Whistler Blackcomb touts major investment
Developments pegged at $345M
Whistler Blackcomb Holdings Inc. has announced plans for what it calls its largest investment in the company’s history: an estimated $345-million investment that includes a new lift, an indoor adventure centre, a new village at the foot of Blackcomb Mountain, two real estate developments and an indoor water-based adventure centre at Blackcomb’s upper bases.
The enhancements are to be rolled out in three phases to “further solidify and enhance the company’s reputation as one of the world’s greatest four-season mountain resorts,” the company said in a release late Tuesday.
The new enhancements, called Renaissance, will “further diversify our revenue and enhance the activities available for our guests while elevating Whistler Blackcomb’s core skiing, mountain biking and sightseeing experiences,” Whistler Blackcomb president and CEO Dave Brownlie said in a statement.
According to the release, Phase 1 of the plan includes an estimated $90-million to $100-million investment in new mountain adventure experiences. There would also be an expansion of the Whistler Mountain Bike Park into the Creekside zone, including 50 kilometres of new downhill mountain biking trails.
Phase 2 includes an estimated $105-million to $115-million investment in a new day lodge and snow school facility within the adventure centre on Blackcomb Mountain, a two-storey parking complex at Blackcomb’s upper Base 2 area, and other infrastructure projects to lay the foundation for Renaissance Phase 3, which includes the development and sale of around 60 ski-in ski-out townhomes totalling about 160,000 net salable square feet.
Phase 3 also includes at least $140 million worth of investment in Blackcomb’s base area in the Upper Village.
Whistler Blackcomb said Renaissance is subject to a number of conditions, including municipal and provincial government approvals, and the completion of consultations with the Squamish and Lil’wat First Nations. The company estimates the construction period for phases 1 and 2 could last five years.