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Ryan Coffey

Let’s start with why I’m talking about potatoes. Did you do a double take there? If not, my guess is that you speak some Japanese. Part of why Nanaimo is such an exotic place to people from a certain corner of the world is that it has a funny name. In Japanese, “nana”  means “seven” and “imo” roughly translates as “potato” or “starchy root vegetable”. So from their perspective, our town is a pretty funny sounding place. So much so that a local once told me a story of him working in a gas station and seeing a car pull over but not opening the windows/doors or otherwise interacting with him. When he approached the car to offer his service, he saw a car load of Japanese people laughing to the point of being in tears and having to pull the car over for reasons of safety. When they caught their breath and  explained why, the experience clearly stuck with him enough to recount it to me many years later.

But here’s the thing, Nanaimo is actually pretty darn amazing from their perspective regardless of the name. I’ve travelled enough and met enough people from various corners of the country/continent/planet to know that what I’m about to describe is one part of a general theme. That theme being that we are so lucky to live here. I didn’t really understand that growing up, and the gradual discovery of this is one of the various factors that led to my career in real estate. It is after all easy to sell what you believe in.

It’s very hard to put the experience of living in another culture into words.  So let’s start with some images:

Ok, so I’m not much of a cameraman nor is my Japanese more than basic. But you can see the beginning of my point. As I allude to in the video, the greater Tokyo area has a population of about 35,000,000 people whereas all of Canada has about 34,000,000. Nanaimo’s greater population, that of the Regional District of Nanaimo is 138,631 but even that is trying to make Nanaimo look big considering the areas that includes as Nanaimo proper is about 87,000. Something I edited out of the video were my comments that it is in fact a totally clear day, it’s hard to see with the low resolution and all, but what you see on the horizon are not clouds that’s smog and it’s always that way over there. In Canada, we flip out about smog in Toronto or Vancouver because we can actually see it. Imagine never seeing the sky without it. Imagine only ever seeing as many stars as you can count on your fingers. Imagine a 90 minute commute on the “sardine express” being normal. Each way, every day… and you did lots of overtime this week, you have to come in Saturday, maybe Sunday and you get no overtime pay because you’re on a salary. All of this (and more I’m not getting into) is normal.

As I often say, Nanaimo is a nice balance point between city and nature. Within the confines of what is generally considered Nanaimo, one can go to anywhere to most anywhere else in 25 minutes or less. In fact, most of the time it’s more like 15-20 minutes. Nanaimo is big enough to have everything one needs to stay entertained and happy in their daily life but close enough to both ends of the nature/city spectrum for one to easily make a trip there. I mean, like within an hour. More on that here.  There really is a lot to say about this so please check out that link if you’re not already living in Nanaimo.

On my way back from Tokyo a couple of weeks ago, I was flying in one of the float planes that Harbour Air runs from the Vancouver airport to downtown Nanaimo and I saw:

…and even though the BC Ferries travelling the route between Nanaimo and Vancouver is something I have been seeing regularly for the majority of my life, as it is the lifeblood of our connection with the rest of Canada, it blew my mind. I was experiencing some reverse culture shock here. For you, see, I had just spent a few weeks at my other home where there are hundreds (thousands?) of train stations where during most of the day there are trains coming and going every couple of minutes or in some cases more than that as some stations have a dozen train platforms plus cars, subway, taxis, an awful lot of bicycls and even more people on foot. My guess is that there are more people on your average Tokyo train than on two of these ferries but Vancouver island is so much bigger than that area.

The very international social scene that one finds themselves in as a foreigner in Japan, and increasingly as a resident in Canada, is full of people from simply EVERYWHERE.  Those internationals who have been to my corner of the world always say the same thing. They tell me how beautiful it is and many of those people will say that we’re lucky to live there. Of course, one must tolerate the rain but life is very easy here compared to where most people live in the world. Most of us here worry about having to work some job we hate for very little pay whereas I have heard so many stories over the years from people who’ve lived elsewhere in the world where simple things like getting clean water and enough food or not getting shot at is the challenge. Those are the extremes, of course, but even those who are from the so called “first world” countries keep telling me how nice the location is and how relaxing and easy life is here.

In Canada, life is good enough for people to really care about the finer details of life and be able to share compassion rather than be in survival mode all the time. A lot of Canadians complain about relatively small things as there isn’t really a lot of big stuff to complain about but if there is one trait that we are proud of as a nation it is our capacity for compassion. Sure, we’re not perfect as a people and neither is our govenment, but really it’s pretty darn good here. And given the choice between a rainy winter and a really cold one I’ll take the rain every time.

