Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Ah yes, soon Rupertites may have yet another reason for a trip to Terrace


There’s the shopping, the Lake and a farmers market in the summer and soon, if West Coast Hospitality has its way, there will be a massive entertainment complex for Terrace ready for use by residents and visitors alike.

Water play enthusiasts take special note; there may be a water park in your future should the plans being bounced around Terrace today come to fruition...

The same group that built the Chances community gaming centre in Prince Rupert has pretty ambitious plans for the Terrace site, which in addition to a gaming hall of its own for Terrace would also include a four storey, 120 room hotel and if everything falls into place right, a water park to go with all the other entertainment distractions.

Craig Briere, the President and CEO of West Coast Hospitality suggests that the project in Terrace would be roughly 100,000 square feet overall and range in the area of 40 million dollars for the initial phase construction cost. A figure that he says would make the project one of the largest and most expensive in Terrace history.

And the vision of development doesn't end with a hotel, gaming centre or water park, Briere anticipates a large scale development that would bring shops, restaurants and housing to the large tracts of land reclaimed from the lost days of Skeena Sawmills.

Mr. Briere, has become kind of a wandering visionary of the Northwest over the last few years, outlining the future for our communities as seen through the prism of the hospitality development world.

If we think back to the early days of the Chances Prince Rupert development, one of the other developments proposed in addition to the gaming centre, was a marina for just below the Chances site, that's a project that while still discussed from time to time, hasn't moved forward so far.

With the Terrace project dwarfing the Rupert centre by some 25 million dollars, (the Rupert centre cost in the range of 15 million) for the moment it would seem that West coast Hospitality is decidedly in a Terrace frame of mind.

Whether they can navigate the project through the various levels of Terrace's land use and zoning bylaws, as well as gain the support of the city council for it's long term plans remains to be seen.

However, should it come to completion,It will once again no doubt increase the flow of traffic to the east down highway 16, making the Friday evening exodus even larger we suspect, don't forget your tubes and water wings...

Both the Terrace Standard and TV 7 had some background on the trial balloon being floated in Terrace

Hotelier Has High Hopes for TLC Lands
Tue, 2008-03-04 17:28.

CFTK TV News

The Prince George man hoping to build a new hotel and recreation complex on the old TLC lands toured the site today, and gave a few more details about what he envisions. WestCoast Hospitality President and CEO Craig Briere says the development will transform the former mill site.

"We believe the hotel will be four stories tall. We're looking at approximately 120 guest rooms and suites within the facility. In addition to that, we're also vigourously exploring the concept of a water park in connection with it, it would probably be roughly 100,000 square feet overall."

The cost of the initial phase of the project could be in the neighbourhood of 40 million dollars. The purchase price of the land has not been revealed.
.
Briere says he realizes there's still a lot of work to do before ground can be broken, such as an application to the city for rezoning. But he figures construction might begin this fall or next spring.

Terrace mill lands proposal will cost millions
Terrace Standard

March 03, 2008

A HOTEL, convention centre and entertainment complex at a cost upwards of $40 million will mark the first phase of a transformation of the Terrace Lumber Company (TLC) lands from an industrial area, says the president of the company which has a deal to buy 20 acres and an option for the remaining 53 acres put up for sale last year.

Stores both large and small, restaurants and housing would follow in due course, says Craig Briere of WestCoast Hospitality, a Prince George-based gaming and hotel company.

“With this amount of land that is available you can create a brand new community. You have the chance to create your own island through a multitude of uses,” he said in announcing the deal Feb. 27.

“Most of B.C. hasn’t clued in yet about Terrace and what’s going on here because of its location,” Briere continued.

“The port [in Prince Rupert], and now it looks like Alcan is going ahead and mining up north make Terrace’s geographical location ideal for growth.”

The development vision laid out by Briere last week would easily make it the largest and most expensive in the city’s history.

Up until now, the largest single project was the construction 20 years ago by Repap/Skeena Cellulose of the sawmill that once occupied the lands now wanted by WestCoast. It was dismantled beginning in late 2006 after new owners TLC shut down operations and auctioned off everything it could.

Briere did not disclose a price for the purchase/option deal with Terrace Lumber, which was reached with the latter’s surviving principal, John Ryan.

The entire 73-acre property, however, has been on the market through the Royal LePage agency in the form of three parcels listed for a combined $8.98 million.

WestCoast’s first 20 acres, the location for its hotel and convention centre concept, is the area on the eastern edge of the largest of the land parcels on Keith, closest to the Sande Overpass.
It is the land closest to the city centre and has the highest visibility, said Briere.

That land is also the least likely to have environmental problems from its past use, one of several items that need to be checked off before the sale is complete.

This 20-acre parcel must also be subdivided into its own lot and the city must approve of a zoning change from industrial use.

Briere was confident these and other issues would not pose a hindrance to WestCoast.
If the as-of-yet unnamed Terrace development would be the largest and most expensive in the city’s history, it is also the biggest and costliest for WestCoast.

WestCoast is a fairly new company, formed nearly six years ago in Prince George to develop, own and run either by itself or with others hotels and gaming establishments.

It has the majority ownership of the Treasure Cove Hotel and Casino in Prince George, owns outright the Coast Prince Rupert Hotel and is the majority shareholder of Chances Prince Rupert, the B.C. Lottery Corporation-licensed all-electronic gaming establishment featuring slot machines.

A hotel and entertainment development in Fort St. John did not go ahead.

Just-opened Chances Prince Rupert, which has a convention centre, restaurant and lounge in addition to gambling, itself cost $15 million, said Briere.

“So my figure of $40 million for our first plan, the hotel, convention centre and entertainment complex could be a bit low,” he added.

Briere was clear in saying that while WestCoast would assemble the land and have it rezoned and work on an overall concept, it would also market portions of its master development to local and other investors.

“What we would say is that ‘Here, here is a parcel of land for a restaurant. Now you can go and pursue a national franchise,’ for instance,” he added.

WestCoast would also need the assistance of the city to help its plans come to light, Briere said.
“With this kind of development, we look at a symbiotic relationship. A hotel by itself could not work without a convention centre and neither could an entertainment complex. But put them together, and it does. The same would be true for our other plans,” he said.

Briere also noted WestCoast wants to use the provincial government’s just-announced brownfield rehabilitation fund to help should any environmental costs associated with re-developing industrial or other types of contaminated lands come up.

WestCoast also has a specific vision for its residential plans, higher density as opposed to single-family dwellings.

“We see this as a time when people will want to move back to Terrace or to move here in the first place who will want condos and townhouses more than single family homes. People who may not want a yard. People who can then walk to work and who will want to walk to restaurants and stores,” said Briere.

No comments: