Post by admin on Jun 21, 2012 14:20:48 GMT -5
BIG BAY POINT —Ten years in the making, the Big Bay Point mega-marina is expected to open in the fall of 2014 under the name Friday Harbour, town council was told Wednesday.
“This will be a one of a kind community that will never be repeated on the shores of Lake Simcoe again,” Earl Rumm, chairperson of Geranium Corp. said. “I’m excited that the dream is now becoming a reality.”
The project, which is expected to be valued at $1.5 billion when it’s fully completed, will be the largest inland marina in Canada with 1,000 slips.
Friday Harbour is being marketed by Replay Resorts Inc., a Vancouver-based company that has worked with Whistler resorts in Alberta and Blue Mountain in Collingwood.
“This is a superb location in Innisfil,” Bill Green of Replay told council. “It’s always about location, location, location. It’s great to be able to focus on preserving and enhancing the natural environment but still be so close to the GO train.”
Units in the resort’s Marina Village will be on the market this fall, with a sales office opening at the Big Bay Point location.
The resort expects to have the first set of 2,000 multi-market residential units ready for occupants in the fall of 2014. They will start at about $250,000 each.
“This is currently the largest resort project under construction in North America,” Green said.
It is expected to take about 10 years to fully complete the resort, which will include an18-hole golf course and a 200-acre nature preserve.
Rumm and Green touted the massive economic spin offs for Innisfil once Friday Harbour is completed, including 1,000 permanent on site jobs and another 1,486 off site jobs.
“We’ve been listening carefully for 10 years to what the Innisfil community wants to see in an imaginative, all-season resort on the shores of one of Ontario’s greatest lakes. And we’ll continue to listen as Friday Harbour moves forward,” Rumm said.
Economic benefits of the resort include:
• a $1.5 billion investment once the resort is completed;
• $1.9 million in one time building permit fees;
• $56.5 million in one-time development charges for Innisfil, Simcoe County and local school boards;
• $4.4 million in annual taxes for Innisfil, with another $2.4 million going to Simcoe County every year.
The operators are working on digging and dredging the original marina basin, which has some area residents worried about silt entering Lake Simcoe and clouding private nearby beaches.
But town engineer Grant Shellswell said there should not be any flow into the lake because a special dam is being used to stop silt.
The mega-marina has gone through several rigourous environmental approval processes and was approved by the Ontario Municipal Board.
“The fact is that the resort will improve fish habitat in the area. The fact is it will improve water quality in the area by diverting future and existing phosphorus loading to a state of the art waste water treatment plant,” Geranium spokesperson Jim MacLean said.
“This will be a one of a kind community that will never be repeated on the shores of Lake Simcoe again,” Earl Rumm, chairperson of Geranium Corp. said. “I’m excited that the dream is now becoming a reality.”
The project, which is expected to be valued at $1.5 billion when it’s fully completed, will be the largest inland marina in Canada with 1,000 slips.
Friday Harbour is being marketed by Replay Resorts Inc., a Vancouver-based company that has worked with Whistler resorts in Alberta and Blue Mountain in Collingwood.
“This is a superb location in Innisfil,” Bill Green of Replay told council. “It’s always about location, location, location. It’s great to be able to focus on preserving and enhancing the natural environment but still be so close to the GO train.”
Units in the resort’s Marina Village will be on the market this fall, with a sales office opening at the Big Bay Point location.
The resort expects to have the first set of 2,000 multi-market residential units ready for occupants in the fall of 2014. They will start at about $250,000 each.
“This is currently the largest resort project under construction in North America,” Green said.
It is expected to take about 10 years to fully complete the resort, which will include an18-hole golf course and a 200-acre nature preserve.
Rumm and Green touted the massive economic spin offs for Innisfil once Friday Harbour is completed, including 1,000 permanent on site jobs and another 1,486 off site jobs.
“We’ve been listening carefully for 10 years to what the Innisfil community wants to see in an imaginative, all-season resort on the shores of one of Ontario’s greatest lakes. And we’ll continue to listen as Friday Harbour moves forward,” Rumm said.
Economic benefits of the resort include:
• a $1.5 billion investment once the resort is completed;
• $1.9 million in one time building permit fees;
• $56.5 million in one-time development charges for Innisfil, Simcoe County and local school boards;
• $4.4 million in annual taxes for Innisfil, with another $2.4 million going to Simcoe County every year.
The operators are working on digging and dredging the original marina basin, which has some area residents worried about silt entering Lake Simcoe and clouding private nearby beaches.
But town engineer Grant Shellswell said there should not be any flow into the lake because a special dam is being used to stop silt.
The mega-marina has gone through several rigourous environmental approval processes and was approved by the Ontario Municipal Board.
“The fact is that the resort will improve fish habitat in the area. The fact is it will improve water quality in the area by diverting future and existing phosphorus loading to a state of the art waste water treatment plant,” Geranium spokesperson Jim MacLean said.