After decades of delays, developer says Summerside resort on track for 2027 opening
CBC
The owner of a much-delayed resort project in western P.E.I. has big plans for the property, and says it will finally be ready to open in two years' time.
Ocean View Resort has sat unopened in Summerside's west end since Sean Liu purchased the property, located on around 50 acres off MacKenzie Drive, about two decades ago.
The developer has now applied to city council to spend an additional $80 million to finish work on the 96-room resort building and accompanying 27-hole golf course, and to build a 53-unit condo building at the site.
Nicolle Morrison, a Century 21 real estate agent who represents Liu, said the development will be a "game-changer" for Summerside once it's finished. She said residents are excited, but also acknowledged they're skeptical.
"They're looking forward to it. They don't believe it, but they should start to believe because it's happening," Morrison said.
"Now that we're started, we're not stopping as long as we get permits and approvals."
The opening of the property has actually been stalled since the beginning — way back in 1991, when work began on what was then known as the Dynasty Spa project.
Construction stopped in 1992, a few months short of the previously announced June opening date, and never resumed.
Two years later, the Supreme Court of P.E.I. ordered that the resort be auctioned off in order to pay creditors of its original owner.
A group of investors put $4.5 million into the project at that point. They defaulted on the mortgage, and the property was due to be auctioned off again.
In 1996, New York developer George Diercks stepped in and bought the property. He built a piece onto the original building, but never finished the resort.
Liu bought the land in 2005 with plans to open a hotel, but that hasn't happened yet either.
Now, Morrison said that if Summerside approves the building plans, Ocean View Resort and its golf course will be ready to open by the spring of 2027.
That news has Summerside Coun. Bruce MacDougall cautiously optimistic.
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