Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

H.O.M.E. and Holborn may team up

Discussions are in place for temporary housing project to go on future tennis resort
1510home
Looking for a H.O.M.E. A Whistler committee is looking for solutions to the local housing crunch, which was heightened when Shoe String Lodge closed two years ago.

A new site is being eyed up to situate a neighbourhood of temporary modular homes: the Holborn property.

The property is serviced, zoned for housing and close to the village, and could be an ideal locale to house 250 seasonal workers from next fall through the Olympics.

“We are obviously pursuing all options and pursuing them vigorously,” said Louise Lundy, president of the Whistler Chamber of Commerce, which is working with the H.O.M.E. (House Our Many Employees) committee to help find a solution to Whistler’s housing crunch.

“This one came up. It is quite a small site, but it is a great place — no question — and a fabulous opportunity. I am going to pursue it.”

The Holborn group have offered 1.5 acres of their site, which currently includes the Whistler Racquet Club, to the H.O.M.E. committee at a price of $1 for two years.

Developer Jimmy Yap said Holborn decided to approach the H.O.M.E. committee after attending a heated council meeting on Feb. 18, which saw over 50 business members attend to hear a H.O.M.E. presentation to council.

“Basically I saw a need for it, so I made an offer. It is as simple as that,” said Yap.

“I felt that the community really needed some form of temporary housing, and our lands are already zoned, so it will expedite the whole process.”

Yap called the municipality the next day with his offer, and last week representatives from the municipality, the chamber and Holborn met to discuss the proposal. The groups remain in discussions.

The Holborn site is slated to become a new tennis resort, seniors’ housing complex and market-housing complex following the Games in 2010. Until that time, however, some of the land will not be used, making the modular home neighbourhood a perfect fit.

“The location that they have specifically offered would be used for construction staging, so they would just be having trucks and stuff sitting there for the next little while,” explained Lundy.

Holborn has also offered expertise from their site development office to help get the H.O.M.E. project off the ground.

The Holborn site proposal comes at a time when the H.O.M.E. committee is also seriously looking at another area of town to put their modular homes, trailers or modified containers. The committee has been in discussions with Steve Bayly, the co-owner of a four-acre plot of land across from Mons Road, for several months.

Bayly’s site also provides a viable location for the temporary housing since it is flat and close to transit. And, Bayly has offered to have the site serviced by fall.

“We are definitely considering the Bayly site as well,” said Lundy.

“Its advantage is that it is four acres, which gives us a better opportunity for a no-stackable option,” she added, referring to the fact that modular housing on the Holborn site would have to be stacked to accommodate over 200 beds on 1.5 acres.

One of the major pitfalls with the Bayly land, however, is that it is currently zoned for a single-family estate home. And even if the rezoning process is expedited, it would likely take more than a year to complete.

“What I did hear at the council meeting on the 18 th from the mayor was that the rezoning process could really take some time,” said Lundy.

“That makes the Bayly site much more challenging in that it might not happen for the winter of 2008, and we really have to make it work for the next winter.”

Council showed strong support for the Holborn site at Monday night’s council meeting, with Mayor Ken Melamed even going as far as to say: “We believe the location is superior to the other one.”

Melamed said that one of the advantages with putting the neighbourhood on the Holborn site is that the developer will have to begin construction on the property by the spring of 2010, the same time the temporary housing units are supposed to be removed.

“My concern at the beginning (of the H.O.M.E. proposal) was that this be temporary, and in this case, the developer has a need to remove that housing to complete the development,” said Melamed.

“It provides the security that council was looking for.”

As to what Holborn has to gain by allowing the temporary housing on their site, Melamed said: “One of the things the developer is quite aware of is building community support for the project, and this will generate that community support because it was very clear that night two weeks ago that there is a high interest in providing this temporary housing.”

“They are already providing two important community amenities, and this may help (ease) some of the community’s discomfort with the timing of both of those facilities,” he said, referring to the fact that the tennis court will not be complete until 2014 and the seniors’ housing until 2016.

To see if the Holborn site is even feasible, the chamber has sent out requests for proposals to different modular home suppliers. The bids should be in by March 14. The chamber will also discuss the Holborn site at its March 11 board meeting.

Lundy stressed that the H.O.M.E. committee is still looking at other sites around Whistler, including Bayly’s land, for their temporary neighbourhood. She added, “I think it is important to note that the chamber is an advocacy group, and we are not in the housing business.

“There is a certain point at which we will be able to stick handle this project, but then it has to be picked up by somebody, whether it is the business community or a private business that might see a business opportunity here.”