A public call for interest in taking over the historic Binning House in West Vancouver will take place after a judge first vets the plan, under a strategy being drafted by The Land Conservancy.
The new approach by the property’s owner is being mapped out after a B.C. Supreme Court judge refused last month to approve an unsolicited offer of $1.6 million from a Vancouver businessman.
At the same time, TLC is carefully reviewing any potential constraints to offers for a Foul Bay Road lot in Victoria and for its Keating Farm in the Cowichan Valley, said John Shields, director of operations for the Victoria-based non-profit organization.
TLC is in a financial bind. It sought protection from creditors in the fall when debts mounted to $7.5 million. That protection has been extended to April 25.
A court-appointed monitor is helping TLC seek a way to become financially solvent and survive in the long term. That plan includes selling some of its 50 properties.
Sale plans have been controversial.
B.C.’s Ministry of the Attorney General was among those objecting to TLC’s plan to sell the 1941 Binning House, an early example of modern design in Canada. The ministry argued that the plan would not comply with provincial legislation regarding disposition of lands held by charities.
The judge adjourned approval of the Binning sale and left TLC with the option of returning with another proposal.
Binning House advocate Adele Weder is calling for public interest in this property, with the goal of maintaining public access to the house, a National Heritage Site.
Before TLC embarks on a public campaign to find a new owner who can afford to preserve the property, the blueprint will go to the judge first for approval, Shields said.
That way, anyone interested in the property would know it would meet the judge’s expectations, he said.
“The major preoccupation right now by TLC is asking our lawyers to put a proposal together that meets the judge’s direction in the Binning decision to see if there is another entity that has the wherewithal to take over the trust obligation,” Shields said.
TLC is being guided by the judge’s recommendations as it considers which other properties might be sold.
“We are trying to be very conscious of the role of the attorney general because of the prominence that the province played in objecting to Binning,” Shields said.
“We are having to do a lot of research and making sure that we know where the money came from to purchase the property originally, and whether there are any trust obligations on the properties.
“This is a slower and a more methodical process of attending to the obligation that TLC has to protect properties, and wanting to make sure we are not in conflict with that intention as we move various properties onto the market and/or refer them to the monitor.”
An offer for 507 Foul Bay Rd. has been accepted by TLC’s board and will be referred to the monitor, Shields said. The same situation applies to a full-price offer of $749,000 for the 27.5-acre Keating Farm.
It is up to the monitor to make a recommendation to the judge, who will decide whether to approve any given sale.
The 8,575-square-foot Foul Bay lot was listed at $539,000. The accepted price is not being revealed at this time. This property lot backs onto Abkhazi Garden, also owned by TLC. Garden advocates do not want the lot sold, saying it is part of the garden and used for its upkeep.
