How much is it worth to get to the waterfront?
For the majority of City of North Vancouver council, the answer is $6.8 million.
Council voted 4-2 to buy 15 Chesterfield Place in order to ease the transition from the SeaBus to the west side of the city while allowing the city to, “creatively and strategically” plan for Waterfront Park, according to Coun. Linda Buchanan.
“It’s not very often that key pieces of waterfront property come up for sale,” she noted.
Spending $6.8 million for the site, which is currently occupied by a commercial office building, is a “crazy idea from start to finish,” countered Coun. Rod Clark.
With the SeaBus maintenance yard to the south, calling the land waterfront property “is a stretch,” according to Clark.
“You’re going to be looking through a parking lot and maintenance facility,” he promised.
Mayor Darrell Mussatto disagreed. The land will provide a physical and visual connection, Mussatto said, noting that city staff has had the land circled as a “key connection” since the early 1990s.
With only a couple of parked cars used by SeaBus staff on the site, the swath will “feel like a connection” to the water, according to Mussatto.
Acquiring the property is also intended to “eliminate the city’s reliance on the strata of 33 Chesterfield Place to allow restricted passage over their property,” according to a city staff report.
Coun. Don Bell agreed with Mussatto, noting that while they’re not making any more land, they’re certainly not making any more waterfront land.
“While the price may seem high at the time, in the long-term it turns out to be a good acquisition,” he said.
Coun. Pam Bookham differed. “The price is just too much for the small benefits that would come to the city,” she said.
Both Bookham and Clark made a case for spending the money to buy parkland elsewhere in the city.
Failing to buy the property would be a missed opportunity, according to Coun. Holly Back.
“It will only go up, it’s waterfront,” she said.
While the city is not in the business of property speculation, Mussatto said the city might pocket a few dollars if 15 Chesterfield Place doesn’t end up factoring into the city’s waterfront plans.
“I understand there were a number of bidders on this property. I would imagine that this property will only increase in value,” he said.
The city is expected to mount a public consultation on the use of the land at some point in the next few years.
“It is not known what the final configuration of the site will be,” a city staff report noted, explaining that the land may be crucial in transforming the area into a “dynamic regional tourist attraction.”
In the near future, the city will manage the building at 15 Chesterfield, collecting rent from four tenants until their leases expire and using that cash to top up the development cost charge reserve fund. As of Dec. 31, 2015, the city had more than $23 million socked away in the fund – including the money that will be spent on the Chesterfield Place project.
The motion passed 4-2 with Couns. Clark and Bookham opposed.
Coun. Craig Keating did not attend the meeting.