I could write a lot about this but I think that going through the section of this blog called “Nanaimo Profile and Events”  in addition to the link above to my website will help the more curious readers get a better idea of where I am coming from.

Ryan Coffey

So, here are the top reasons why people are looking to buy in Nanaimo (in no particular order):

• Investment (for renting and/or reselling in the future)
• It's the right size of a town in the right location.
• It's totally beautiful here
• Easy access to Vancouver
• It's much more affordable than Victoria or Vancouver
• Job opportunities/Transfers
• Retirement
• Love of the outdoors and the ocean
• Social Climate

Of course, an individual buyer will tend to consider more than one of these factors in various combinations and orders of priority. There are also other factors one oculd mention but this is the larger overview.

Let's look at these one by one.

Investment Simply put, some people  are interested in supplementing their income by buying a place and reselling it in a few years once property value has gone up. This is often supplemented by renting out a portion of or the entirety of the property out in the meantime to reduce the mortgage and other costs. Sometimes people will live in such a home with tenants in a suite downstairs or even have them as room mates. We have been blessed in recent years with low vacancy rates and a market that weathered the recent credit crunch much better than most of B.C., which did better than most of Canada which did better than most of the world.

Despite the relative safety of real estate as an a form of investment, 94% of buyers in 2010 bought property as their principle residence while 4% are bought specifically for investment. These stats, like those below vary only slightly from year to year.

It is worth noting though that many people are buying homes which have a suite that they are renting out as a "mortgage helper". In the past couple of years, new homes are built with such suites more and more as they make a larger investent in a home much more easy to afford.

Right size town, right location Nanaimo is central to most of the population on the east side,  the most populated side, of The Island. (That's Vancouver Island to you non locals.) This is no doubt why people from all over The Island north of Victoria do an awful lot of their shopping here, as it's the second largest urban centre on the Island.

At 80,000 people in Nanaimo proper, it's big enough to offer more than just the basics but small enough to not have a lot of the social ills associated with large urban centers.

For example, you can drive from pretty much anywhere to pretty much anywhere else in Nanaimo in about 20 minutes or less. There are enough people from different walks of life and different parts of the world to give you a sense of community no matter what you're into or where you're from. It's big enough so that you can always be meeting new people every day, but small enough so that you will  run into friends while out in public once every week or so.

It's totally beautiful here This one is pretty obvious. Or rather, it should be. Those of us who've lived here our whole lives may not have noticed. I for one didn't notice until I worked in the tourism information office and had a few hundred people telling me how nice it is here everyday. Then it really hit home once I started travelling a lot.

Some countries have a lot of history and old culture to enrich their lives, this tends to come at the cost of having a lot of population, and by definition comes at the cost of a lot of land having been used for human uses for centuries or millennia  rather than more pristine natural uses. Canada is a country that doesn't have thousands of years of architecture and cultural history. Instead, as a young country, we have a plethora of natural places. And in my (well travelled) opinion, there are few places as beautiful as Vancouver Island in Canada despite its massive size.  Our biggest competition in my eyes comes from North Ontario and The Rockies. They are however both an awful lot colder than here and the former has... well let's say it has a lot of bugs and leave it at that.

Easy access to Vancouver Most people living on The Island take the ferries to Vancouver, which takes about 2.5 hours or so including boarding and driving time in addition to riding the ferry itself. These being the kind you can take a car on, take the bus or ride as a foot passenger.

You can also fly from inside the city of Nanaimo to downtown Vancouver or Vancouver International Airport by float plane in about 20 minutes. We also have a small airport south of town from which you can fly to Vancouver's airport. Such easy access to Vancouver International Airport makes easy travel from here to anywhere you might want to go.

More affordable than Vancouver or Victoria The latest statistics available as I write this show that the average sale price of a house in Nanaimo is a little less than 60 percent of prices in Victoria, and less than half of prices in Vancouver.

I have had a number of clients over the years who have sold a modest home in the Vancouver area and used the equity to buy a home here. Because it is so much less expensive, they end up getting a much nicer home for less per month.

Job Opportunities/Transfers Some people are moving here because they've been transferred here or have been given a really good job opportunity. They often work at Vancouver Island University, Shaw's rather large service centre, or Nanaimo regional  Hospital which serves people from Nanaimo as well as much of the Island  for example. There are of course many other smaller facilities and businesses that people are involved in.

Retirement The Island has long been a popular place for Canadians to retire.  Coastal B.C.'s mild winters bring little snow and lets it remain green year round which offers an alternative to the cold Canadian winters east of here that Canada is known for. The surge of retiring baby-boomers is just beginning and their demand for quiet, convenient, comfortable and charming places to live is just beginning as well.

