More than $6 million changed hands in one day this week when nine of 16 residential lots that formerly made up the Alberg farm near Mount Doug Park were sold.
Purchasers, who learned of the offerings through word of mouth or previous contacts with the developers, lined up to buy part of the four-acre Gordon Head property that was once a controversial suburban cattle feedlot, said Travis Lee, president of Tri-Eagle Development Corp.
The lots sold for about $700,000 apiece, he said.
A few more were expected to sell by the weekend and once the remainder of 150 people on a registration list are contacted, any remaining properties will be listed on MLS, he said.
All buyers thus far have been local, with only one lot sold to each buyer. Saanich had ruled that no secondary suites would be allowed in the development of the lots, prompted by concerns of nearby residents worried about on-street parking.
At about 9,000 square feet each, the lots are larger than the Saanich average of 6,000 square feet. They are located at the base of Mount Douglas with access via a private road in an area that will be called Mount Douglas Estates.
Tri-Eagle purchased the property early this year with Jawl Residential from the Alberg family for an undisclosed sum.
Saanich council turned down the Alberg family bid for a 16-lot subdivision in 2011 on the grounds that agricultural land must be conserved. More than 300 Gordon Head residents had signed a petition asking council for the rezoning. A farm began operations in the area in 1945.
The Albergs had phased out raising chickens and grazing cattle by 2005 on the farm but opened a feedlot in 2013 to produce revenue after the rezoning was rejected. Controversy developed when neighbours complained of noise and smell associated with a cattle operation
In May 2015, Saanich passed a one-time deviation by rezoning the Alberg property before it was excluded by the Agricultural Land Commission and later sent it to the commission for approval.
