Life is about to get more expensive for business owners in Function Junction thanks to updated assessments that showed the value of properties in the neighbourhood have soared to new highs.
While the median assessed value of single-family homes in Whistler rose by 11 per cent last year, commercial and industrial properties experienced the largest overall increase in the municipality. According to BC Assessment, light industrial properties in Whistler rose in value 115.4 per cent, while commercial properties increased by 29.5 per cent.
Released annually every January, the assessed property values reflect the market rate as of July 1 the previous year, and in the case of commercial buildings, also factors in the parcel’s earning potential. Assessments are used to help determine annual property tax rates, which change relative to the average change in a given community and property class.
The hikes in value were understandably most pronounced in Whistler’s industrial neighbourhood, Function Junction, where at least one property owner saw their assessment more than sextuple last year.
Take 1410 Alpha Lake Road, a multi-storey, 47,439-square-foot commercial building equipped with 91 underground parking stalls and similar-sized warehouse and office space. The property rose in assessed value by nearly $22 million last year, from $10,503,000 to $32,476,000, a 209-per-cent jump.
This upsurge is an issue for dozens of properties in the neighbourhood, such as 1200 Alpha Lake Rd., which rose 163 per cent in value, from $6 million to nearly $16 million; 1208 Alpha Lake Rd. (from $2 million to $5.8 million); 1310 Alpha Lake Rd. (from $2.9 million to $8.9 million); and 1110 Millar Creek Rd., which rose by a whopping 606 per cent, from $451,000 to $2.7 million.
Dave Brown, local realtor with the Whistler Real Estate Co., said the surge in value and higher tax rate that will likely go with it will hit property owners with triple net leases the hardest.
“I think everyone that is an observer and has concerns about the sense of community knows that businesses and retail are struggling in every way, shape or form on a cost basis,” he said. “The last thing they need in the context of their survival and wellbeing is an increase that is put on them by a government body’s assessment because of the download.
The tax implications for local businesses are still in the air, as property owners have until the end of the month to challenge their assessment. If these increased property values stick, this could mean significantly higher taxes for landlords and potentially increased lease rates for tenants.
“If you compare what’s happened in Function Junction to what’s happened overall, you would have to say that, area-wide, there have been significant increases, but there’s nothing like Function Junction,” Brown said.
“To be honest, we can deal with 20- to 30-per-cent increases, knowing that they’ll probably flatten out next year. They’re in a range of reasonability or unreasonability, let’s put it that way, but they’re manageable. However, 60 to 300 per cent is just not manageable.”
According to assessor Bryan Murao with BC Assessment, the recent sales history in Function Junction is consistent and robust enough that atypical increases are necessary to ensure the properties align with market trends.
“My best understanding is that Function Junction has evolved quite a bit over the past decade. It’s increased a lot in trendiness, and that can often lead to corresponding increases in the market value for its local real estate. This trend looks to have been clearly visible in the recent sales history there,” Murao said in an email.
Doug Treleaven, realtor with RE/MAX Sea to Sky, believes the assessed values are out of step with the sales history of the neighbourhood, which saw only a handful of transactions in 2022.
“There’s nothing really big that has changed hands in Whistler like 1410 [Alpha Lake Rd.] or 1200 [Alpha Lake Rd]. That’s the problem,” he said. “They’re going from a very small comparable analysis that has residential components to it, and they’re coming up with this number which has floored everybody and taken everybody by surprise.”
The realtor went on to say that, with its growing number of restaurants, bars and cafés, Function “is getting a bit of a skip to its step that it’s never had before, and to have Victoria come out and say, ‘You guys have had enough fun. We’re just going to go and hammer the hell out of ya,’ well, it’s crazy. Especially to do it in one shot.”
Owners who believe their assessment is inaccurate can submit a Notice of Complaint appeal by Jan. 31 for an independent review by a Property Assessment Review Panel—but are advised to contact a realtor for guidance before taking that step.
You can check the assessed value of your property at bcassessment.ca.
