No More Golfing in Aberdeen

National Real Estate News

This article appeared in the Kamloops This Week on October 31st, 2011 and was written by Jeremy Deutsch.

Aberdeen Golf Course Kamloops BCThe decision was made on Halloween and it was scary for Kamloops duffers — Aberdeen Hills Golf Links will vanish into the mist.

Aberdeen Highlands Development Corporation has confirmed it will not run the golf course next year. It will officially close on Dec. 31.
The city got word of the developers intention on Monday, Oct. 31.

Aberdeen Highlands general manager Chris Bebek said it didn’t make economic sense for the developer to continue to run the course. “It was a really hard decision for us,” she said. “It’s hard to put an end to something.”

Bebek said the past season was especially challenging, noting the late start to the season due to poor weather. The course also had to shut down early to complete work on part of the development, and Bebek said it wouldn’t make sense to restore the course for only two years.

When asked if there was anyone interested in purchasing the course, Bebek said she was not aware of interest. “We had try to see if anyone would take it over and run it for us; however, with a short time-frame in the lease, they didn’t want to put a lot of their resources into something that had a short time-frame,” she said.

Bebek said the developer is excited about the park and expects residents in Aberdeen will feel the same.

There were seven full-time staff and another 13 part-time seasonal employees at the course.

Director of parks and recreation services Byron McCorkell said the city’s position was made clear three years ago. “We are not in the golf-course business and we don’t intend to be,” McCorkell said. “If they [Aberdeen Highlands] choose not to be, that’s purely their decision to make.”

However, Mayor Peter Milobar appeared to take a softer approach when it came to discussing the future of the golf course. He said if a private operator wanted to take control of the course, he would be willing to consider the option.

However, Milobar cautioned that, while someone might have a great idea to keep the course afloat, once they get involved, they could change their mind. If tax dollars are involved, Milobar said, he would rather see a park created, rather than have the city prop up a golf course.

In 2008, the 150-acre West Highlands development faced a contentious rezoning battle, in part because many residents didn’t want to see an end to the nine-hole golf course that was once a mighty 18-hole layout with spectacular views.

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Bank of Canada Interest Rate Announcement, BCREA

Mortgage Information, National Real Estate News

This is the latest release from the BC Real Estate Association on October 25, 2011.

As was universally anticipated, the Bank of Canada opted to hold its target overnight rate at 1 per cent this morning.  Ongoing uncertainty in the Euro-zone continues to weigh heavily on the Bank’s outlook. In its statement accompanying the interest rate decision, it was noted that the bank is now projecting a contained Euro-crisis, but also a brief recession in the Euro-area due to ongoing deleveraging and fiscal austerity. The Bank also expects continued weakness, but no recession, in the United States through the first half of 2012 before a resumption of stronger growth. Given various challenges in the global economy, the Bank of Canada trimmed its outlook for Canadian economic growth to 2.1 per cent in 2011, 1.9 per cent in 2012 and 2.9 per cent in 2013 which is in line with our own forecast. On inflation, the Bank now expects slack in the economy to persist longer than originally forecast, leading to a closing of the output gap at the end of 2013. This implies softer than expected inflation in coming quarters, with consumer price growth moderating before returning to the Bank’s 2 per cent target by the end of 2013.

Overall, this morning’s statement shows a very cautious Bank of Canada that is unlikely to make any significant movements on interest rates over the next two to three quarters. Further monetary tightening will be highly contingent on a brighter growth outlook in the United States and a credible solution to the Euro sovereign debt crisis. Therefore we expect the Bank of Canada to remain on the sidelines through the end of 2011 and the first half of 2012.

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