In the scenic town of Ladysmith on Vancouver Island, a place noted by Harrowsmith magazine as being "one of the prettiest towns in Canada", an exciting luxury waterfront real estate development is in the works. Pamela Anderson, Baywatch star and PETA supporter, has a plan for her hometown: to build an eco-friendly, high-end condominium-townhouse development there. The five acre Ladysmith waterfront property proposed as the home for this eco-development was originally owned by Anderson's grandparents who ran it as a holiday cottage business. Anderson has partnered with former Vancouver Canuck turned developer, Geoff Courtnall, to create a six-building luxury waterfront development at 303 Chemainus Road.
This project will prove to be an exciting blend of luxurious and green building designs. Features include a central pond and re-circulating stream that will act as a storm-water catchment system, collecting rainwater and diverting it to be used in landscape irrigation. Also, pavement for the site will consist of permeable paving stones, designed to reduce water runoff. Another green initiative of the project will be the cooling system for the buildings. Forget about polluting air conditioners, state-of-the-art geothermal heating and coolings systems will be put in place. Further, one of the four-story townhouse buildings will be set into the ground, which slopes steeply up from the water, so that from behind, it will only be one story tall. This in itself saves energy as it keeps the building a more even temperature. For the finishing touches, expect high-efficiency appliances and low VOC paints wherever possible. All the eco-friendly efforts fit in perfectly, as Ladysmith is a community with an award-winning recycling program and other excellent environmental initiatives. Ladysmith real estate professionals are hoping the project sets a standard of quality for luxury homes in Ladysmith, and expect it to boost the town's overall property values.
Anderson first proposed the project in February 2008, at what may have been the most well attended council meeting in the small city's history. About 60 citizens attended, but not all were there for autographs. There were a couple of concerns that the otherwise quiet town of Ladysmith wanted addressed before they approved the project. Anderson's original draft included two four story structures and one seven story structure with a penthouse. Seven stories proved to be a full 16.6 meters above the city's maximum height ordinance. The reason for the height was to reduce the development's footprint—to go up, not out—but the city wanted it lowered. However, they were willing to compromise. Anderson's final draft reduced this building to five stories, still including the penthouse. While this is still 9.5 meters taller than allowed, the city deemed it worthy, giving Anderson final approval in August 2008. Since that time, site prep has begun and plans to build a demonstration suite are in the works.
Upon completion, this little piece of Ladysmith luxury real estate will consist of 72 condominiums and 11 townhouses, taking up three buildings each. Units will range from 1,650 to 2,000 square feet. While a private marina has been ousted from the plan, some boat moorage will still be possible.
It is expected that the development will be a mix of summer and full-time residences owned both locally and internationally. Given Anderson's media popularity, you can be sure just about everybody in the world will know about it.
