Ground Floor – The Inside Track on the Latest Developments

Robb Report Vacation Homes – Fall 2005
George Fuller

Bear Mountain, Victoria

Jack Nicklaus – golf’s Golden Bear – is picky about the sites on which he builds his signature golf courses, and even pickier about communities, that “bear” his moniker.  On those two fronts alone, Bear Mountain Golf & Country Club, a new real estate/resort development that occupies a densely wooded mountaintop above Victoria, British Columbia, delivers.

Bear Mountain is unquestionably one of the best new golf courses open in Canada in recent years, and the location is divine:  Situated on the southernmost tip of Vancouver Island, the property looks over the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the snowcapped peaks in Washington. 

Several retired National Hockey League (NHL) players, including Len Barrie and Mike Vernon, are spearheading the development “I played hokey with Len for the Florida Panthers”, Vernon says.  “One day he called and said he had an idea to build a golf course and real estate development on a site overlooking Victoria.”  Vernon was interested enough to send his accountant to take a look at the site.  “I heard back that it was absolutely spectacular,” he reports, “so we invested”.

The concept was presented to other friends and NHL colleagues, and many responded the same way.  Today, more than a dozen current and former professional hockey players have invested in the development.

The ambitious master plan includes two Nicklaus-designed golf courses – the first of which opened in 2003 – and several residential communities, with options including estates, single-family homes, condominiums and fractional-ownership units.  In total, the sprawling mountaintop will be home to 1,000 single-family residences, 1,800 condos and 300 town homes.

In addition, a boutique hotel opened in early 2005, in which quarter-ownership opportunities are offered, as well as regular hotel services.  A full-service spa is planned for early 2006.

“We’re creating an entire lifestyle out here,” says Vernon.  “Not only is there golf, but there’s hiking, biking, the spa and great salmon fishing.  When Nicklaus comes up here next, I’m going to take him to some of the best salmon fishing spots he’s ever seen.”  What could be more fitting for a Golden Bear?