Bringing movie crews to town is easier when you have an established tourism sector - one that welcomes folks looking for adventure on the ski slopes and in the backcountry.
The local ski resort, Hudson Bay Mountain, is a strong regional draw with a big focus on Prince George - northern B.C.'s most populous city - but it also attracts Lower Mainland skiers and visitors from far away, thanks in part to an airport whose main runway was extended a few years back to handle commercial jets.
Now the area is served by direct flights each day to Vancouver and Prince George.
Ski hill and mining
The ski hill has a new ownership group as of last fall, following the former operator's less-than-stellar success with property development in the middle of a recession, and is expected to roll out some new property offerings early in 2011.
Early development has focused on single-family lots with ski-in-ski-out potential on the mountain, which was once envisioned as a place for 6,000 beds of residences and accommodation.
The long-established forestry industry keeps chugging along in Smithers, but it's the mining industry that's expected to grow, pushing adventure tourism and property development with it in a trading area over 20,000.
"There's quite a bit of optimism in the area, and a lot of that's relating to mining activity in the area," said Re/Max realtor Ron Lapadat, a born-and-raised Smithereen.
Mining activity in the surround Omenica mining region includes exploration for or production of gold, silver, copper and molybdenum - activity Lapadat said is heating up, with its effects trickling through the market.
"There's always positive spinoffs from any kind of major industrial and commercial development," explained the veteran realtor.
While housing isn't by any means dirt cheap in Smithers, it has become comparatively affordable when stacked up against the real estate in adventure towns such as Golden and Revelstoke.
An 1,100-square-foot, 20-year-old house in town will run you about $250,000, with that number jumping to $300,000 or more on five acres outside the town itself, Lapadat says.
Higher-end properties such as lots in the new development of Watson's Landing go for between $79,000 and - for lakefront views - $325,000.
Single-family ski-hill lots are currently listed at between $140,000 and $150,000.
Lapadat says the area has attracted a growing number of young professionals as well as skilled blue-collar types and shift workers.
from Western Investor, February 2011
