It has been a tough week for seasonal housing in Whistler.
One week after the Phoenix Board announced that the temporary housing project was stalled because supplier SG Blocks was short $3 million, the board has now decided to scrap the American supplier entirely from the project.
“It was a really tough decision because we want to hold out hope, but we just felt SG Blocks was not going to be able to pull it off,” said Louise Lundy, director of the Whistler Phoenix Housing Corporation.
“There just comes a point when you have to make a decision and move forward.”
In the meantime, several other modular housing suppliers have come forward to see if they can help string together the Phoenix project, which was intended to house 308 Whistler employees between November 2008 and through the 2010 Olympics.
The Phoenix Board will evaluate all proposals received by Friday, Sept. 5 to see if any look feasible. But if nothing concrete materializes, said Lundy, the project will be proclaimed dead and the Phoenix Board will be disbanded.
“We would not have any surprises, and we would have to have absolute smooth sailing right up to the occupancy date in order to make something work,” explained Lundy.
“We really do not have much time to spend on this. We have already invested all the money we had to pursue options, and the timelines are causing us a lot of challenges. The business community has to come on, and they have to make some decisions about what to do for housing.”
Lundy added that the new supplier would have to have a letter from their banking institution showing financial commitment.
“We don’t want to raise hope, and we don’t want to waste time. We would only be talking with someone who is big enough to be able to carry something like this off and do it quickly.”
With the housing project that was intended to ease Whistler’s accommodation crunch now up in the air, the Phoenix Board has alerted all participating businesses. In an e-mail sent Tuesday night, the board stated that all businesses will receive a full refund of their deposits if the project is canceled.
Chris Quinlan, owner of coffee shop Behind the Grind, called the latest update on the Phoenix housing situation “unfortunate.”
“It is very disappointing because of all the work that has been done,” said Quinlan, who was signed up for seven beds in the project.
“I have never seen an entire community — from the municipality to the business community — come together to make this thing go, and then to have it come apart like this.”
Quinlan said he now has to secure other accommodation, which he has already promised to his staff.
Kennedy Raine, owner of The Great Glass Elevator candy shop, added she was shocked and disappointed to hear the news.
“It was a really exciting project, and I was really excited by how everyone came together and made it happen.”
She said that she does not know what she’ll do if she is not able to find housing for the two employees she had signed up for the Phoenix project.
“I am just about to have a baby, so I am not expecting to have to work myself, but that is usually the solution when you are short employees.
“We are lucky enough that we have a spare room in our house. Potentially that might be a solution for this winter, and we’ll just have to look at other options for the next winter.”
And Scott Taber, general manager of the Four Seasons Resort Whistler, said his company will continue to look for other places for the employees they planned to house in Phoenix. But he is still hoping the housing project will happen.
“I have confidence in the community, and I have confidence in the leaders of our community,” he said.
Taber added he is concerned by the entire accommodation situation and thinks it will likely get worse as the Olympics draw closer.
“There are many homeowners that are still holding off for that Olympic bonus, and I would just hope that they really think about how much they can gain renting in those three weeks in February versus 24 months of renting to an employee who is contributing to the community and making this a great place.
“I think as you talk to people in the community you will probably find that those big rentals for a house in February 2010 are not coming. They are not going to happen. And those homeowners are putting our employees in jeopardy by holding out for that and not really taking a longer-term perspective.”
Meanwhile, SG Blocks has not called quits on the Phoenix project just yet.
Managing partner Bruce Russell said the company has received “favourable financial” news in the past 24 hours and wants to see if they can still pull off building the housing units by the beginning of this winter.
“One of the things we are wondering is if there is a way to continue the project so that we can still keep the Phoenix idea alive, but on a little different basis,” said Russell on Wednesday morning, right after hearing the news from the Phoenix Board.
“I mean, we haven’t had time to really get down to it, but all the economics are there, and we think we have made significant progress on all fronts here. Could we manage this on a different basis? I don’t know, but we are exploring it.”
Russell was not able to go into detail on the latest advances on SG Block’s financial situation but explained that money is no longer what is holding the project back.
He added that if the SG Blocks decided to go ahead with the project, they could have the modular housing units up-and-ready to live in within 90 days.
“We have to understand if the commitments are still there to move forward. We don’t need to finalize things, but we just need to know if the commitments are there.”
SG Blocks first alerted the Phoenix Board to their financial troubles in mid-August, and the board began helping them look for financial solutions. By last week, it began to look like a resolution would not be found in time for occupancy to begin by Nov. 1, as planned.
The Phoenix Board, now separated entirely from the Whistler Chamber of Commerce, is composed of representatives from Whistler-Blackcomb, small and medium businesses, the Resort Municipality of Whistler and the Whistler Housing Authority.
