The Land Conservancy has received welcome news with a potential buyer for a West Vancouver property offering more than the assessed value.
The proposal to buy the one-storey Binning House was revealed today in the Supreme Court of B.C. in Vancouver.
Nov. 18 has been set as the date the judge will review a formal offer. It must first be vetted by the court-appointed monitor for TLC, a Victoria-based non-profit land trust under creditor protection.
An offer of $1.6 million has come forward from an admirer of Binning’s work, TLC manager John Shields said from Vancouver. The property’s assessed value is $1.2 million. It is a National Historic Site and Municipal Heritage Site.
“When we presented the offer to the TLC board they were in awe of the appropriateness of this particular person and what it represents.”
This offer on the 1941 rented house was “unsolicited and unexpected,” Shields said.
The potential purchaser has deep pockets to maintain the house and is keen to see a sale arranged quickly, he said.
The District of West Vancouver has covenants on the house that ensure that the property must remain intact as the Binning heritage house.
If the deal is approved, it would preserve the heritage value of the property. The money “will help us go through the next period of restructuring, with having money in the bank ... It’s a wonderful opportunity.”
Designed by Bertram Charles (B.C.) Binning, the house is a “very early example of the Modern architectural movement in Canada.
“Built into a sloping site overlooking Burrard Inlet and Vancouver, the design of the house has geometric forms with open-plan layouts, trapezoidal shapes in both glass and tile, angled furniture and walls, and murals,” the TLC’s website said.
Also, the court agreed to extend protection from creditors to Jan. 20, 2014.
TLC owes secured and unsecured creditors $7.5 million and holds 50 properties, protected by 250 covenants , throughout B.C. An October affidavit from board member Briony Penn stated their total value was $43.78 million.
To raise money, TLC is marketing two other properties, a Victoria residential lot on Foul Bay Road, priced at $539,000, as well as a site in Sechelt for $1.6 million.
The monitor is working with TLC to restructure the organization and sell properties that could generate funds. A Cowichan Valley farm, called the Keating estate, was moved into a list of properties that might be sold in the future. Madrona Farm in Saanich had been on that list but was removed.
The Binning House on the Web: http://blog.conservancy.bc.ca/properties/lower-mainland-region/b-c-Binning-residence/
