Pamela Anderson to fast-track her $50-million B.C. property plans
VANCOUVER ISLAND — Pamela Anderson is fast-tracking her $50-million waterfront development in Ladysmith, saying it's time to strike with the economy in recovery and the province attracting a global audience for the 2010 Olympic Games.
The Canadian actress shunned the press as she huddled with key project players this week at a coffee house in Shoal Point, but made it clear to her project team the 83-unit condominium and townhouse development on the land where she grew up should be kicked into gear.
Earlier this month, news reports said the Arcadia at Oyster Bay project by Anderson and former NHL player Geoff Courtnall would be on hold until real estate markets improved.
"She was quite adament that we have to take advantage of the Olympics, with so many people from all over the world coming here or watching it on TV," Courtnall said yesterday. "And the economy seems to be settling down. We're going to move forward."
Project lead Peter Laughlin of Wessex Property in Victoria confirmed he has called project architects to start drawings on the form that Anderson wants the buildings will take.
A marketing plan will also be launched immediately to roll out in the fall in time for the Olympics in February and a show home will be built on the site and open by next spring.
Arcadia will have five- and six-story condo towers, with 26 units each, as well as 11 townhouses and 20 waterfront homes at the northern end of Chemainus Road, just off the Island Highway at Ladysmith. It's the site where Anderson's family once operated a summer camp for kids.
Laughlin said most of the units will be priced in the $400,000 range with a maxiumum of $700,000 for the waterfront.
Courtnall said construction plans will be shifted to start building the townhouses in the middle of the property — units with price points he said are likely to sell quickly in a recovering market — and then to the waterfront. As building conditions improve, work will then shift to the towers.
Laughlin said construction costs have slipped between 12 and 18 per cent from recent highs, "creating better margins to develop a quality project."
Ladysmith council approved two key permits last August that allows the project to move forward, but additional approval will be needed as the development is refined.
"Pam and Geoff are very clear that although it is their first joint development, it won't be their last," said Laughlin. "Their names are on it and they want to make it a showpiece."