Jennifer Miller jmiller@whistlerquestion.com
The amount of available units and the pace of real estate sales in Whistler is a concern for the board members of the Whistler 2020 Development Corp., the group behind the new Cheakamus Crossing neighbourhood, Mayor Ken Melamed said this week.
Whistler council received an update on the Cheakamus Crossing development at its Tuesday (July 20) meeting, and sales efforts for the market townhouses and building lots was one of the aspects discussed.
One of the 20 available townhouses has been sold to date, as well as two of the 24 single-family lots.
Eric Martin, chair of the development corp. board, said with construction almost complete the main focus of the board is now sales and marketing. The market has been slow lately, but the sales targets for 2010 are not “overly ambitious,” he added.
The goal is to sell three more townhouses and two more building lots before the year’s end, Martin said. The remaining market product is projected to sell by the end of 2011, but that could go into 2012, depending on the market.
After Tuesday’s meeting, Melamed said everyone in the local real estate market is concerned about the pace of sales. With about 900 units of all types available, there’s ample supply, he said.
Even though there’s similar product on the market, Cheakamus Crossing offers higher value, Melamed said.
“Our price point is well positioned,” he said.
Melamed said the Whistler 2020 board, of which he is a member, is “actively monitoring” the progress of sales.
Martin said there’s a possibility to modify the market offerings to adjust the price point if necessary. For example, smaller lots could be offered, he said.
“We need to be very nimble. We need to adapt to conditions,” Martin said.
There’s also a surplus of serviced sites at Cheakamus Crossing not currently earmarked for development that could be sold if more money needs to be raised, he added.
Martin also provided some updated financial information to council. Since November 2008 the total cost of Cheakamus Crossing has gone from $161 million to $168.4 million, mostly because of additional works carried out for the 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee (VANOC), Martin said.
By the end of the year it’s expected that $125,000 will remain in the project contingency.
“We’re on target to be close to break even… by the end of the year,” Martin said.
Significant savings have been realized in interest payments on the $100 million loan issued by the Municipal Finance Authority to fund the neighbourhood’s construction. In November 2008 the estimated total interest was $7.78 million, compared to an updated projection of $1.95 million by December. The current interest rate is just over one per cent.
Martin said repayment has already begun on the loan, with the balance owing currently about $91.7 million. By October, after all the employee-restricted units sales have been finalized, the balance should be about $16 million, he added.
“We’re going to knock off the vast majority of the debt by October,” Martin said.
The Whistler 2020 board is also seeking a tenant for the commercial space in the new neighbourhood, after an offer wasn’t carried through. Melamed said a request for proposals was issued and the preferred applicant backed out at the last minute.
The operator wasn’t willing to take on the financial risk — another apparent impact of the economic downturn, he said.
The board is trying to generate new interest for the commercial opportunity, and it’s expected that once the neighbourhood is occupied it will draw potential operators, he said
