here's the article:
http://www.bclocalnews.com/richmond_.../36471589.html
Westin to make 2010 debut
By Matthew Hoekstra - Richmond Review
Published: December 19, 2008 5:00 PM
Two local hotel projects have been shelved in the wake of the global economic crunch, but one luxury development is still slated to open in time for the 2010 Olympics.
Fairchild Developments Ltd. has scrapped plans for an eight-storey 150-room hotel at Aberdeen Centre, and Great Canadian Gaming Corporation has delayed its plans for a third hotel tower at River Rock Casino Resort.
Wall Centre Richmond, however, is moving full speed ahead with its project at the corner of Corvette and Sea Island ways in north Richmond, a mix of condominiums and hotel rooms.
Bruno Wall, president of Wall Financial Corporation, said the Westin Wall Centre, Vancouver Airport hotel will open in January 2010, while the residences—which sold out in 49 days—will be ready about six months later. The firm recently asked the city for a slight expansion of its hotel plans—by nine rooms—to build 231 apartments and 185 hotel rooms in three high-rise towers.
Wall said he’s confident the project will be a success.
“We’re long-term investors, and we’ve been active in both the hotel and rental apartment markets for the past 30 years, so we take a long view, and we think we’ve got a fantastic location, and we’re building a terrific product.”
Although 2009 is expected to be a weak year in hotel bookings, the Winter Olympics is set to change that beyond two weeks of medal competition.
“With the kind of advertising campaign the 2010 Olympics gives Greater Vancouver, Whistler and British Columbia, I think the prospects for hospitality are fantastic,” said Wall.
Plans for a hotel at Aberdeen Centre were dropped earlier this year due to the “supply of hotels” and high construction costs, said Danny Leung of Fairchild Developments.
It would have been built atop a 200,000-square-foot expansion of the Asian-themed No. 3 Road mall, an expansion that’s still going ahead and will be complete after 2010.
Meanwhile, River Rock’s hotel expansion has been put on hold. Plans call for a five-storey 191-room hotel tower above a new parking garage to be shared by Canada Line riders and casino patrons.
The $90-million parkade will be built with hotel footings to accommodate a building in the future, along with 21,000 square feet of commercial space.
Great Canadian had anticipated the hotel to open as soon as late 2009, but now its future is unclear.
Spokesman Howard Blank said the hotel has been delayed by a year due to the ailing global financial market.
“We’re taking proactive steps instead of reactive, we’re not putting all of our development plans on the go as we previously had. We’re just staggering them,” he said.
Great Canadian will instead concentrate on River Rock’s $51-million expansion now underway that includes upgraded VIP facilities, new food and beverage offerings and an atrium renovation. The work is scheduled to be complete by 2010.
Ross McLeod, Great Canadian’s chairman and chief executive officer, made the announcement in November despite the four-diamond River Rock leading the company in growth.
“Given the uncertain Canadian and global economic climates, it is critical that Great Canadian be as prudent as possible in its capital investments,” he said in a statement.
University of B.C. professor Tsur Somerville said the economic crisis is certainly having an impact on developers, particularly due to the banks’ reluctance to loan money.
“The biggest piece of it is the freezing up of credit markets. So their ability to get financing is really compromised right now.”
Developers of hotels are especially vulnerable, he said, since there are no pre-sales and hotels are a cyclical industry.
“Business travel and vacation travel are prime things to cut during downturns. It’s a market where the demand is much less certain.”
Real estate markets that drive development won’t improve until the economy is doing better, or until people believe it’s doing better, Somerville noted.
•••
Richmond’s next hotel
•The Westin Wall Centre, Vancouver Airport
•Opens Jan. 1, 2010 at 3099 Corvette Way
•185 rooms, 11-storeys
•7,000 square feet of meeting space; restaurant; lounge
•Will be linked to two 16-storey residential towers