Another luxury resort is on the market.
In the wake of the recent sale of Brentwood Bay Resort and Spa and the new listing of Pacific Sands Beach Resort in Tofino, Poet’s Cove on Pender Island has just hung its own for-sale sign.
The 22-unit resort on 13.9 acres overlooking Bedwell Harbour — completed in 2004 at a value of $30 million — has been listed for sale by CBRE Canada. No price is listed.
Included in the sale are 19.25 of the hotel’s rooms. Each room is an individual strata lot and had been sold on a quarter-ownership basis when it was originally marketed. Also on the block: the Susurrus Spa, Syrens restaurant, the Aurora dining room, a fitness centre, pool, four commercial lots with an operating marine and commercial centre, a building to house water and sewage treatment systems and commercial laundry, an administration building and the 85-slip Poets Cove Marina.
Not included in the sale are the balance of the hotel lots, nine strata-lot villas and 15 strata-lot cottages that are on the property, but will remain owned by third parties.
Attempts to contact the real estate agency that has listed the property were unsuccessful Friday. In an email, hotel management said it could not comment until all owners and stakeholders of the resort had been contacted and briefed.
News of the sale did not come as a surprise to hospitality industry consultant Frank Bourree.
“They have a very difficult and challenging agreement between the management company and strata holders and that’s been a problem,” said the principal of Chemistry Consulting.
Concerns over quarter-share owners voting rights landed the owners association in court with Bedwell Harbour Hotel Ltd. last year.
Bourree also noted strata owners tend to control the use of hotel rooms for most of the year, making it difficult for the management group to make any money.
Bourree said “it’s very likely” the sale of Poet’s Cove is timed to take advantage of Asian investment groups looking at various properties in this region.
“And it’s a good time to sell as things in the hospitality industry have started to pick up,” he said.
Brentwood Bay was sold this month for $13.99 million to Forebase International Holdings, a Chinese firm that has also been rumoured to be looking into the Pacific Sands Resort, among other properties.
Randy Holt, vice-president of DTZ Victoria Real Estate, whose firm worked on the Brentwood sale and is actively marketing Pacific Sands, said there has been a lot of activity on the Pacific Sands file.
“There has been quite a bit of interest from prospective Asian clients, but there has been lots of B.C.-based players, Western Canadian and interest from further afield,” he said.
Bourree said Poet’s Cove is a great opportunity if the resort’s issues can be dealt with. “It’s a beautiful resort. The rooms are well- appointed and it’s a great environment for a corporate retreat or family holiday. Pender Island is beautiful,” he said. “The biggest challenge is to get there you have to take a boat ... it’s close but it’s too far.”
