Sale of nearby land’s development rights needed to repay loan for renovations
Derrick Pener
Sun
A new retractable roof, part of the $565-million refurbishment plan for BC Place, is expected to allow another 40 days of events per year at the nearly three-decade old stadium. Replacement of the stadium could cost around $1 billion, according to BC Pavilion Corp. chairman David Podmore. Photograph by: Agence France-Presse; Getty Images, Vancouver Sun
A deal to sell off development rights to land on the west side of BC Place Stadium, which will help pay for the building’s $458-million new roof, is “imminent,” according to BC Pavilion Corp. (PavCo) chairman David Podmore.
The deal, which will comprise 700,000 square feet of the 1.4 million square feet of development space the pavilion corporation has available to it, would be on a 75-year lease and will likely see both residential and commercial development on the site.
PavCo, the Crown corporation that operates BC Place and the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre, is in the midst of a $565-million total refurbishment of the 26-1/2-year-old stadium, which includes $55 million in interior improvements ahead of the opening ceremony for the 2010 Winter Olympics in addition to the new retractable roof.
That cost does not include the $14 million PavCo will spend on a temporary stadium to be located on the site of the old Empire Stadium on Hastings Street near the PNE.
The provincial government will finance the $458-million roof project with a 40-year loan, and Podmore said the sale of development rights around the stadium is key to PavCo’s business case for the project, which is designed to extend BC Place’s life up to another 50 years.
“The business case [for the roof replacement] relies on selling those development rights, selling naming rights for the building, sponsorship, advertising and increased activity in the building,” Podmore told a lunch-hour Vancouver Board of Trade event Tuesday.
Podmore said he couldn’t divulge any further details, but said he is “absolutely satisfied we will repay that loan.”
The new retractable roof, which Podmore said should make the building more comfortable to use during the summer, is expected to add about 40 additional days of events per year in BC Place, which is already used 200 to 210 days per year.
Construction is expected to start immediately after the Olympics and Paralympics, and will be complete by July 2011 in time for the Vancouver Whitecaps’ inaugural Major League Soccer season.
BC Place was originally completed in 1983 at a cost of $126 million and, up until Podmore took over as chairman of PavCo in 2007, the stadium was on a path toward demolition.
However, Podmore, who Premier Gordon Campbell brought in to take control of the famously over-budget Vancouver Convention Centre expansion, said he was able to make a business case to refurbish BC Place instead.
Podmore said BC Place is home now to events that could not be relocated to the Vancouver Convention Centre, and argued that a replacement stadium of a similar size could run in the $1-billion range.
As for the sprucing up of BC Place for the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics, Podmore confirmed that the building suffered a few minor leaks during last week’s heavy rains that have since been rectified, but stayed mostly mum about other preparations for the Games.
He refused to talk about how organizers planned to cover the dirty ceiling liner of the stadium’s roof, which is a dingy grey from the vehicle exhaust from years worth of monster truck events.
Podmore also did not want to talk about how Olympics organizers will accommodate the Olympic flame’s cauldron.
“I cannot comment about the opening ceremonies,” Podmore said after his presentation, adding: “I’d have to shoot myself if I told you anything.”
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