Across the water from Ladysmith is a tranquil marina and inn. At one point in time, it was known as the Mañana Lodge, more recently Page Point, and now under new ownership, it has become Raven Point Inn and Marina.
Daniel Maloney, development manager and architect for Raven Point, has been living in Ladysmith full time for the past year. He has been active in engaging with the community in the design and planning of updating the property and marina.
“We’ve been cleaning up the place, fixing up the inn. We’ve revamped the inn completely, we’ve revamped the old wing, and we’re also going to be doing some upgrades on the marina to get it up to the point where it’s fully functional and able to service the bigger boats,” Maloney said.
In 2020, Raven Point will apply for rezoning of the property to build 16 high-end oceanfront condos. Maloney plans to build the condos with cutting edge technology that would reduce emissions and limit utility bills.
The Inn itself will have six private rooms. There is also a section called the old wing, which is a larger room with a private kitchen for guests that want to be more private and self sufficient. In the future, Maloney said they may build small float houses so guests can stay down on the water.
The final stage of the plan is in 2021 when the marina will be fully upgraded. Maloney plans to expand the marina to accommodate super yachts that come to Ladysmith from Victoria, Vancouver, and Seattle. Some came to the marina in 2019, but Raven Point did not have the capacity. Maloney hopes with the expanded capacity that the marina could also become a Harbour Air stop.
“The plan — at the end of the day — is to ensure that we provide not only a lifestyle through the luxury Condo Units but also a warm and welcome experience for the local community to enjoy through the restaurant, Inn and most of all the marina,” Maloney said.
Through conservations with the community, Maloney understands the history of the property, and how important it has been to people in the surrounding area.
“There’s all this historical background that we want to use as a platform to build the new, but still keeping part of that history. That’s why we’re not doing too much to the inn, we’re going to enhance the inn on the outside, enhance the restaurant, because the buildings are old, and they need a little bit of a face lift,” Maloney said.
Although the property is surrounded by water, accessing clean drinking water has been a challenge for the property throughout its history. Maloney took an innovative approach, and implemented designs for a water treatment plant to supply the property with adequate water drawn from the ocean and a sewer treatment plant with a fully operational pump out station to service the property and the marina. The plant sources seawater from the strait, and desalinates the water so it can be used to meet every water demand of the inn and marina.
Both plants were approved by the Vancouver Island Health Authority in 2011. Upgrades will be required for the re-instatement of the permits. The system will provide the property with sufficient water pumped from the ocean. There will be an onsite mechanical engineer to oversee the system and ensure it functions smoothly.
Maloney said he plans to submit applications to the Cowichan Valley Regional District before the end of the year. He hopes to have all approvals in place sometime early in 2020 and reopen Raven Point for the public.
“When we get to the point where we achieve this, I think we’ll really have reached our goals by providing services to extend peoples experience and lifestyle both on land and in the marina. We’ve spoken to quite a few of the community members around us, and everybody’s pretty excited,” Maloney said. “This little place is going forward, and it’s going to be developed for the better and allowing the community to experience memorial moments from the past and the future.”
