By David Wiwchar

Developer tours leaders through Somass vision

Jan 31, 2024 | 7:59 AM

The proposed developers of the Somass Mill lands have been in town for the past few days, meeting with city staff and local leaders.

Yesterday they toured city council members and local media through the site and spoke about their vision for a mixed use development.

John Matthews, the President of Mathews West says the 43-acre project envisioned is similar to their project on the former industrial lands in Squamish.

“There are a lot of similarities between Squamish and Port Alberni. It’s an old industrial site on the water with contamination in a town that I know was really built off of industry and a both towns are going through periods of growth and change,” he said.

Mayor Sharie Minions said demolition and site preparation is moving quickly, and they are actively working on a development agreement.

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“I would love to see shovels in the ground tomorrow, but I think we recognize that to develop this scale of properly and into build something that’s going to suit the community long-term we very much need to take the time to engage with the community,” she said. “There’s a whole lot of servicing work that needs to go on here and obviously we’re underway on our demolition and remediation so I would say progress is moving very quickly but there’s much work to be done and we want to make sure that we get it right.”

Minions hope a development agreement is in place by summer, and then community and stakeholder engagement can begin along with master planning and rezoning.

Hupacasath Chief Councillor Brandy Lauder and Tseshaht Chief Councillor Ken Watts said they appreciate how Mathews West came to them from the very beginning and want to work in a meaningful way.

Watts said First Nations are past the point of simply contributing art on a wall, and are now looking for partnerships and investment opportunities.

“We partnered with the Squamish Nation in Squamish we partnered with the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma,” said Mathews. “It’s something that’s integral to our DNA and we really see quite critical for the site to move forward so we want to go through the planning process in hand with both nations here, and then find ways to continue to work together on development and finding assets for the nations and community because I think we work together there’s a lot more that we all benefit from.”

Mathews said his company continues negotiations with the city on a letter of intent and then a master development agreement.

He said they plan to save the main mill buildings and the cement silos as part of their mixed use development plans.

Mathews West works throughout Canada and the United States and also has an office in Dubai.