An ambitious project to redevelop Western Forest Products Ltd.’s former Somass mill site on the Port Alberni waterfront is moving forward, infusing fresh hope in a city hit hard by the challenges dogging the coastal forest industry.
The city named Matthews West Development Ltd. as its development partner in 2023 and signed a development agreement in April.
A mixed-use development is planned for the 43-acre site, with residential, commercial and light industrial spaces complemented by amenities including a 10-acre park and a waterfront walkway.
“Exciting times for the City of Port Alberni moving forward and getting to revision an old mill site,” said Mike Fox, chief administrative officer with Port Alberni. “People and the community love the new trail that’s on the waterfront, goes from Harbour Quay to Victoria Quay.”
The amenities are needed.
Port Alberni’s population has been growing steadily in recent years, rising 1.4 per cent last year to an estimated 19,685. The largest municipality in the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District, Port Alberni saw growth second only to Ucluelet.
The increase in population has brought added demand for housing, but construction hasn’t kept up. Permits were issued for just 36 residential units last year, with new development largely driven by BC Housing and First Nations.
“There was a boom in construction with higher-density apartment buildings being built in Port Alberni in 2022 along with reasonable interest costs,” said Jolleen Dick, CEO of the Alberni Valley Chamber of Commerce. “In 2023, there wasn’t much construction happening and as of last year it’s nice to see development continue in Port Alberni with high-density housing.”
The value of construction decreased from just over $95 million in 2022 to $23 million in 2023, and now it’s at $45 million as of last year, on a volume of 146 building permits.
The need for new housing is likely to grow as new businesses bring jobs to replace those lost by troubles in the forest sector.
San Group, once Port Alberni’s key employer, filed for creditor protection last November, but the Amix Group and Canadian Maritime Engineering Ltd. are looking to expand.
“Amix and Canadian Maritime Engineering are two companies that are investing and taking on larger contracts for work that has a high value of potential for former San Group employees,” Port Alberni Mayor Sharie Minions told Western Investor.
Amix Marine Services recently bought 45 acres from Western Forest Products Ltd. for $7.3 million for a new marine terminal and will make Port Alberni its home port. It’s currently headquartered in Campbell River, where it has been leasing 6.4 acres.
The move will replace the tax revenue lost by the closure of San Group, which owes the city more than $1 million in unpaid property taxes.
Canadian Maritime Engineering services all marine and industrial companies and is bringing shipbreaking to Port Alberni to create further job opportunities.
The agri-food sector is also a source of opportunities for the city.
The Dock+, a food hub within the BC Food Hub Network, is home to several seafood companies as well as a chocolatier and Cascadia Seaweed, which processes kelp for a variety of food and agricultural uses.
“When the food hub got its initial funding to be built a few years ago, we were quite impressed with how quickly the building filled with tenants, the type of businesses that moved from other communities or expanded their operations as a result of the location,” Minions said.
Ongoing upgrades to Highway 4 are supporting the local tourism sector, and the Huu-ay-aht, Tseshaht and Hupacasath First Nations are moving forward with a 76-room Microtel-flagged hotel – the first addition to the city’s hotel inventory since 1980.
“We are just extremely excited about what it’s going to bring and the economic impact that comes as a result of seeing First Nations communities thrive,” Minions said.
