PNE dreaming of home in Sun Peaks
There appears to be a hush over Sun Peaks Resort.
It’s not quiet because the ski season has come and gone.
People are being tight-lipped about a new resident in town.
Last week, it was quietly announced the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) had purchased two properties in the Lookout Ridge area of the resort.
However, getting those involved in the purchase to spill the beans on what the popular exhibition is doing at Sun Peaks is no easy task.
The realtor in charge of selling the property and officials with the PNE won’t confirm anything, but speculation is the properties will eventually be featured as the exhibition’s annual prize home in 2012 and 2013.
Shelley Frost, vice-president of marketing for the PNE, couldn’t comment on what the land will be used for, but did add officials with the Vancouver exhibition see Sun Peaks as a great resort destination.
“We are obviously planning for the future,” she told KTW.
This year’s PNE prize home is located in Kelowna.
Liz Forster, managing broker at Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, couldn’t say much either, but called the purchase of the two properties “monumental” for the resort.
In reality, the parties involved are staying quiet because of provincial gaming laws.
Lotteries and prize-home draws are tightly regulated by a provincial body called the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch.
The governing body sets the gaming rules and has strict guidelines when it comes to prize-home lotteries.
Under the rules, lotteries like the ones offered by the PNE are only allowed to advertise for 16 weeks leading up to the draw or risk losing their licence.
So, for now, the two lots, which were listed for $260,000 each, will remain empty, but filled with speculation.
Sun Peaks Mayor Al Raine, who noted the municipality was not involved in the lot purchase, suggested if indeed the properties are used as PNE prize homes, it will help raise the profile of the resort.
“I think it makes a lot of good sense,” he said, opining Sun Peaks is the perfect destination for a dream home.
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