Chinese real estate investors are known for their confidence, but now one company from Hebei is paying nearly a million Canadian dollars to try to bring back the dead. Or at least a dead village.
According to a real estate agent based near Vancouver, British Columbia, China Zhong Ya Group Hebei Canada-China Co recently agreed to pay close to the asking price of C$995,000 ($841,500) for the abandoned Canadian gold mining village of Bradian, which is located near the famed Whistler ski resort.
John Lovelace, head of Richmond, BC-based Sutton Seafair Realty, said that the little known Chinese-invested company had bought the uninhabited town in the Bridge River Valley, complete with streets, fire hydrants, 22 homes and 50 acres (20 hectares) of land. The realtor said that Zhong Ya Group plans to redevelop the town, but added that the “planning process will undoubtedly take considerable time.”
A representative for Zhong Ya Group, Michael Mills, said that the Chinese firm became interested in the former mining town after seeing reports about it being up for sale. The previous owners, had placed the property on the market in 2010.
In the 1930s, Bradian was home to workers from the nearby Bralorne gold mine but they and their families left after the mine closed in 1971. Now Zhong Ya Group seems to see potential for abandoned village to be rebuilt as a tourist destination.
Mills pointed to the area’s mild weather and abundant snow as making Bradian ideal for winter sports, while its outdoor scenery also made it an atractive resort location year-round. There’s “a lot of nature, a lot of fishing, a lot of hiking,” Mills said.
[…] China Zhong Ya Group Hebei Canada-China Co recently agreed to pay close to C$995,000 ($841,500) for the abandoned Canadian gold mining village of Bradian, BC. […]