Love of the outdoors and ocean There is so much to do here for people who like to get out into the great outdoors. We of course have a wide array of sports to offer like hockey, rugby, football, golf, track sports, basketball, motocross, skate parks and much more. However, these are just the beginning. The location of Nanaimo, central on an island where the ocean meets the thickly forested mountains, opens opportunities to take up sailing, fishing (saltwater and freshwater), boating and water sports of all kinds,  hiking, mountaineering, rock climbing, kayaking, canoeing, skiing and more. If that's not exciting enough for you, there's also skydiving, bungee jumping, mountain biking and so much more that it's too much to mention here. This is truly a world class location for outdoor experiences.

It's not just about activites though.

This also reveals itself in the types of homes people are buying and what is available for people to buy.  In 2010, 47% of all homes sold in Nanaimo had an ocean view, and 7% were ocean waterfront.
On the freshwater side, there were 3.1% with a lake view, 2.7% were waterfront on a creek or river and 2% were waterfront on a lake. 36% had a mountain view.

Social Climate Canadians are known for being sincere and caring and  people from The Island is certainly no exception. Many people are drawn here from other countries by the comparatively stable/safe social climate, and other Canadians are often drawn here because off the more relaxing pace of life. Another factor is the variety of cultures that we have in one place, there seems to be a community for anyone from anywhere to be a part despite the towns modest size. A true cultural mosaic.

I've so often heard people who've moved to Nanaimo from off The Island describe it as a beautiful secret or even as a "hidden green jewel" or as "like living in a park". But the secret seems to be getting out.  Even people who've lived just across the water from it, in Vancouver, for years are giving it a second look.

But don't take MY word for it. Spend some time reading about Nanaimo online, have a look at us on google maps, especially the street view function and get an idea.  There is lots more about this in both writing and other media on my blog in the Nanaimo Profile and Events section.

Ryan Coffey

For the armchair market watchers out there, don’t read too much into this in terms of what it means for the local real estate market. Having it built would make for a busier downtown and more revenue for the conference centre and of course tourism dollars in town overall, yes. But all of that is still just one peice of the larger, and ever morphing, puzzle that is Nanaimo’s real estate market. I am sharing this mainly to get the word out about the tax incentive because I would really like to see this hotel built. I would like to see more density and activity downtown and this is one way in which I can encourage that.

And here is the article in question:

Ryan Coffey

 After struggling to entice developers, city considers incentive plan that includes 10-year exemption

City officials are proposing new tax break incentives to spur construction of a conference centre hotel.

Nanaimo has been struggling to entice developers to build a hotel downtown, adjacent to the Vancouver Island Conference Centre. The $75 million facility is losing about $1 million a year largely because staff can’t book larger events.

With no bids to build the hotel and a growing need to lodge guests, the city is considering a new incentive package, beginning with a 10-year municipal tax exemption.

City officials are confident tax breaks will renew interest in the VICC hotel and improve Nanaimo’s stock of quality hotel rooms, laying the groundwork for larger conferences and tourism.

The previous incentive package to build twin condos at Maffeo Sutton Park was pulled by council earlier this year.

“One of the first things hotel developers want to know is what financial incentives we’re prepared to offer,” said Mayor John Ruttan.

“After looking somewhat unsuccessfully for three years, this is something we need to look at.”

Nanaimo has been unsuccessful in finding a developer to create the dream hotel, largely because it’s expected to be a break-even operation in the short term. There are not enough tourists coming to the city to inspire investors to put up the construction costs, said city manager Al Kenning.

The hotel is supposed to go hand-in-hand with the conference centre, a facility that has been handicapped in booking large events because of the lack of hotel rooms downtown Nanaimo.

The VICC has the potential to house over 1000 guests, but finds booking more than 500 challenging. Guests would have to look outside of Nanaimo to find accommodation.

The 10-year exemption is a key issue for council to consider, Kenning said. City staff believes it will lower costs enough to make investing in the hotel more viable.

There has already been several developers interested, according to Kenning.

The tax incentive program is geared at the VICC hotel, but will apply to any development or re-development in Nanaimo. The city wants to boost the total inventory of quality rooms it has to offer tourists.

According to Ruttan there are only about 400 rooms within a kilometre of the downtown core.

Susan Cudahy, chief executive officer for Nanaimo Economic Development Corporation, calls the proposal responsible and innovative. Quality hotel rooms are needed if Nanaimo is going to market itself as a tourist destination.

