The District of Squamish is exploring the feasibility of including an Innovation Area on District-owned land in the Squamish Business Park, along with the potential to generate proceeds from these lands to support both current Five Year Financial Plan commitments and future facility investments. As part of this exploration, the District is seeking expressions of interest for a proponent to purchase or lease up to 17 acres of prime commercial, industrial, or mixed-use (including residential) land in the Squamish Business Park to maximize its employment and economic development potential. Expressions of interest will be considered from commercial and residential developers, office-technology users, academic or research institutions, and industrial users for the land or portions thereof.
“Squamish has an enviable lifestyle and a supportive entrepreneurial culture, and an innovation hub could provide ways to create solutions to some of today’s most pressing issues, while also increasing opportunities for people to work locally,” says District of Squamish Mayor Armand Hurford. “Innovation occurs when entrepreneurial people and creative minds come together and so exploring the opportunity of an innovation hub may present, using municipal land assets, a substantial opportunity for our town.”
What is an Innovation Area?
Innovation areas are concentrated campuses that are typically physically compact, leverage employment density, and provide collaborative activities including office space, technology, industrial, education and other employment uses. Such areas provide an opportunity to collaborate and share ideas between businesses, suppliers and institutions.
Innovation areas offer economic benefits, a knowledge-based environment, opportunities for partnership and collaboration and employment density.
Why Squamish Business Park
Centrally-located, the Squamish Business Park spans over 215 acres and is currently occupied with warehousing, indoor recreation, recreation technology and light industrial users, office and service retail space. It also provides access to Highway 99, and is a 40-minute drive to either Vancouver or Whistler.
Why dispose of municipal land?
The District developed a Real Estate and Facilities Strategy (REFS) and Master Plan (REFMP) to guide the renewal of District facilities that were reaching end of life. The REFS includes six strategic principles to guide decision-making. Of importance to this EOI, identifying and disposing of District-owned lands is a key principle to generate funds for other facility investments such as the Brennan Park Master Plan or the Civic Block/Municipal Hall. The expression of interest will consider (and evaluate) interests to either purchase or lease the lands on a long-term basis to determine which approaches will generate the optimal benefit to the community.
This land also represents the largest remaining development opportunity in the Squamish Business Park and is optimally positioned to attract major employment opportunities.
Background:
In 2023, Council approved an amendment to the 2023-2027 Financial Plan Bylaw to support a Real Estate and Facilities Master Plan (REFMP) Pre-Development project to undertake the necessary due diligence to determine the feasibility of a Civic Block and future additional Brennan Park Recreation Centre upgrade projects. Included in this project was funding for further due diligence for an Innovation Area to maximize economic development on District-owned lands in the Squamish Business Park.
Based on the due diligence undertaken for the Innovation Area, in July 2024, Council endorsed a motion for Staff to advance a 'Request for Expression of Interests' for Lots 38/39, this 17-acre parcel in the Squamish Business Park.
The REFS also provides a framework to identify District-owned, fee simple real estate to sell or lease long-term that does not have an operational purpose within the next 25 years, or a longer-term strategic use. Lots 38/39 represent the largest lands owned by the District that are not required for long-term use.
November 25, 2024
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