By Dominic Abassi

Proposed Selby St. hotel granted 10-year tax exemption

Feb 25, 2018 | 9:17 PM

NANAIMO — A boutique hotel proposed for downtown Nanaimo will be exempt from property taxes for 10 years, if the project becomes a reality.

Nanaimo councillors voted to accept the three-storey, 45-room hotel proposed for 440 Selby St. into the City’s revitalization tax exemption program.

A City staff report said the hotel is estimated to cost $2.8 million to build and will be exempt from paying a little more than $36,000 in municipal taxes per year until 2029.

The agreement includes several stipulations: a building permit must be obtained by June 30 and the doors must be open by the end of 2019.

Coun. Jerry Hong asked staff what would happen if the building stopped operating as a hotel or changed to include short or long term rentals.

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“If at any point they stop operating (as a hotel) they would automatically be disqualified from the program,” director of community development Dale Lindsay said, noting the developer intends to open under the banner of Quality Inn.

A request to reduce the number of parking spaces from 45 to 35 was a sticking point when councillors debated approving the project’s development permit in October of last year. Despite concerns from a member of the community, the parking variance was approved in a narrow 5-4 vote.

The same developer, Jasbir Saroya, was awarded a development permit for the hotel in 2015, however it expired in 2017.

The Selby Hotel is the fourth to be accepted into the City’s tax exemption program since it began in 2011. It’s designed to encourage investments in quality hotel rooms in downtown Nanaimo and applies to all major renovations, additions, demolition and rebuilds and new construction associated with hotels and motels over a value of $2 million.

To date, none of the previous three hotels have come to fruition.

In 2017, development permits were approved for hotels at 15 Front St. and 100 Gordon St. The City is currently working through the building permit phase on both projects.

The previous conference centre hotel proposal was granted the tax exemption but never made it past the permit stage.

dom@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @domabassi