'Quite a bit of interest' in purchase of Quest University site as school prepares to suspend classes indefinitely
'Quite a bit of interest' in purchase of Quest University site as school prepares to suspend classes indefinitely
The realtor tasked with selling the site of Quest University in Squamish says there’s already been “quite a bit of interest” in the property.
The school is suspending academic programming at the end of the spring semester after announcing it could not secure funding to keep going, meaning the campus will soon sit empty. One day after that announcement, the land and buildings were listed publicly for sale.
Marshall MacLeod is vice-president at NAI Commercial and is the realtor acting on behalf of the site owners, Primacorp, for the sale.
“We’ve been looking at it on behalf of the owner for a couple of months now,” MacLeod told CTV News. “But we officially didn’t go to market until Quest made their decision to cease operation at the end of April.”
The entire site is 55 acres, a total that includes the Quest main campus and student housing, but also around 38 acres of developable land that could be used for housing and commercial development.
MacLeod said his company has looked “nationally and internationally” for prospective buyers.
“There’s been quite a bit of interest in Quest – in the development lands and the campus lands,” he said. “It’s a very attractive area right now.”
Despite the land being for sale, the university itself is not. Quest is a separate entity which has been leasing the site from Primacorp.
“If someone wants to talk to Quest about their operation, that would be something to do directly,” said MacLeod.
The asking price is not public. Only serious buyers who sign a non-disclosure agreement will be given the price tag. But it’s not cheap.
Primacorp purchased the site in 2020 when Quest filed for creditor protection. At the time, MacLeod said, the price was in the “mid-40s,” meaning somewhere between $40 million and $50 million.
The current valuation of the land and buildings is $69,256,000, according to BC Assessment.
CHALLENGES FOR THE SITE
The university campus is zoned and purpose-built for a school. Classrooms are only made to fit around 20 students and the student accommodation is dorm rooms.
Squamish Mayor Armand Hurford believes the buildings can’t be turned into housing.
“They’re not complete apartments. It’s very much a dorm-built facility,” he said.
The District of Squamish has poured millions of dollars of taxpayer money into the Quest project. A statement on the district’s website said it’s invested more than $5 million for infrastructure, on top of waiving property taxes from the year 2000 to 2015.
“The community has a strong desire to have a university on those lands,” mayor Hurford said.
WHAT NEXT FOR STUDENTS?
Quest University currently has around 130 active students, according to Jeff Warren, the school’s vice-president academic. He said of that number, roughly 50 students will graduate this spring and the remaining 80 will transfer to other institutions to finish their degrees.
More than 30 universities and colleges are offering special considerations for Quest students, and last week the university held a transfer fair for students to see what options were available to them.
“We will continue to do everything we can to support students as they determine the next steps on their academic journey,’ Warren told CTV News.
Meta is planning to run a test that will block news for some Canadian users on Facebook and Instagram in response to the Liberal government's controversial online news bill.
The number of people in Canada with inflammatory bowel disease is increasing rapidly and is expected to grow to 470,000 by 2035, according to a new report from Crohn's and Colitis Canada
Gatineau police say officers responded to a call from staff at l’école l'Oiseau Bleu on Nelligan Street just after 10 a.m. Friday about a camera found in the washroom.
Researchers at Carleton University's Department of Electronics in Ottawa created a ground-breaking testing device to detect early signs of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s through biomolecular activities in a person’s saliva.
The wedding of Jordan's crown prince to the scion of a prominent Saudi family began on Thursday in a palace celebration that drew massive crowds and a mood of excitement around the kingdom, while presenting the young Hashemite royal as a new player on the global stage.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh slammed foreign interference special rapporteur David Johnston's refusal to heed the House of Commons' call for him to step down as 'tone-deaf.'
The elevated walkway in Winnipeg's Fort Gibraltar that collapsed during a school field trip, sending 16 children and one adult to hospital, was last repaired a decade ago.
The family of an engaged couple who were shot dead following a dispute with their landlord in Stoney Creek over the weekend released a statement of their loved ones, remembering them as 'two beautiful souls.'
British Columbia wildfire officials say crews are making progress in their efforts to suppress a large forest fire on northern Vancouver Island, though the 160-hectare blaze was still burning out of control Thursday.
Suncor Energy Inc. will cut 1,500 jobs by the end of the year, as new CEO Rich Kruger forges ahead with his mandate to reduce costs and improve the company's lagging financial performance.
Calgary police are hoping the public can help them identify a man wanted in the attempted sexual assault of a woman in the community of Royal Oak last week.
Mike Mercredi is staying back to protect his northern Alberta community from a nearby wildfire after hundreds of people were forced to evacuate the area.
Krispy Kreme will soon have a drive-thru and dine-in location in the Alberta capital, and that's just the beginning, the global doughnut giant and a local developer announced Thursday.
An Ontario man with a genetic disorder said he was shocked when he got his latest prescription filled for a medication he has been taking for the past ten years.
Residents who wish to speak with the City of Montreal by calling 311 now have to attest they can receive services in English because of Bill 96. New provisions of the language law came into effect Thursday.
Several regions of the province have been hit by power outages. The total of Quebec customers without electricity stood at around 42,000 as of 8:30 p.m. Thursday. At its peak, Hydro-Quebec said 250 thousand customers had lost power.
The elevated walkway in Winnipeg's Fort Gibraltar that collapsed during a school field trip, sending 16 children and one adult to hospital, was last repaired a decade ago.
Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson formally apologized in the legislature Thursday to former residents of the Manitoba Developmental Centre, one of the country's last large institutional facilities for people with intellectual disabilities.
A protest at Saskatoon’s Catholic school division over a leaked email described as discriminatory of the queer community led to a tense exchange with its director of education on Thursday.
Maxime Bernier, the leader of the People’s Party of Canada, is part of a group of people found guilty of breaking COVID-19 public health rules in Regina two years ago.
Premier Tim Houston repeated his calls for urgent firefighting help Thursday, asking Ottawa to “be proactive” with aid as multiple wildfires continue to burn out of control.
Halifax deputy fire chief David Meldrum says a new fire started Thursday afternoon on Prospect Road, near St. Margaret’s Bay Road, and “a large area of forest and brush are involved.”
OPP are looking for Matthew Daigneault — wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for a breach of statutory release. He is described as a white man about 6’ tall, 243 lbs, with a short/receding hairline.
Researchers at Carleton University's Department of Electronics in Ottawa created a ground-breaking testing device to detect early signs of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s through biomolecular activities in a person’s saliva.
'That '70s Show' star Danny Masterson was led out in handcuffs from a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday and could get 30 years to life in prison after a jury found him guilty on two of three counts of rape at his second trial, in which the Church of Scientology played a central role.
Huntsville OPP has charged a third girl in connection to an alleged assault captured on video at a local high school and shared on social media earlier this month.
Police say a man appeared to suffer from a medical incident while driving in Guelph, causing his vehicle to go off the road and hit a woman who was sitting on the grass.
The manufacturing company Injection Technologies Inc. has filed for bankruptcy and insolvency and a number of former Kitchener employees tell CTV News they have been terminated.
