A mixed-use development that would bring a new hotel, hundreds of homes, and ground-floor retail to downtown Squamish is going before District council on June 2, with staff recommending approval of changes that would allow the project to move forward after years of planning.
The development at 37870 Cleveland Ave has been in the works since 2018, when the property was first rezoned for a mixed-use project. Site preparation began this spring. The developer is now returning to council to ask for modifications that would swap out a planned office building for a five-storey, 66-unit hotel, raise the height of the northern building slightly, while also removing a prohibition on tandem parking.
District staff support the hotel switch, pointing to data showing office demand has declined while the need for visitor accommodation has grown. Hotel occupancy rates hit 87 per cent in 2024 and climbed above 90 per cent during peak tourist seasons, according to Tourism Squamish, which has consistently flagged a shortage of rooms to the District. The office space being traded away amounts to roughly 1,540 square metres, about 8.5 per cent of the office space currently in the broader development pipeline. Staff acknowledge a hotel supports fewer jobs per square metre than an office, but note it creates spinoff economic benefits for local businesses and service industries.
The residential component of the project comes in at 200 homes total. 160 units will be for sale, 30 will be affordable rentals and 10 will be market rentals. The affordable rental commitment has grown since the original 2018 rezoning, when the developer secured 24 affordable units. The current proposal pushes that to 30 units, or 15 per cent of all residential units, achieved by reallocating some market rental units.
At least one affordable unit will be built as a fully accessible adaptable dwelling. The developer has also committed to car share memberships for all 30 affordable rental households in lieu of dedicated parking, in line with the District’s 2024 bylaw update that removed parking requirements for affordable housing. Staff note that 200 units would represent between 22 per cent and 63 per cent of the District’s projected annual housing need for 2026, depending on which methodology is used.
The minor height increase on the northern building, from 20.0 to 20.8 metres, is a technical change required by updated provincial energy code standards that came into effect partway through the design process.
If council gives the bylaw three readings on June 2, the next step will be finalizing a Land Development Agreement amendment before the bylaw returns for adoption. Staff warn that if the application is not approved, portions of the development may not be financially viable and the project may not proceed. Two public plazas, public art, and a new sidewalk along Loggers Lane are all part of the community amenities package committed through the original rezoning.
