SUNSHINE COAST PROJECT HAS HOTEL, CONDOS, SPA
JOANNE BLAIN
The Vancouver Sun
Project: George Gibsons Marine Resort and Residences
Project location: Gower Point Road, Gibsons
Project size and scope: 39 waterfront condominium homes ranging from one to three bedrooms, from 494 to 2,121 square feet
Prices: Starting at $399,900 for one bedroom and $699,900 for two bedrooms
Developer: Klaus Fuerniss Enterprises Inc.
Architect: Omicron
Interior designer: False Creek Design Group
Sales centre: 316 Gower Point Road, Gibsons. Open daily (except Tuesday and Wednesday) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sales contact: Steve Taylor ([email protected])
Phone: 604-218-1856
Website: georgegibsonsresidences.com
A new residential and hotel development with a familiar name is coming to the Gibsons waterfront on the Sunshine Coast.
George Gibsons Marine Resort and Residences takes its name from George Gibson, a former British naval officer who landed on Gibsons’ shores in 1886 and never left.
The town named after him, now home to more than 4,000 of the 30,000 or so people who live on the Sunshine Coast, is no doubt best known as the setting for the iconic Canadian television show The Beachcombers. Molly’s Reach, the café featured in the series, is still the most prominent landmark in town.
Gibsons residents love the town’s sleepy charms, so it’s probably not a surprise that the project stirred up some controversy when it was first proposed almost 11 years ago. Some residents objected to the size of the development, its potential impact town’s aquifer and the possible loss of Gibsons’ village character.
It took years and several design modifications to win town council approval of the project, but now all systems are go, says developer Klaus Fuerniss.
George is the realization of a long-standing vision by Fuerniss, who has a background in the hotel industry, served as vice-president of Expo 86 and has guided the opening of major facilities ranging from the Vancouver Convention Centre to the Whistler Conference Centre.
Fuerniss, a Sunshine Coast resident for 21 years, is convinced the area is ready for a top-tier hotel, luxury residences and a spa with a focus on health and wellness.
He believes the residential part of the project will appeal to residents of Vancouver and the Sunshine Coast, as well as people from the northwest U.S. attracted by our lower dollar.
“The main interest, no question, is coming from the Vancouver market,” he says. “It’s a downsizing opportunity with a chance to live in a smaller community that is accessible to the downtown core.”
A 39-unit condominium building is one of two buildings on the site, joined to the hotel complex by an outdoor plaza. The condos will range in size from 494 to more than 2,100 square feet.
There are more than 20 different floor plans in the George. Buyers will have a choice of units with one bedroom, one bedroom and den, two bedrooms and two bedrooms plus den, as well as one three-bedroom penthouse.
The finishes in the show suite, a short walk from the project site, attest to the high-end feel the developers are going for.
Forget any preconceptions you might have that a residential project at the entrance to the Sunshine Coast’s “cottage country” would have a West Coast rustic feel.
In the open-galley kitchen, engineered stone countertops and sleek European cabinets that incorporate an integrated refrigerator and dishwasher give the suite a contemporary look that would be right at home in a downtown Vancouver condo. A gas cooktop and a wall oven will appeal to cooks interested in taking advantage of the coast’s local food products, and ample bar seating along the island makes the kitchen perfect for entertaining.
Dark engineered wood floors contrast with the off-white engineered stone on the fireplace (buyers have a choice of three colour palettes). And floor-to-ceiling windows will take advantage of the stunning views on the waterfront, which will look over the marina to Keats Island and the Coast Mountains in the distance.
Bathrooms are luxurious, with a free-standing soaker tub under a modern hanging light fixture, a separate shower stall and a double-sink vanity with an engineered stone counter.
For boaters, there will be an opportunity to lease a slip in the adjacent marina so that you could walk from your condo to your boat and be out on the water in minutes.
Sales are expected to start in early August. Prices start at $399,900 for one-bedroom units and $699,900 for two-bedroom suites. Construction is expected to start in late October or early November, Fuerniss says, with projected completion in the spring of 2019.
The project will also incorporate a 116-room hotel that is promising five-star service, as well as a 21,000-square-foot spa focused on health and wellness. For those familiar with the spectacular KurSpa at Sparkling Hill Resort in Vernon, it will share the same European style and include more than 20 treatment rooms and five saunas.
Rounding out the public amenities at George will be a waterfront restaurant, a café, a conference centre, an expanded marina and a pedestrian walkway along the waterfront.
The George development is about a five-minute drive to Langdale, where BC Ferries makes several 40-minute crossings of Howe Sound to Horseshoe Bay every day. But, Fuerniss says, “a part of the overall development is a well-planned commuter service from downtown Vancouver directly to the hotel.”
He thinks a passenger ferry would appeal both to condo residents and hotel clients looking for easy access to downtown Vancouver, as well as others interested in a quick trip to the coast.
“My objective is that people in downtown Vancouver will say to their friends, ‘where do we go for lunch today?’ Well, the commuter ferry will take somewhere around 40 minutes — they can come for lunch and go back a few hours later.”
George, by the numbers:
20: minimum number of floor plans that will be on offer
39: number of condominium homes in the Gibsons project
116: number of rooms in the hotel component
2,121: the size of the largest homes, in square feet
21,000: the project’s health-and-wellness spa, in square feet
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