Company Report: Macdonald Development
Bringing back Britannia Beach VP Jerry Bordian tells Exec Digital how Macdonald Development, in collaboration with the Province of British Columbia, is breathing new life into a former mining community

Just off the eastern shore of Howe Sound, along the Sea to Sky highway between Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia is a tiny, picturesque community by the name of Britannia Beach.

For many years, it was a bustling mining town. Its namesake mine was at one point the largest producer of copper in the British Empire. However, after the mine closed in 1974, the town's population slowly dissipated. Acid rock drainage collected in the nearby water and endangered aquatic wildlife.

The environmental and social impact left a once thriving town on the brink of extinction - until the Province of British Columbia and Macdonald Development came to the town's aid. Working with the government, the real estate holdings and development company aided in the processes of environmental redemption and social reclamation.

In 2001, the Province of BC injected CAD $100 million to environmentally restore Britannia Beach. Two years later, Macdonald Development came aboard and bought the mortgage for the entire mine and surrounding community. This included 10,000 acres of mineral claims, timber and water rights, glory hole property and the lot. The company immediately transferred 9,600 acres to the government in order to continue the environmental restoration project. Meanwhile, they retained 400 acres for the community revival project.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Immediately upon acquisition of the land, Macdonald Development formed Britannia Bay Properties Ltd as an offshoot company fully dedicated to restoring the community. When the company first came to Britannia Beach, there were 105 families living there, all renting and living on a month-to-month tenure. Britannia Bay Properties Ltd, led by Vice President Jerry Bordian, worked toward restoring those homes while adding an additional 100 lots.

The company also began its extensive outreach work with the community. Bordian recalls, "When we acquired the land, we called community meetings and invited the entire community to gather into one of buildings. We asked them what they would like to do: continue renting or be individual owners. And we then engaged a survey company to gather info on what their desires were. We found an overwhelming amount wanted the ability to achieve tenure and own."

This was merely the beginning of Macdonald Development's partnership with the population. It had regular meetings with them on a monthly basis. It created various committees to get their input. In addition, architects, engineers, consultants and other professionals sat with the community members about what was important to them. It also made financial contributions allowing them to become homeowners.

"They had made a request to become homeowners. So we engaged third party appraisals, valued at favored market and provided each family with a 25 percent discount on down payments. This is so they could qualify in British Columbia for a conventional bank financing. We made commitment of about CAD $7 million in benefits. It would have been difficult for them to acquire the financing without the 25 percent discount. Most people would not have been able to acquire it," says Bordian.

COLLABORATIVE EFFORT
At the end of the day, 99 percent of the residents at Britannia Beach are homeowners. "When you think about it in terms of any community, it's hard to find any community where 99 percent of the people who live there are owners," says Macdonald Development Marketing Director, Mary Ann Clark.

Once the people became owners, they started fixing their homes, putting in flowerbeds, re-painting, planting new lawns, building white picket fences. Macdonald Development actually painted all the houses to help kick-start the initiative. In addition, they dedicated the land for a new fire hall and donated a building for a community center. Meanwhile, the community members began a Neighborhood Watch program.

Macdonald Development also worked with the Province of British Columbia, who focused on the environmental reclamation aspect of the project. The company engaged in a public/private partnership where both parties agreed to help each other out. They also worked closely with engineers, designers and local contractors on the construction of the new lots as well as rehabbing the infrastructure.

AND ONWARD
Macdonald Development's restoration project so far has brought in 100 additional lots to the community, all of which sold out in four days. An additional 28 lots will also be built and completed by the end of this year. The restoration project also has seen the environmental remediation, the rebuilding of worn down infrastructure and the revival of the BC Mining Museum.

The restoration will continue onward as the company will begin construction on a new commercial development village with 65,000sf of retail opportunity. The retail village will create jobs and provide a stabilizing tax base for the rest of the community.

The community should also benefit from the 2010 Winter Olympic Games to be held in Vancouver and Whistler Mountain, where the Alpine, Nordic and sliding events will take place. Britannia Beach's location along the Sea to Sky Highway in between Vancouver and Whistler will spur economic growth in the community.

As Bordian and Clark note, the company's work is far from done in bringing back Britannia Beach. Clark says the project is not "an instant rejuvenation." Bordian concludes, "This community has 100 years of history behind it. It was once a substantial community of 2500 people in its heyday of mining. It really has rejuvenated itself back to something that will grow and become an area where people will be happy to live."

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