Rainbow

Muni sues Woods at Rainbow for land

Jennifer Miller jmiller@whistlerquestion.com

The municipality has launched a lawsuit against The Woods at Rainbow development company because the parcel known as Lot 10 has so far not been transferred to the municipality after it exercised its option to purchase the land.

But developer Rod Nadeau said on Tuesday (May 25) that the suit will “be over before it gets started,” because he’s planning to sign the land over to the municipality in the coming days.

“I just don’t have the stomach to fight them anymore,” Nadeau said.

The lawsuit stems from a contentious, closed-door Whistler council vote in early January to reject the pricing model presented by The Woods at Rainbow for the seniors-restricted condo units planned on Lot 10 of the new Rainbow neighbourhood. The Woods developers came forward with a price of $370 per square foot, which the majority of council felt was too far off the average of about $250 per square foot for existing resident-restricted housing in Whistler.

Councillors Ralph Forsyth and Eckhard Zeidler later went public with their disapproval of the decision.

Because council rejected the pricing, the option to purchase was triggered, entitling the municipality to buy the parcel of land for $10.

But so far the land hasn’t been turned over to the municipality, and municipal lawyers filed a writ of summons in B.C. Supreme Court on April 30.

According to the writ, developers of the Woods have “wrongfully breached the option (to purchase) by failing to complete the sale of the land.” Because of the breach, the municipality has “suffered loss, damage and expense,” the suit reads.

In addition to the transfer of the land, the lawsuit claims various damages and costs against The Woods.

At its May 18 public meeting, council voted to adjust the municipal budgets to provide $20,000 in legal costs arising from exercising the option to purchase Lot 10.

When asked on Friday (May 21) about the approved expenditure, Mayor Ken Melamed did not reveal that a lawsuit had been filed.

“We’re still pursuing the transfer of the parcel,” he said. “It hasn’t been finalized.”

When asked if there was any reason to believe the land transfer wouldn’t take place, Melamed said, “We’re confident the transfer will go through.”

Nadeau admitted that until now he has “refused” to turn Lot 10 over to the municipality. He said he was “pissed off” when council rejected the pricing model after more than a year of planning and design work on the project and about $200,000 in expenses.

Developers worked with municipal staff and members of Whistler’s Mature Action Committee (MAC) to design a seniors housing project to suit the needs of local seniors only to have council “change the rules at the 11th hour,” Nadeau said. The $370-per-square-foot price point was “an accurate assessment of the building and design” costs, he said.

“(Council) wanted a further subsidy above and beyond what we were required to do (under the zoning),” Nadeau said.

At the advice of a lawyer who Nadeau said characterized council’s rejection as a “rezoning without due process,” he refused to turn over the land.

But now, in the face of the lawsuit, Nadeau said he’s ready to give up the fight.

“I’m not young enough to fight them,” he said. “They can have it.”

Gordon Leidal, outgoing president of MAC, said the situation with Lot 10 is “disappointing” because until the land transfer is resolved, no progress can be made on providing seniors housing on the site.

Any housing delivered on the site is now under the municipality’s control, with options such as hiring a development consultant or even selling the land to another group.

“I guess we just have to wait and see what’s going to happen,” Leidal said.

Melamed said until the land transfer is complete, any work on planning housing for the site would be “premature.”

In the meantime, sales are underway for a Woods at Rainbow seniors building on the adjacent Lot 11. Nadeau said about a third of the building’s 20 units have been sold, and construction will start once about two-thirds are sold.

Though the target demographic for the units is still seniors, the condos are now available for sale to anyone, he said

Zeidler speaks out against decision to take on seniors housing complex

By Alison Taylor

Councillors Eckhard Zeidler and Ralph Forsyth are breaking ranks with Whistler council and publicly opposing its decision to take on a seniors’ housing complex project.

“I don’t think it’s what the people of Whistler want us to be spending our time doing and I don’t think it’s a risk they want to see us taking on, on their behalf,” Zeidler said this week.

Forsyth, who tried unsuccessfully to revisit the decision at Tuesday’s special council meeting this week, made his opinion known in no uncertain terms following the meeting: “I think it’s the most asinine decision that we’ve made.”

He was speaking about a closed-door decision two weeks ago where council rejected the proposed pricing structure for Rainbow’s new resident restricted seniors housing complex. The average price proposed by the Innovation Building Group for a unit in the complex was $370 per square foot. That prompted council to exercise its right to buy the lot and look at its options for building the project.

The municipality wanted to make clear this week that it does not build projects itself, but rather charges subsidiaries like the Whistler Housing Authority (WHA) to do it for them.

Mayor Ken Melamed shot down Forsyth’s request to re-open the decision at Tuesday’s special meeting.

“We had a good discussion and there was a majority vote on council,” said the mayor.

“I am not going to bring it back for debate.”

Last week Councillor Chris Quinlan explained that council rejected the pricing because it would not allow other resident restricted owners to transition through the WHA inventory. For example, the WHA housing at Cheakamus Crossing sold for roughly $250 per square foot. The seniors’ complex would be more than $100 per square foot more expensive.

It was a decision that caught Zeidler and Forsyth, who was not at the closed-door meeting, by surprise.

Zeidler said Whistler is just finishing up one of the largest building programs the town has ever seen. Now is not the time to take on more risk, or more capital spending, he said.

