property sits at Willingdon Avenue and Canada Way and is home to the Burnaby Centre for Mental Health and Addiction, the Maples Adolescent Treatment Centre and a provincial mental health assessment centre. The centres will continue running for the next three years, until the provincial government's lease ends, but the buildings are at the end of their lives and will likely be torn down. After that, the nations can start developing the site, with the help of the Aquilini Investment Group.
Brennan Cook, vice-president of acquisitions and development with the Aquilini Investment Group, said the three parties are equal share partners, meaning they all own a third of the land and any future development. Cook said it's too early to say what will happen at the site in terms of development.
"We're going to spend the next three years working with the city to determine what the best use of those lands are. People have talked about the hospital, people have talked about BCIT," he said. "We will explore a variety of options for the site."
The city has some say over any future development through the zoning process. The property is not currently zoned for residential use, but it is for commercial office space.
As previously reported, the sale took Mayor Derek Corrigan by surprise, as the city had been in talks with the province to purchase the site. But when the province approached the First Nations, as per consulting protocol, they expressed interest to buy, and the deal was announced late March.
