Derrick Penner
Sun
Vancouver Olympics organizers have cut a $27-million cheque to the builders of the athletes village in Whistler for the 2010 Games, which will set crews loose this summer to start digging foundations and servicing the site.
The money represents the majority of the organizing committee’s financial contribution to the venue, and was released after it signed an official venue agreement with the province, Resort Municipality of Whistler, and Whistler 2020 Development Corp. at the end of March.
That agreement was the final step in turning what was to be a temporary village for 2,500 athletes during the Olympics into a permanent, $130-million neighbourhood development for 1,000 local Whistler workers.
The corporation did site-clearing work last year and will move into site servicing and foundations this year, with most of the construction of the 175 to 200 separate buildings to take place in 2008 and 2009.
“We’re in good shape,” Eric Martin, chairman of Whistler 2020 Development, said in an interview.
Martin added that Whistler jettisoned the original venue agreement that it had with the predecessor to the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games when it started leaning toward creating permanent housing out of the temporary facility.
Whistler has long had a policy of housing 75 per cent of the workforce that runs the resort inside the village, a policy that Martin said would have been under threat if more below-market housing was built within what is otherwise an ultra-expensive real estate market.
Vanoc’s contribution to the project is $35 million, $6.5 million of which has already been turned over to Whistler 2020 Development and was used to begin work.
Martin said $2 million of Vanoc funds have been held back until the completed village of duplexes, triplexes, quadruplexes with some multi-storey apartment-style buildings is turned over to house 2,500 athletes during the Games.
Martin added that the corporation will pre-sell the development prior to the Games, and the units can be delivered to owners as early as June 2010.
Nejat Sarp, vice-president of accommodations and villages for Vanoc, said Olympic organizers liked the idea of helping to build a permanent neighbourhood because it leaves a better legacy for the community and helps Vanoc reach some of its goals for environmental sustainability.
Sarp noted that temporary accommodation would have left a large vacant site behind, which would take a long time to rehabilitate.
Now, developers for the site are aiming for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification for the village, which Sarp said could be a first under a pilot project.
“Vanoc’s vision has always been to ensure that when the Games are all said and done, there’s a legacy,” Sarp said. “While [achieving] that vision, we have to be sensitive that we’ve got to be supportive of communities on a long-term basis.”
© The Vancouver Sun 2007