“We need to think about how to do less with less resources and less risk,” he added.

That’s why he’s speaking out against the decision, though there are guidelines in the council governance manual not to break ranks once council makes its decisions.

“I don’t know why this position was taken,” he said.

“Every opportunity I get I will attempt to see this position reversed.”

Forsyth too is now looking into ways to bring the decision back for debate, though he was unsuccessful in his first attempt this week.

Zeidler pointed out that the Mature Action Committee, Whistler’s seniors group that is actively lobbying for housing, supported the proposal.

Zeidler said: “That’s good enough for me.”

The WHA is now looking at options for the site.

Next week WHA general manager Marla Zucht will be meeting with BC Housing to see if they are interested in collaborating in the seniors housing project.

Council rejects pricing for Rainbow seniors housing

RMOW will build project; MAC president, Rainbow developer surprised by 11th hour change in direction

By Alison Taylor

Balking at the price of a new seniors housing complex at Rainbow, council has now decided to take on the project itself.

Its last minute decision, made in a closed-door meeting last week, flies in the face of not only municipal staff’s recommendations but also against support from the Mature Action Committee (MAC), which has long been lobbying for seniors housing in Whistler.

“I was surprised and disappointed, no question about it, because we have been working on this project for a long time,” said MAC president Gord Leidal.

“We thought it was a great project.”

The project, called The Woods, was slated for the heart of the new Rainbow subdivision.

Developer Rod Nadeau proposed a two-building project on Lots 10 and 11 that would mix both price-restricted and market seniors housing together.

The design was done in consultation with MAC members over the course of a year and a half.

The average price for a restricted unit in the apartment buildings was $370 per square foot.

“We rejected that pricing,” said Chris Quinlan, speaking on behalf of council.

“That product wasn’t something that will allow us to achieve our goal of the housing authority and that is that we want people to be able to transition through their entire time in Whistler inside of WHA (Whistler Housing Authority) inventory.”

He explained that while some seniors may be able to sell market lots and buy a seniors’ home at $370 per square foot, those moving through price- restricted WHA product would have difficulty buying in at a price that high.

“I think the majority of the people on MAC that are willing to purchase at that level are able to cash out of the place that they’ve had for 20 or 30 years. And what we’re really looking towards is the future,” said Quinlan.

He pointed to the new WHA apartment building at the athletes’ village (Cheakamus Crossing) that came in at roughly $260 per square foot. Like Rainbow’s $370 per square foot price, that athletes’ village price does not include the price of the serviced land.

But developer Rod Nadeau takes issue with that comparison, saying that the athletes’ village wasn’t just built on free serviced land but had other subsidies too. Specifically, there were contributions from Olympic organizers and the municipality totaling about $45 million. As well, more than $30 million from the sale of market lots and townhouses will subsidize the employee housing.

Rainbow, by comparison, was given residential zoning as part of its development approval to help subsidize the cost of developing the mainly employee housing subdivision.

“We’re building for about the same price as the athletes’ village was being built at we just didn’t have a $100 square foot subsidy from VANOC (the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Winter Games) and the municipality through the taxpayers,” said Nadeau.

Joe Redmond, president of the Whistler Development Corp., which built the athletes’ village, confirmed that the $260 per square foot price was the amount that the units were sold for and not the true value of the construction. And while the financial contributions largely paid to service the athletes’ village site, the market housing will subsidize the cost of the employee housing, allowing the municipality to sell the development at the $250 per square foot cost.

“Council is talking about what the building should sell for; Rainbow is talking about what it costs to build,” explained Redmond.

Rainbow’s design also includes concrete underground parking, which adds significantly to the cost of construction. That component was included after consultation with MAC members.

“Underground parking is an absolute must for most seniors,” said Leidal.

As per the Rainbow agreement, the municipality had the right to purchase Lot 10 of the seniors housing component for $10, which it exercised last week.

It remains to be seen how much the municipality can build a price-restricted seniors complex for on Lot 10. It is now exploring its options through the WHA.

Two years ago Redmond built a four-storey basic apartment building at the athletes’ village for $260 per square foot. That did not include underground parking.

“That’s going to be the minimum price that they’re going to build that building for without underground parking,” he said.

Nadeau said he was surprised by council’s decision, not only because it came after he already had the development permit for the project but also because he followed the criteria set out in the housing agreement with the municipality. That agreement outlined the hard and soft costs of the project plus a 7.5 per cent overhead.

That’s exactly what he said he did.

“They changed the game at the 11th hour,” said the Rainbow developer.

“And they allowed us to continue down this road for a year and a half.”

He estimates he has spent a couple of hundred thousand dollars on designing and developing the project thus far.

Nadeau now intends to move ahead with a 22-unit seniors market development on Lot 11. That development, to be built by Nadeau’s Innovation Building Group, will be offered to Whistler seniors first. After 90 days it will be offered to the open market.

Prices start at $269,900 for a 600 square foot unit and go to $835,000 for a 1,600 plus square foot unit.

Occupancy is planned for the fall/winter 2011/2012.

“I know that members of council have the very best of intentions, as they hope to find alternative ways to deliver some less expensive housing on Lot 10,” said Leidal. “I wish them success, and we at MAC look forward to being part of that process. In the meantime I understand that the Innovation Building Group is prepared to proceed with the remainder of the development on Lot 11, and it is my hope that this project will also reach a successful conclusion.”