The Bella Beach Inn in Davis Bay, which closed its doors earlier this spring along with many other hotels in the province, is now at the centre of a legal dispute and remains closed.
Handwritten notices saying the Bella Beach was closed due to COVID were posted at the office not long after the province called for an end to non-essential travel in early March, and more recently the parking lot was roped off and large “no trespassing” signs were put up along the fence.
According to a petition filed in Vancouver Supreme Court on Aug. 19, the Bella Beach underwent a change of ownership in early 2018 when Jin Guang Holdings Ltd. “acquired 100 per cent of the shares in Bella Beach from [566898 B.C. Ltd.] and its principals, Michael and Theresa Lee, as well as their family trust.”
The transaction was partially in cash and partially through a promissory note in the amount of $2.2 million backed by a mortgage on the property and “assignment of rents.” The motel and the property are currently valued by BC Assessment at $4.1 million.
The petitioners claim Jin Guang Holdings has defaulted on that promissory note after failing to make the payments due for the month of January 2019 and “for months subsequent thereto.”
The Lees’ company, 566898 B.C. Ltd., is asking the court, among other things, to order that the promissory note be repaid, with interest and other charges, and if payment is not made that 566898 B.C. be allowed to move ahead with a foreclosure, take possession of the property and allow a court-ordered sale “with the petitioner having exclusive conduct of sale.”
The lawyer for the company told Coast Reporter the Lee family has not had any involvement in running the Bella Beach Inn since selling it to Jin Guang Holdings.
Even before the pandemic, there were indications the once-busy 32-year-old motel was not seeing the same level of tourist activity as it had in years past, leading to speculation in the community about the property’s future.
Sechelt council was told in June 2018 that a bright new paintjob was a precursor to improved landscaping and the reopening of the restaurant space.
The restaurant remained vacant and during the 2019 federal election it was briefly the local campaign headquarters for Conservative candidate Gabrielle Loren.
Officials with the District of Sechelt told Coast Reporter the Bella Beach renewed its business licence for 2020, and the accommodation is still listed on the Sunshine Coast Tourism website.
Calls to the Bella Beach office have gone unanswered and Coast Reporter’s other efforts to contact representatives of Jin Guang Holdings have not been successful.
Jin Guang Holdings has not yet filed a response to the court petition, and none of the claims made in the petition has been proven in court.
