Nine months after announcing its intention to build a $400-million oceanfront community, the partnership formed between the Trust for Sustainable Development and the Sc’ianew First Nation opened its doors to the world Wednesday.
Delayed by the sheer weight of planning and governance documents required to establish what is essentially a new town, the Spirit Bay development finally has a sales centre ready to open to the public this weekend.
“After Spirit Bay announced the plans for the development last August, we tucked [into] the creation of the documents and legal structure necessary to service, build and operate and manage this town,” said David Butterfield.
The partnership expects the construction of the first home will happen within the next couple of months. And the build-out will be long-term on the Beecher Bay band’s 100-acre site, 30 kilometres southwest of Victoria. Over the next 10 years, Butterfield expects to build as many as 500 single-family homes and 100 to 300 townhomes and condominiums, as well as a village centre with amenities, including a food store, gas station and spa.
The community will be built with sustainability top of mind, Butterfield said.
“We’re trying to build a series of romantic seaside villages modelled on old fishing communities with colourful housing and vernacular architecture [using of local traditions and materials]. We feel we can create a sense of place here that will encourage community,” he said.
The partnership is exploring use of the ocean as an energy source, options for storm water usage, landscaping that respects its existing environment and creating a healthy and walkable town.
It is also designed to improve the health of the First Nation, which sees the development as enhancing the future for its children through job skills and opportunities.
“This day is so important to us because it represents a brighter future for our people, the generations that will follow, and a new beginning for our land,” said Chief Russell Chipps of the Sc’ianew First Nation. “Throughout our nation, we are excited to be part of the unfolding of this inter-generation vision.”
The Beecher Bay band own 51 per cent of the partnership while the Trust for Sustainable Development holds 49 per cent.
That partnership is the reason, Butterfield said, Spirit Bay is likely to succeed as a planned town where others like Bamberton, Capital City Centre and Bear Mountain either fell short of expectations or failed outright.
Butterfield said debt and big swings in the health of the economy tend to scuttle planned communities.
“But I think the economy is looking a little better and the best thing is the First Nation owns the land and we don’t have to go out and borrow. They are the land-bank partner,” he said.
Homes at Spirit Bay will be sold for prices ranging from $259,900 to $1.5 million, with homeowners signing 99-year leases for the land with the First Nation.
