CATCHING A BIG WAVE Surf ’s up—and so is real estate—in Canada’s closest reference to the California coast: the Sea to Sky corridor between Vancouver and Whistler. By Steve Threndyle
“Everyone remembers their first trip up the Sea to Sky Highway,” says Lions Bay resident Craig Doherty “There’s that first bend you take above Eagle Bluffs in West Vancouver. You’re looking directly up Howe Sound, where the deep blue ocean is surrounded by snow-clad peaks... this is the part where the angels come down from heaven and start singing. I’ve been here for 33 years, and it still takes my breath away.” In those three decades, Doherty has purchased the local grocery store, the coffee shop and established his real estate business just above the highway. “I’m truly ‘all-in’ on Lions Bay... You can’t lose money buying this priceless beauty, since all of the developable property is gone,” says Doherty. Well, almost all of it. Residential housing projects on the books for Furry Creek, Britannia South, Britannia North and Porteau Cove could potentially bring several thousand new residents to a region that Doherty describes as “Canada’s version of Italy’s Amalfi Coast, or Carmel and Big Sur in California.” Population growth in the Sea to Sky region is being driven by
three factors: affordability compared to other Lower Mainland suburbs; natural beauty and lifestyle amenities that make it attractive to young people seeking a place that’s “more than a resort town”; and proximity to employment opportunities, in both Whistler and Vancouver.
Peak Investment Whether it’s on social media or in the local media, Michael Geller is a ubiquitous presence in Vancouver’s real estate scene, where he’s spent much of his professional career extolling the virtues of urban neighbourhoods. Yet even Geller believes that now is the time for undervalued, undiscovered properties in the Sea to Sky region to shine. “If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that a 45-minute drive from Britannia or Porteau Cove or Furry Creek [to Vancouver] is not the end of the world, especially if you’re not doing it every day. Furry Creek is really on the mark for people who want to downsize, or even for younger families who find the North Shore too expensive.”
Lions Bay. Photo: Steve Dietrich
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Right Sizing
Fall 2021
