District of Squamish officials are about to shake hands on a $8 million land sale.
The sale, set to close on June 9, will see Solterra Acquisition Corp. purchase 20 acres of district-owned land in the Squamish Business Park. The Vancouver-based developer, who was the proponent behind downtown's award-winning Eaglewind residential development, will dish out $8 million over the next two years.
Solterra is fleshing out ideas, Mike Bosa, the company's vice president, said on Thursday (March 8). The next steps include hiring an architect and brokers to compile a needs assessment of businesses, the community and local stakeholders.
Once we have reached that point, then we will present that to the community, Bosa said.
Solterra's recently completed 40,000-square-foot building on Discovery Way, between Home Depot and Rona, has proven there's a demand for quality industrial developments, he said, noting that 75 per cent of the building's units are leased.
The new project will target expanding local companies and national and provincial companies seeking to relocate. Ideally, Solterra aims to lease units; however, ownership will be considered for businesses that require it, Bosa said. Solterra officials are already in discussions with companies but not any one single user.
The feel of it will be a campus, so it is going to be somewhere that people want to go to work, he said. That is going to be half the battle. It is not going to be a bunch of boxes.
The lot, located north of Squamish Toyota and west of the Sandman Inn, is zoned for light industrial use, which allows for everything from logging contractors to plant nurseries. Under the zoning, up to 20 per cent of a business's space can be converted into a commercial outlet.
The sale fits in with council's strategic priorities, the first of which is economic development, Mayor Rob Kirkham said, noting the project will boost business and, in turn, employment.
The municipality's long-term strategic financial plan calls for money from municipal property sales to pay off district debt, which could include the Squamish Oceanfront Development Corp.'s bill. The district estimates the bare land will provide approximately $40,000 annually in tax revenue, Kirkham said.
With the property in the hands of a private party, both the land and the development that occurs will become taxable," he said.
