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Franz’s Trail opening for business

First phase of Creekside development nears completion At the base of the Creekside Gondola on opening day for Whistler Mountain, a girl with a back-pack coffee dispenser hands out free samples of Starbucks specialty coffees to the cold skiers and sno

First phase of Creekside development nears completion

At the base of the Creekside Gondola on opening day for Whistler Mountain, a girl with a back-pack coffee dispenser hands out free samples of Starbucks specialty coffees to the cold skiers and snowboarders.

Just a few hundred feet further down the walkway, over a bridge and into an area that has been under construction for more than two years, Starbucks Coffee is at last open for business. The display cases are fully stocked with baked goods, and coffee-making apparatus line the walls behind the employees.

"This is the calm before the storm," said Starbucks manager Sheila Chateen. "We’re hoping that today is going to be our big day. We want people to know we’re here, and that we’re open for business.

"We’ve been working hard to get ready, and now we’re excited to finally be open."

Starbucks opened its doors to the public on Nov. 25, the first new business to open in the Franz’s Trail commercial development since Canski opened its doors in 2001.

Kidz Corner at 49 th Parallel, a clothing and toys store for children, followed Starbucks with a grand opening on Nov. 28.

Although there are still a few vacancies, almost all of the retail and commercial spaces in Franz’s Trail will open in the next few weeks.

"We’re aiming for a Dec. 20 grand opening," said Eric Gerlach, vice president of development for the north-west region in Intrawest’s resort development group.

"Not all (retailers) will be up and running, but that’s the date we’re going with to bring people down here and let them know what’s opening. We decided to set a date to put a little pressure on ourselves to get things as wrapped up as possible for the season."

The commercial area is named after Franz Wilhelmsen, president of Garibaldi Lifts Ltd., the company which founded ski operations on Whistler Mountain.

Although the majority of retail and office space is occupied and accessible, the Franz’s Trail project won’t be completed this winter.

All but two levels of the parking garage are already open, and by mid-December the goal is to open the entire parkade with 1,276 Whistler-Blackcomb parking spots and more than 100 commercial stalls.

The walls surrounding the construction site will be taken down in some areas and moved back in others, creating a walkway and restoring bus service along the North side of Lake Placid Road.

The centrepiece for the project, the gateway building planned for the corner of Highway 99 and Lake Placid Road, has been postponed until a tenant can be selected.

"It’s meant to be a very striking building, very aesthetic, that opens up the whole development," explained Gerlach. "The problem is that the building will function as a restaurant and that space needs to be tailored to meet the needs of the operator. At this point we don’t have that operator.

"We decided it was better to hold off until then and build it properly, rather than to have a building sit empty because it doesn’t quite meet a tenant’s needs."

Bryan Hawkey, the development manager, says they are talking with a number of prospective tenants, and they expect to have the space filled for next summer.

"We’re accepting proposals right now from potential operators, which could mean that we will be starting in as soon as spring," he said.

"Overall the search for tenants has gone well, and we’re happy that we’ve got a good mix of businesses, and that we’ve created a full-service area for the community, south of the village, that people can think of as theirs."

The list of retailers includes:

• Creekside Market – This 8,000 square foot market will include a full deli, bakery, and supermarket, and is expected to open in late December.

• Movie Gallery – A video and DVD sales and rental shop, expected to open at the end of January.

• The Herb Emporium – Herbal remedies and health products will be offered at this store, which is expected to open in late December.

• Gravity – This store offers clothing and products made from natural fibres such as hemp, as well as a counter offering juices and baked goods made from natural products. This is expected to open in late December, early January.

• Scotiabank – A full-service bank is expected to open in late January, early February.

• The Hub – The Hub is an Internet centre that also offers film processing, expected to open in early December.

• Subway – The second Whistler location for this sandwich franchise. Opening in late January.

Starbucks Coffee and Kidz Corner at 49 th Parallel are already open.

In addition to these retail stores, there will be an At Nature’s Door Real Estate Discovery Centre, which is expected to open in early December, and an Intrawest Real Estate Discovery Centre, which is expected to open in late December-early January.

Another addition to the site is a new Greyhound Bus Depot, which is expected to open in late January.

According to Gerlach, the municipality has expressed concerns with the project, and it is important to let people know exactly what’s happening with the development and why.

The RMOW’s approval for the Legends and First Track developments at Creekside base was linked to the construction of Franz’s Trail and the needed services it would provide to the Creekside area.

However, Franz’s Trail was slowed in development by the need to move Whistler Creek. Because of the ongoing cleanup of fuel contamination around the Petro Canada site, the Creek can’t be moved for a year or two – depending on how quickly the Petro Canada leak can be remediated.

Workers will only have a window of about two weeks in August – spawning season – to relocate the creek, which could push completion back even longer.

Intrawest has so far worked around that problem, but it won’t be able to completely finish the landscaping in and around Franz’s Trail until they can move the creek.

"What people are seeing from the highway now is not what the site will look like when it’s completed," said Gerlach. "The site will be greened up on a slope, like in the original rendering of the site."

Although there have been setbacks, Gerlach is confident that the majority of Franz’s Trail will be ready before Christmas.

"Everything is on schedule," said Gerlach. "We’re following an aggressive construction program, and doing our best in regards to the seasonality. We’re working in the snow, through the floods in October. We’re still pushing."

The October floods didn’t slow up work on the job site, but did cause delays as a number of workers were unable to get to work from their homes in Pemberton.