Image: Contributed
Big White Ski Resort is about to complete a brand new, $3.5 million staff housing complex.
The new staff accommodations, the first of four that will be built on Black Forest Road over the next few years, will house five four-bedroom units, each with a common area and kitchen.
In addition, it will also feature four studio apartments with washrooms and cooking facilities
Michael Ballingall, the senior vice president at the resort, says Big White needs to have more than 1,000 employees living on the mountain in order to operate effectively.
But with private citizens beginning to rent less to resort employees, and more to tourists through vacation rental sites like Airbnb, the resort is “running short on hundreds of beds.”
Right now, Big White owns about two per cent of accommodations on the mountain—the rest are in the hands of private citizens.
This means Big White has started dumping money previously set aside for “more resort infrastructure and tourism facilities” into staff accommodations.
Eventually, Ballingall says, the new building will be part of an entire subdivision of staff homes in the Black Forest area.
“We’re building the first set of units this year, and it’s on the books to do it every season for the next three years—unless the economy changes again and more accommodation becomes available,” he said.
Right now, a team of 30 people from Kelowna’s Chaparral Industries are pre-manufacturing and building the structure offsite.
“We are utilizing the most modern methods of construction to ensure energy efficiency and minimal environmental impact,” said Alan Mann, the chief executive officer of Chaparral Industries. “The architect’s building design also incorporates energy recovery ventilators and radiant heating panels.”
Ballingall says Big White chose the modular building method to “lessen the environmental impact on the area,” as there is significantly less on-site activity and disturbance.
Image: Contributed
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