UPDATE: Management company mentioned in ad does not exist but firm with different name does actually exist, it turns out
(By Newsdesk)
Construction at Gospel Rock is expected to resume in the next three weeks, an ad on page 3 of this week’s Coast Reporter says.
The Town ordered a Stop Work Order at the development on December 21 because of minor damage to two trees in the conservation area.
One of the Town’s conditions for an end to the Stop Work Order was the appointment of a site manager.
That person had been found, the ad says: As the development is now preparing to enter its construction phase, Greenlane Homes has recently signed a project management agreement with PJW Williams Ltd of Vancouver to oversee all high level strategic, financial and approvals (sic) processes for Touchstone at Gospel Rock. Paul Williams’ company has over 20 years of senior development management [experience] with large scale residential projects in the Vancouver region.”
The Coast Clarion looked up Paul Williams on Google and could not find an individual with that background in the Vancouver area.
A corporate search with Service B.C. in Sechelt did not yield any results for PJW Williams Ltd.
Today, Jessica Marola of Catalyst Marketing, who placed the ad, informed The Coast Clarion that the company is called PJW Management Corporation. A corporate search with Service B.C showed this company does exist, with Paul Joseph Williams as president and director. The company has not been around for twenty years but was incorporated on August 21, 2019.
On March 1, the Town’s director of planning Lesley-Anne Staats said she was introduced to Paul Williams in a Zoom meeting the week before. She said she did not have his contact information.
Asked if construction will resume within the next three weeks, Staats said: “The development team is still completing the surveys required for the Town. It’s best to contact the development team directly to confirm their start date.”
When The Coast Clarion asked how to get in touch with the development team, she said she had copied James Askew on the Clarion’s email as he is the PR contact for Greenlane Homes.
Askew is president of rareEarth Project Marketing, in charge of the marketing of the Touchstone development at Gospel Rock.
Neither he nor Marola answered further questions.
The Greenlane Homes website is no longer online. The domain name has expired and is parked free, courtesy of GoDaddy.com.
As a resident of Gibsons, it pains me to know the excellent Gospel Rock region has been decimated so that housing could be built. What recklessness, shameful.
Interesting article. The Greenlane Homes website link is dead. PJW doesn’t exist and no one is talking. Not a good start.
I don’t think I will buy there!
Thank you for keeping the folks in our town informed on this major project, keep up your work.
I have to think all of these developers have their lawyers lined up just waiting for the Town to miss dotting an “i” or crossing a “t” or finding some loophole in the LGA, OCP or Zoning to hang us with. Or even a poorly worded email. However, it would go a long way to building respect and harmony with the taxpayer’s to be sharing this. Surely a developer cannot sue us for being honest and transparent. If there is so much as a thin veil of litigation, I want to know about it.