Housing options, including affordable housing opportunities, could be possible on lands originally planned as a second golf course in Three Sisters Mountain Village.
QuantumPlace managing principal Chris Ollenberger, representing the development company, recently presented on future commercial opportunities available in future phases of Three Sisters.
During the presentation, Ollenberger addressed the fact that the second golf course planned for Three Sisters is no longer moving forward and the company is looking at other uses for those lands.
In addition to potential commercial space in an expanded resort core area, he said the lands could accommodate more housing for the community and that includes the potential for affordable housing options.
“I think there is enough golf in the valley to fulfill the businesses’ needs for it,” Ollenberger said. “Now, if we can figure out how we can all use this land in a more productive manner, we will be better off.”
The unfinished golf course lands are part of the Resort Centre area structure plan, approved in 2004. In order to change the proposed use for the lands, an amendment to the plan is required and Ollenberger said he expects that to be submitted to the municipality by fall.
The golf course was almost completely developed, he said, with 15 of the holes finished when the overall development company went into receivership in 2009.
While the area to the east of Three Sisters Creek is largely left undeveloped due to steep creek challenges, the golf course lands remaining are proposed for residential development and an expanded resort centre commercial area.
“There could be an opportunity for employee housing, affordable housing, market housing, visitor accommodation and all those things that were not possible when this land was initially thought of as a golf course,” he said. “So in that respect, you could call it new found land for the town of Canmore when it comes to housing and I think that presents a pretty interesting opportunity for all of us.”
With additional commercial square footage, estimated at a potential of 55,000 square metres in the resort core, 47,750 square metres in Stewart Creek and 93,500 square metres in Smith Creek, it means the possibility of 3,000 more employees; depending on what actually gets built between office, retail, industrial and other commercial opportunities. The ASP includes provisions to provide employee housing as commercial development proceeds.
Proposed changes expected for the area structure plan for the resort centre include an expansion of the commercial core – something Ollenberger welcomed as a change.
“I was around when this area structure plan was done in 2004 and the amount of area occupied by the golf course was always a challenge,” he said. “We didn’t have enough land in the resort centre to form a critical mass.”
Plans for the resort centre are unchanged from 2004, he added, with the focus of the development being health and wellness as a core value. Conceptual drawings show a pedestrian-oriented commercial area with hotels, retail, food and beverage opportunities.
“We are looking at a number of commercial opportunities in the resort centre and that remains where the core of the activity is going to be,” he said, adding there is interest in a major spa facility as part of the health and wellness theme.
Ollenberger was at the Learn at Lunch event to gauge interest from local businesses that may want to open a second, or third, location in the resort core area. With interest in Three Sisters high, he said, the challenge as a developer is to assemble the resort centre as a cohesive package and that includes already established businesses in the community.
“The resort centre is not about where is our piece of pie, but how do we all grow the pie bigger for everyone in the town of Canmore?” he said. “We are not a competitor to Main Street, but we are actually complementary to it and build upon it.”
Regardless of where on the unfinished golf course development is proposed, the concern in the community around undermining of the property is expected to be an issue for council and the public.
Ollenberger responded to those concerns by saying the geotechnical information Three Sisters has now compared to 2004 has refined the mapping of the mined area to give more detail. In theory, he said, all undermined land can be successfully mitigated, but it depends on how much money you are willing to spend.
“For undermining, the real restraint is money,” he said. “It may not be financially viable, but it is technically possible.
“There are areas on the unfinished golf course I would avoid because that is the cheapest and easiest road to follow – just avoid them. There are other areas where it is quite feasible to build on top, as long as you hire the right people and know what you are doing.”
