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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2015
City partners with port on ferry project I
Lighting lives
Carol Ward, Hospice helper, and Chris Reeves, with other volunteers, set up Celebrate a Life trees in Country Club Centre Friday. People can write names of loved ones on cards to hang on the trees in remembrance until Dec. 21. Donations to Nanaimo Community Hospice Society are optional and glowing angel globes are also available to decorate home Christmas trees or fireplace mantels for a small donation.
REQUEST FOR proposals seeks proponent for foot-passenger ferry operator. BY TAMARA CUNNINGHAM THE NEWS BULLETIN
He will be looking for answers, including if the city should be going after a hotel and what developers are interested in building. “Previously we put it out and in reality, we essentially sole-sourced to developers to build a convention centre hotel and we’ve given them all these perks to get them to do it and even with all the perks that we’ve given them we haven’t been successful,” he said. “To me that says something and to me this will make it clear.” The mayor said the project will still be private and land would be sold with the intent developers will build a hotel.
The City of Nanaimo will join the search for passenger ferry operators, despite an earlier agreement with Island Ferries. Nanaimo Port Authority and the city will team up on a request for proposals for a foot-passenger ferry between Nanaimo and Vancouver. The decision comes two weeks after the port authority announced it would seek foot ferry proposals, recognizing community demand for the service and other potential operators than Island Ferries. Island Ferries’ lease to use city property for its catamarans has also expired. According to Tracy Samra, interim city manager, the port board and city council met Monday and key in the decision to join forces was the acknowledgment that neither party will succeed in isolation. Bernie Dumas, president and CEO of the port authority, said other parties are interested. It’s been five years and Island Ferries is still trying to get its financial package in play, noting the company will have an opportunity to participate in the RFP process. Island Ferries spokesman David Marshall said this joint RFP puts in jeopardy its work to secure a final investor, which the port and city were aware of, adding it respects the city’s decision and plans to look at the RFP. The city and port will discuss a location for the ferry service and reach out to other communities, like Parksville and Duncan, to talk about the service.
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CHRIS BUSH THE NEWS BULLETIN
Council seeks requests for proposals for empty hotel property BY TAMARA CUNNINGHAM THE NEWS BULLETIN
The City of Nanaimo will hold a competition for the right to build a conference centre hotel downtown, with “significant interest” in the project. The municipality announced Tuesday it will send out a request for proposals in the spring for developers interested in building a hotel at 100 Gordon St. A market study will also be updated to provide council and developers with a better understanding of opportunities and challenges to develop the property adjacent to the Vancouver Island Conference Centre.
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The RFP, decided on in an in-camera meeting Monday, is a response to a level of interest in the property not seen before, said Mayor Bill McKay, adding multiple, predominantly international parties are interested because of changing market conditions, willingness to find investment outside China, and promotion of the hotel project by the Nanaimo Economic Development Corporation. A number of people have asked for letters of intent to deal exclusively with them and there’s hearsay of different visions, including a hotel-condominium mix, according to McKay, who says council wants to see exactly what projects are
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being proposed and pick the vision it feels fits best for the community. He also believes this process will be more transparent than just doing a singlesource bidder. “There’s a number of parties that the city and NEDC have been cultivating for some time. Now it’s time for them to get their thinking caps on and envision something that we think is going to be successful for both them and us. Something that we’re going to be proud of,” said McKay, who believes there could be up to four proposals. Coun. Gord Fuller said the process puts the onus on developers instead of the city begging for ideas.
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