Plans for a new public campground in the Shuswap may have been dashed.
A purchase offer on the former Waterway Houseboats property by the District of Sicamous Development Corporation (DOSDC) is no longer on the table after a competing bid from a Calgary-based company was approved by the BC Supreme Court.
The property, located at 1 Meryvn Road, on the shore of Mara Lake south of Sicamous’ town centre, is up for sale as part of the receivership process initiated by CIBC against the houseboat rental company in June.
The DOSDC, which is owned by the District of Sicamous, submitted a $2 million purchase offer for the 16.33 acre property in late November. The offer was approved by the receiver.
Do you have something to say about the Development Corporation's offer to purchase the former Waterway Houseboats site? Council wants to hear from you! We encourage you to share your opinion on this subject. The link to the feedback form is here: https://t.co/x9OffyaVsZ
— District of Sicamous (@DOSicamous) December 5, 2019
The DOSDC intended to develop the property into a recreation area, including a public beach, park, boat launch and 75 RV and camp sites.
Read More: Sicamous plans to buy former Waterway Houseboats property, build campground
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The DOSDC received notice on Dec. 13 that a competing bid of $2.6 million, submitted by Checkpoint Developments Ltd., was going before the court for consideration on Monday, Dec. 16. The competing bid was for the real estate and other items formerly owned by Waterway.
A Dec. 19 report published by the receiver notes that along with the $2 million offer from the DOSDC for the purchase of the real estate, a parallel offer for items on the property was submitted by Able Auctions Ltd. An earlier report states Able’s offer beat three other would-be liquidators with a guarantee the receiver would receive a minimum of $575,000 for the saleable chattel held by Waterway, as well as a split for any sale proceeds exceeding $650,000, with 75 per cent going to the receiver and 25 per cent going to Able.
Read More: More than $13 million owed to creditors by Waterway Houseboats
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The Dec. 19 report says the offer from Checkpoint was not monetarily superior to the combined offer by the DOSDC and Able. It states a single purchaser for the real estate and other items might result in no site clean-up costs being incurred due to unsold assets remaining after the liquidation.
The DOSDC and the District of Sicamous were granted five days to consider modifying their original offer; they met on Dec. 18 to discuss their options and also invited Checkpoint to discuss their plans for the property. According to the DOSDC, the development firm shares their vision for repurposing the lands.
On Dec. 20, the B.C. Supreme Court approved the sale of Waterway’s lands and other items to Checkpoint.
“Moving forward, the DOSDC and the DOS look forward to working with Checkpoint Developments in redeveloping these lands for its future,” a statement from the DOSDC reads.
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