Gerry Thomasen's Blog

The Protection Island Mine

When you're down at the waterfront and you look across to Protection Island - what do you see? Maybe you see only a pretty little island with homes and forests on it. But it's seen a lot more action than you'd think!

I could relate many historical anecdotes about Protection Island (e.g., the people hanged there in the 1850s, or the Kanoo Pavilion and Happyland, or the 1913 explosion of the Oscar) but this post is just about the Protection Island Mine itself.

This was the deepest mine in Nanaimo, which isn't surprising when you consider the coal seams trend downward as they move east underneath the ocean.

The workings under this area were originally started from the Number 1 mine shaft, located near the ocean just south of downtown (bottom of…

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Nanaimo Real Estate Market Update - Summer 2024

A Balancing Out

The most recent peak real estate prices was in the spring of 2022. In the two years since, things have been un-dramatic; prices dropped up to 15% in some areas especially nearing the end of 2022, but they have recovered some of that value, since. There have been brief periods of very sluggish activity followed by little rallies that don't last very long.

Overall the trend has been toward MUCH more inventory than we have seen in other recent years, giving buyers a chance to be choosy, to negotiate on pricing and other terms. But it's not a bloodbath; while some sellers have taken big hits if they had an urgent need to move and were spooked by several weeks without offers, it is still considered a sellers' market in the sense that…

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Happy 65th Birthday to the Italian Fountain

It was this day in 1958 that the "Italian Centennial Fountain" was unveiled in downtown Nanaimo. 

A lot of people are underwhelmed by this sculpture - probably because of its location, which does nothing whatsoever to highlight the fountain's beauty. Moreover, the fountain has been fenced off with ugly temporary fencing in recent years, presumably because of vandalization and sanitary concerns related to people without homes.

But really, especially when you consider that this was done on a small budget, mostly by volunteers, and that the granite blocks were mined from a boulder that was left in Yellow Point by a glacier - it's a pretty cool installation. Its story involves a local couple who came back from a vacation in Italy - they…

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New Plan for 77 Chapel site

The City of Nanaimo has approved a development for 77 Chapel St, the site currently occupied by a parking garage behind the Nanaimo courthouse. There will be 3 buildings; one will be an apartment building that is rented out, and there will be two separate condo/townhome buildings connected by a breezeway, echoing somewhat the atrium style of the 91 Chapel building built next door a couple years ago.

• Underground parking
• 154 units total
• 6 storeys each, plus parking levels

A few years ago, there was a development called "Marcielo" that was approved for this location; the developer even had their building permits from the City. I'm not sure what happened to that project.

I'll be watching for updates about this development, especially for…

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Nanaimo Real Estate Market - Spring 2023

In my last market report (Nov 11, 2022) I outlined how the market had peaked in March and declined through 2022. My post ended with "Will be interesting to see what spring 2023 will look like."

It is now April 17th, 2023 and I can say that there is nothing very "interesting" (dramatic) to report - the price decline has certainly SLOWED, and has even started to reverse in some of the markets on the Island. "This could indicate that they’re bottoming out, and when the market shifts – and it always does – it usually happens without much of a warning," said Kelly O'Dwyer, chair of our real estate board.

The optimism seems well-founded. Sales volume of (detached) homes on the Island increased by 73% in March compared to the previous month. People are…

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NANAIMO REAL ESTATE MARKET – THE SHAPE OF 2022

(Written in November 2022)
Real estate values in Nanaimo were on a consistent incline from at least 2014, building momentum at the end of the decade and continuing with intensity into the first months of 2022. There was at least a 3% price increase from the final months of 2021 into Feb 2022.

Then suddenly in March, people stopped asking to view the listings. I remember it well because I had just listed a house and there was very limited response, and my seller clients were disappointed to say the least! But, it wasn’t my fault – agents across town were saying “Suddenly it’s crickets out there…”

Explanations usually focus on the war in Ukraine, continued supply chain issues, and the aggressive interest rate hikes that characterized 2022. There is…

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Listing Your Home When There is Nothing to Buy

This post was written RIGHT before the market turned downward in March 2022. It was relevant to the seller's market of the time, which had very limited inventory relative to buyer demand.

“I can sell my home easily – but where will I live?”

I hear this from homeowners all the time. They see lineups of buyers with subject-free offers in hand, offering the highest prices we've ever seen. But what's the use of selling your home if you aren't certain you'll find a new home?

It's a very real concern. I've worked with a lot of buyers who took many, many months before being successful with getting an offer accepted. It wasn't because they were doing anything wrong; they made competitive offers, above the asking price and usually without conditions. But…

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Carriage Houses in Nanaimo (Detached Suites)

When looking at houses, my clients will often ask me, “Would we be allowed to build a carriage house on this property?”

A “carriage house” is a detached garage with a dwelling unit above it, but the term is also used more loosely to refer to any secondary suite in an accessory building (a building that is DETACHED from the main dwelling).

In this article, I will go over the BASIC requirements needed for adding a carriage house in Nanaimo. This should obviously not be used as a definitive source for evaluating how the regulations will apply in any specific case!

General

No secondary suites (detached or not) are permitted to have more than 2 bedrooms or more than one kitchen. A manufactured/mobile home may not be used as a suite.

Suites in…

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Sandstone - A Master Plan in South Nanaimo

It was announced in 2009, and it seemed far-fetched to me at the time. But now that a new push has been announced (on the City's "What's Building" resource), this master development feels like it could happen anytime.

The Sandstone lands will span from the Nanaimo River Estuary to Cinnabar Valley, with the RDN landfill roughly in the center. (The landfill is expected to be converted to parkland some day, according to the currently published development application materials. I confess I am curious about how the smell of the landfill will be mitigated for residents nearest to the landfill, but I'm confident that there is premium long-term potential here.)

The "Cedar Rd North" precinct will be close to the estuary and I would expect it to be the…

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Mid-Town Gateway Project - Bowen & Northfield

You may have noticed the old Northfield Mines site being re-developed in recent years - especially the mountains they've moved behind the Christ Community Church (see below). Well, there is an effort underway to develop a mixed-use complex in the location shown below. 

The complex is planned to include a grocery store in the center, with retail buildings along the perimeter. and with residential units perched above the retail builds. 

I'm sure there are still many hurdles for this development to overcome, not least the purchase of the private properties along Northfield where there are already some homes established. But I wanted to show this plan, as something of interest to people who live and work in the area!

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