Negotiations ongoing for Squamish Oceanfront Lands

Negotiations to finalize a land transaction for the Squamish Oceanfront Lands are underway and will continue into the New Year. Negotiating teams from the District of Squamish and the partnership of Matthews Southwest Developments/Bethel Lands Corporation have been working diligently through the details since mid-November.

“Large and multi-faceted brownfield development sites such as the Squamish Oceanfront Lands present exceptionally complex scenarios that represent significant costs and risks to a developer,” says District of Squamish Mayor Rob Kirkham. “As such, the negotiations are by no means straightforward as both sides work to achieve an outcome in everyone’s best interest. The meetings have been very productive to date, however, with both sides working hard to reach a positive outcome.”

The negotiations are underway to reach a land transaction that will determine the final sale price for the Oceanfront Lands; the full scope of investment required by the developers to deliver on the community vision and ensure a profitable return on investment; the level of responsibility the District of Squamish will take on with regards to site servicing; and other considerations.

The next meeting will take place in early January. Council is being kept apprised of the negotiations and weighs in as required. As key pieces complete, or as any aspects arise that require community engagement, they will be brought forward to the public as soon as possible.

A District-led negotiating team, necessitated due to the nature of much of the negotiation, took over from the Squamish Oceanfront Development Corporation (SODC) Board of Directors in November. Many of the details contained within the negotiations – from servicing agreements relating to sewers, roads and water, to discussions surrounding Development Cost Charges – require a District team to be at the helm.

Financial Statements:

Beginning in late January, the SODC will work to present a greater level of financial detail to the community with regards to the Corporation’s financial statements.

“The current financial statements provide the level of detail that’s legally required. We want to provide greater detail to the community, and have asked the SODC to provide that,” continues Kirkham.

The financial statements will be expanded to include lists of the consultants that have worked on the Oceanfront project, and the scope of work that has been completed. Considerable work is required to extract this level of detail from records dating back 10 years that exist in various formats. This work will get underway in late January following SODC’s annual audit in the New Year.

In the meantime, SODC’s financial statements (2005 to 2012) are publicly available online at: http://squamishoceanfront.com/plan/process/financial

December 23, 2013