Nestled among the splash pool, ice rink and concert stage pencilled in for North Vancouver’s waterfront may be a boutique hotel, following a unanimous vote from council in July.
The hotel will add to the vibrancy of the Shipyards with zero cost to the city’s taxpayers, according to community development director Gary Penway.
“We’ll be making money out of this project every year and so it’ll be a revenue generator for the city,” Penway said.
The approximately 62-room hotel – located roughly in the middle of the waterfront – will contribute to the financial viability of the approximately $35-million Shipyards project, according to city staff.
The project is a partnership between the city and Quay Property Management.
The hotel will be a boon to business, according to Coun. Holly Back.
“The activity on the waterfront has a huge economic spinoff to all of our businesses in North Vancouver,” she said. “A boutique hotel would be amazing on that spot.”
Coun. Linda Buchanan agreed, citing a study that found travellers and tourists tend to spend between five to 10 times more than locals.
The hotel will likely occupy the top two floors of a four-storey building on Lot 5. The building will be complemented with 64,000 square feet of commercial space.
The privatization of public space was a primary issue for Coun. Pam Bookham.
“How can we be sure that the city is getting some value … for the loss of that public use of the space?” she asked.
The site, which the city acquired in 2006 in the hopes of building a National Maritime Museum, would never have been an open public space, according to city staff.
“Institutional spaces typically aren’t very vibrant,” Penway said, explaining that restaurants and shops should animate the area.
Council will likely see a detailed design of the project in October or November, according to city staff, but that wasn’t soon enough for Coun. Rod Clark.
“I have no problem in moving this forward this evening, but there has to be adequate time for public input going forward,” he said. “Council in its wisdom put me on the advisory design panel a number of years ago and I learned a little bit about architecture, so I’m eager to use that knowledge.”
There is a growing demand to see the Shipyards project completed, according to Mayor Darrell Mussatto.
Rather than complaints the project is being rushed, Mussatto said he frequently hears people saying: “Get on with it.”
A July 18 public hearing on rezoning the site to allow for a hotel attracted zero members of the public.
The Pinnacle Hotel in Lower Lonsdale has 105 hotel rooms, but that isn’t enough to meet demand, according to Mussatto.
The ownership of the new hotel will be determined by Quay Property Management.
The project is tentatively slated for completion by the fall of 2018.
