Century Group president Sean Hodgins has once again been selected as the Delta Optimist's Newsmaker of the Year.
The life-long Tsawwassen resident, whose late father George Hodgins was responsible for developing much of the community, was also last year's newsmaker, but it's hard to argue with the younger Hodgins being selected again following Delta council's historic decision this fall to approve his Southlands development proposal.
The application still has a major hurdle to clear in getting Metro Vancouver approval, but should it do so, it would finally end the extraordinarily long and often highly contentious debate over Tsawwassen's most famous piece of real estate.
Although the proposal, which would see a large portion of the property handed over to Delta, has many supporters, the division in the community was evident during a five-day public hearing.
It has been a long road to even get to this point for Hodgins and his firm, having begun the odyssey back in 2005.
"I knew it was going to be a lot of work but I didn't know what to expect going into that process, knowing it was going to take me a different direction. It is what it is. You think you're going to go to a certain point and if you don't get somewhere you throw in the towel, but a year later you feel like you're getting somewhere, so you don't want to quit.
"That's the way I felt, like we were always moving forward and achieving something with the community, so we just kept going."
Being a local resident with a locally-based company certainly helped rally support, but there were those who seemed to harbour animosity toward Century Group as well as himself, Hodgins notes.
"It would be interesting to see if someone completely independent of this has a shot of working it through. It would be interesting to see how receptive the community would have been if it was an outsider."
Hodgins says he's learned not to take negative comments personally, noting that in some instances there's simply a misunderstanding.
He has been involved in other major deals in the region, including the recent sale of a portion of what's been called the Musqueam Marpole Village as well as the official unveiling of Century Group's 3 Civic Plaza, a landmark hotel and condominium development in Surrey City Centre.
The Southlands represented his biggest showcase on how new communities can be shaped, integrating urban farming with new forms of housing, but he admits it's taken its toll on him at times.
"There definitely were points when you think you spent so much time on it and you should just sell the property and be done with it, but then I felt it's worth it to keep going.
"Often times during the course of a week, I'd be walking down to the coffee shop or I'd see someone, and usually someone would come up to me and say, 'You know what, I really support what you're trying to do.' "That would lift me up. Often times it just came down to that, someone in the community offering me some encouragement."
In addition to community support and personal determination, Hodgins stresses his vision would never have made it this far without the hard work of his Century Group staff. He values the collection of talent and the dedication of staff members, saying they should share the credit.
Hodgins is proposing to develop a community that caters to a wider range of incomes as well as ages, a key argument by supporters at the public hearing, some accusing the opposition of NIMBYism. Hodgins has been careful to steer clear of those statements, noting residents are entitled to have their say and some certainly had valid concerns.
It was also an interesting experience having speakers at the hearing talk about him or direct comments directly at him, Hodgins says, adding those who were positive, or at least polite, greatly outnumbered those who were rude.
"I just took it all in and I listened to everything everyone said. Some people had some very valid points, so I tried to take that all in."
One of the most recognizable individuals in South Delta, but on the other hand not one who enjoys the spotlight, he says he was flattered but sometimes a little embarrassed by the positive comments regarding him personally. "I guess it comes down to trust. You can't trust a corporation as much as you have to trust the people behind it."
Hodgins, who has continued his late father's philanthropy, points out he never intended to get into the development business, but says seeing something grow from an idea to a place that people want to live is rewarding, more so than how much money could be made.
