North Vancouver’s iconic Grouse Mountain resort will be sold within days.
The Globe and Mail broke an exclusive story Wednesday evening, detailing the potential sale of the resort property to China Minsheng Investment Group, which is connected to the Chinese central government, for $200 million. The Globe cited “sources familiar with the transaction.”
On Thursday, Grouse’s management issued a statement in response.
“We can confirm that there has been an agreement reached with a potential purchaser on a pending transaction. The transaction is expected to close in the coming days,” it read. “While the transaction is being finalized, we are unable to disclose further information about the buyer. At this time, we can say that the current transaction will see no changes to staff, management or operations.”
District of North Vancouver Mayor Richard Walton said the district will be watching closely and eager to meet with the new owners. Most importantly, he said, they will be making sure the new owners understand where Grouse fits within the larger community
“Grouse has been, if you like, the backyard ski hill for the Vancouver area, gosh, going back almost 100 years,” he said, adding that the McLaughlin family continued a long tradition of investing and improving the resort while maintaining a sense of local ownership.
“If we’re changing into another era right now, then obviously I think the concerns in the community would be that the new owners would recognize the fact there’s a sense of community ownership, and certainly access to the North Shore Mountains is broadly enjoyed by people in the district and Metro Vancouver for hiking and recreation.”
When Grouse was put on the market last year, district staff prepared a report available to all prospective buyers outlining the zoning and land use regulations. Marketing material at the time of the listing mentioned the potential for a mountain-top hotel, spa facilities and lift-serviced mountain biking, the Globe story noted. Some of those improvements would require a rezoning. Others wouldn’t. But the district would still have to work closely with the resort, as access to the mountain at peak times is becoming notoriously difficult, Walton said, pointing to last year’s sunny Boxing Day mayhem as an example.
“It was like half of Vancouver was up there. We actually had to intervene with the police, controlling cars that were going up beyond the Cleveland Dam parking lot,” he said.
Allowing mountain bikes up to the top could also have impacts on the local trail network outside Grouse’s property, Walton added.
“If you had all those folks coming down into an engineered set of mountain bike trails that is largely built by volunteer work and maintained by the district and the (North Shore Mountain Bike Association), that could very significantly change the character of Fromme Mountain. That of course has to be a concern because we are the stewards of that.”
The fact that the potential buyer is linked to the Chinese government may raise eyebrows for some, Walton noted, but he added there are many resource companies owned by Chinese capital operating in Canada that operate in a socially responsible way.
“I guess the jury’s out on that,” he said.
Grouse employs upwards of 800 workers at peak season.
