8/3/2019 Western Investor - November 2 2011

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B14 RecreationalRealEstate HOT PROPERTIES www.westerninvestor.com NOVEMBER 2011 WESTERN INVESTOR

FOR SALE

AUTOMOTIVE PARTS STORE

KITIMAT, B.C.

Gerri Saunders(250) 632-2107(250) 632-6638

Info/video available atwww.realestatesmithers.com

LEO LUBBERSCell 250-847-1292 Office 250-847-5999

Fax 250-847-9039 Email: lubbers@realestatesmithers.comBulkley Valley

$290,000

N EW WA TER FR O N T D EV ELO P MEN Ton the BULKLEY RIVER

Priced to sell at

$835,000!

Country Estate with a beautifully craftedspacious 4000 sq.ft.log home on 3.6 of an acre.

Priced to sell at $835,000!

MLS # 323950 at www.realtor.caor contact Brett Hallat250 465 0060.

ComoxValley

YOURRETREAT IN THE BEAUTIFUL

Comox Valley

For more information go to:

We have $180,000 equity in thisOsoyoos lakeview serviced land.

Need mortgage paid out only!

Call eves (250) 497 5689orhormes@shaw.ca

DIVORCEFIRESALE

espite a real estate market at rock-

bottom prices, the U.S. doesnt

always draw Canadians looking to

invest in a second or vacation home, and abig reason is the better chance of apprecia-

tion in B.C.

In Tofino, for instance, prices dropped only

by a few percentage points since 2008, and are

now, characteristically, climbing again.

You could buy [an oceanfront] lot for

$35,000 in 74, said Thomas Olsen, who has

been visiting the west coast of Vancouver Island

for decades. Now, the same lot would go for $2

million. And he sees future potential.Olsen, ofMoss Development, is building

the Shore, a mixed-use, concrete-and-steel

Tofino waterfront property with 24 luxury

residential and seven commercial units. It is

expected to complete with a 6,400-square-foot

multi-use restaurant and marina by the spring

of 2012.

The Shore started in 2004 as Olsens mas-

ters in business thesis on the best options for

development of an old BC Packers plant on

the site where the Shore now stands. Olsen saw

the potential for a residential project, although

at the time he was just looking at the options

for a second home for himself, not developing

it as recreational real estate. He soon saw the

value of building what he calls second homes,

rather than vacation properties.

A second home will be bigger and have more

amenities like closet space, he explained.

Olsen connected with Eleven-Eleven archi-

tects Mark Burkart and Walker McKinley.

They went through years of negotiations with

changing city councils, mayors and city plan-

ners and consulted with First Nations groups,

the Department of Fisheries and several

archaeologists before proceeding with con-

struction.

According to Olsen, approximately $12 mil-

lion worth of real estate sells in Tofino annu-

ally. In the first batch of pre-sales in 2007, the

Shore brought in $15 million. Of that amount,

Olsen closed on all but two sales, he said.

Despite the success, Olsen admits he misread

the market.

We were originally targeting an older buyer

in the 55-plus range, empty nesters, he said.

The majority of purchasers are 35 to 45.Chris and Gerry McNalley of Calgary

were two of the early buyers. The McNalleys

bought a 900-square-foot, one-bedroom after

RECREATION FEATURE Rock-bottom U.S. real estate fails to draw some recreational buyers out of B.C.

BAILA LAZARUS

WESTERN INVESTOR

looking at detached homes in Arizona. We did

consider buying in the States and looked in the

Phoenix area but decided against it, preferring

somewhere where we could have many var-

ied activities, said McNalley. The Shore is

both a vacation home and a second home and

we spend as much time there as possible year-

round.

The Shore includes 24 water-view residential

suites. The six units still available range from

an 862-square-foot one-bedroom for $525,000

to a 1,953-square-foot two-bed, two-bath pent-

house for $1.39 million. Additionally, there are

seven street-front strata commercial units, of

(ABOVE) A new dockside facility willinclude a restaurant, marina, fitness

centre and watercraft storage. (RIGHT)Overlooking Clayoquot Sound, every

Shore suite has a large patio.

Photos:

MossDevelopment

which three are sold.

The development will offer a dockside res-

taurant and multi-purpose facility that includes

a fitness area and storage for kayaks, surfboards

and other watercraft. A new marina will have

32 new boat slips, according to Olsen.

Homebuyers and investors have spo-ken and approved the waterfrontWatermark at Sechelt condominium proj-

ect on the Sunshine Coast.

Developer Ian Porter said constructionstarted in October after buyers bought up

40 per cent of the homes, above whatPorter needed in pre-sales to secure

financing for the project.

Final delivery of suites in phase 1 is

expected for December 2012, Porter said.

With 104 residential suites ranging in size

from 649 to 1,977 square feet, the suites

are priced from $368 per square foot, con-

sidered near the top of the local market.

We appreciate very much the support

we have received from the community

for this project, Porter said. While the

construction stage will provide a mean-

ingful boost to the local economy, it will

hopefully act as a catalyst for further eco-

nomic growth and development.

Some locals had doubts the Watermarkwould reach the critical mass needed to

proceed. Housing sales on the Sunshine

Coast dropped by 10 per cent in the first

eight months of this year, compared with

2010, and the typical MLS housing price

remains down 4.4 per cent from three

years ago, according to the Real EstateBoard of Greater Vancouver.