City of Port Alberni staff will prepare a request for proposal for the old Tidebrook Motel lot—pending a report on current market conditions for the development.
“Council has decided to take the Tidebrook Motel property and put out an RFP to see what the commercial interest might be in its future use,” said Mayor Mike Ruttan at Monday’s council meeting. The city acquired the property, located on the corner of Gertrude Stree and Pemberton, in 2015 at a cost of $195,000 as part of the Waterfront North Study. The motel had burned down years ago and was formerly owned by Jack Purdy.
The economic development and planning departments were directed to first prepare a report on current market conditions for the development of the old Tidebrook Motel lot after Coun. Sharie Minions expressed concerns over spending staff time before being sure of the commercial viability of the property.
“I’m wondering if we’re going to run into the same issue as we just ran into with Westporte. Our staff are going to go through the process and then we’re going to realize there’s too much on the market,” said Minions. The RFP for Westporte development (see story on pg. 7) was stalled earlier in the meeting when council decided that the demand on the market was too high.
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