Sprawling wellness retreat on B.C.’s Gabriola Island up for sale for the first time

The Haven, a wellness retreat on Gabriola Island in B.C., is up for sale for the first time. (Courtesy: Colliers International)

A large property that has served as a wellness retreat on one of B.C.’s Gulf Islands for the past four decades is on the market for the first time.

The Haven, listed by Colliers International, was erected in the coastal forest on the northwest shore of Gabriola Island in 1983.

The 16-building, 6.77-acre property has hosted arts and health programs for 40 years, and includes a main lodge with dining, office and kitchen facilities, a fitness centre, hot tub, pool, library, and a 3,000-square-foot auditorium. It can house up to 120 guests at a time.

According to Colliers International’s Mark Lester, the property’s defining factor, however, is its prime, waterfront location.

To find a commercial property that has a combination of tourist commercial zoning – The Haven has a TC-1 designation – is unusual in itself, but to have a large-scale property with more than 400 feet of ocean frontage is extremely rare, says Lester.

“Those things combined make it very special,” he says.

Lester says he gets inquiries “all the time” from people hoping to buy an island or piece of rural land to build a resort, but locations with permission for commercial use can often be hard to come by.

“If you don’t already have that jurisdictional permission to do so, it’s going to be very, very difficult to rezone and to get those permissions,” he says.

Though he describes Gabriola as a “beautiful, beautiful island,” Lester says one of the most irresistible allures of the location is the people who inhabit it.

“It’s got artisans, tradespeople, retirees, kids, you name it. It’s a broad cross-section of the population and so it’s really, really special,” he says.

Since being listed last month the property has garnered much interest from the public, but Lester warns that owning and operating such a property might not be for everyone.

“People expressing an interest need to have that combination of financial and operational acumen or interest to be able to be able to operate something like this,” he says.

While the Haven Foundation might assist with programming if the new owners were to turn the property into another retreat, for the most part “they’re not looking at staying,” says Lester.

Instead, he said he is looking for “somebody who is really going to impart their own vision” onto the property.

Lester said he doesn’t want to presuppose what potential buyers might do with the sprawling retreat, but that updates and building repositioning could be accommodated if the new owners wanted to grow it even further.

“That’s the beauty of a canvas like The Haven, somebody will be able to look at that and say, ‘I think I can do this,’” he said, noting that, while the new owners are free to do with it what they wish, the stunning surrounds do make it a “perfect site” for a wellness retreat of some sort.

“Wellness tourism is on the rise and it’s very lucrative, so I think that’s a great approach for that site. It’s got such wonderful energy,” he says.