“This is the right step forward,” she said.

www.nanaimoinformation.com is a site where you can get a lot of information about Nanaimo. It has a forum where locals and non locals alike talk about things Nanaimo related. As it is the online world,  the tone of the posts aren’t always from a positive disposition, but overall it is in my opinion a community of good hearted people and a great way to meet others in Nanaimo. It’s particularly good for asking people where you can find a certain product or service, or a great spot to do something like swimming or hiking that you would normally never find out about otherwise.

There are a series of threads called “Where in Nanaimo?”  in which forum members put up a photo of a hard to guess location. The location is somewhere in Nanaimo and everyone else tries to guess where it is. Even for people who have lived here for many years, most of these photos are hard to guess because the easily familiar buildings and backdrops are seldom in view.

I think a lot of the photos are beautiful and worth sharing as an unorthodox photo tour of Nanaimo.

Here is the link.

Ryan Coffey

Nanaimo has long been the hub of the transfer of goods and traffic to and from Vancouver and the mainland. This is mainly due to the two very large ferry terminals that run ferries between those two points but it should also be mentioned that our central location on the east side of Vancouver Island makes it a natural location for such throughfare. It also makes it a natural place for our large and numerous shopping centres to attract customers from all over the island. Some people even come up from Victoria, a city with nearly four times our population.

The largest single employer here is Vancouver Island University, but a growing number of tech companies both big and small are more and more noticeable.

As for investment in real estate that is non commercial, it is worth noting that the city’s official community plan is focusing on increasing the city’s density and that it is becoming easier to build multi story complexes or to simply convert a regular single family home to one that includes a suite to increase rental revenue.

These are just the coles notes of what Nanaimo has to offer investors. For more info you can contact me.

Ryan Coffey

Scroll to the bottom of this post to see some images of the lake itself.

Ryan Coffey

The Nanaimo Electric Light, Power and Heating Co. bought 200 acres on the banks of the Millstone River in 1907, damming the river and flooding the land, according to historian Jan Peterson.

The B.C. Power Commission later acquired it. It isn’t clear when the power plant was decommissioned.

A Westwood descendent became an MLA and launched an unsuccessful bid to make it a provincial park some time in the 1950s. In January 1957 the City of Nanaimo bought the land for $1.

Oldtimers know bits of the lake’s history. Ed Singer heard from his grandfather that a farm was flooded to build the lake, and Singer, a diver, has explored the lake’s murky depths several times. On the silty bottom he caught glimpses of what could be remnants of the old “Westwood ranch,” as it was known.

“All I saw was something shaped like a roof but covered in mud,” Singer said.

“If there was some kind of building there, it completely collapsed.”

Along with its recreational values, the lake has proven valuable to conservationists to enhance the Millstone River’s salmon-bearing capacity.

The city teamed up with Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the B.C. Conservation Foundation to build a side channel around the Bowen Park waterfalls, allowing coho to spawn the upper Millstone.

A weir built in 2008 raises the lake level 15 centimetres, providing reserve supply for the young fish in August and September.

dbellaart@nanaimodailynews.com

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WESTWOOD LAKE FACTS

- 62 hectares: Westwood Lake surface area

- 106ha: Total park land area

- 420: Average daily beachgoers daily (July)

- $150,000: Price paid for most of the Westwood farm after the owner’s death

SOURCE: DAILY NEWS RESEARCH

Nanaimo city council moved ahead with its plan to negotiate a deal with B.C. Hydro to sell energy created from the city’s new No. 1 reservoir power generator.

The new reservoir is a component of the city’s plans for a $65-million water-treatment plant. The power generation could produce up to $175,000 in annual revenue. Power generation will come from the 14-million-litre reservoir to be built at the west corner of the Colliery Dam Park next to Nanaimo Lakes Road and the Nanaimo Parkway.

New regulations for drinking water were introduced by the Vancouver Island Health Authority, forcing the city to bump up plans for a new treatment facility. The new reservoir will cost an additional $7.5 million.

A hydro generator will cost $670,000 to install, but 900 kilowatt hours created per year will generate about $190,000. Minus the $15,000 in annual operational costs, the city could pay recoup the cost in four years.

Detailed design plans could be ready in about a year, but Nanaimo’s water resources manager expects construction to start early in 2013. The plant should be fully operational in 2015.

If you’re not sure if the changes mentioned below apply to your location, check out the city map or better yet, give them a call at the contact info provided in the .pdf file below.

MAY Media Release 2011 Open House

Ryan Coffey

Ryan Coffey