Two express interest in buying Rabbit Island

Two prospective buyers will visit OCC’s Rabbit Island early next year, OCC Foundation Executive Director Doug Bennett said Wednesday.

“It is a little bit of a surprise. I didn’t think much would happen until February or March,” Bennett said.

Rabbit Island, a 36-acre island in British Columbia donated to OCC by yachting enthusiast Henry Wheeler in 2003, has been on the market for nearly a year.

The college nearly closed escrow on the island in October, but the buyer could not acquire the funding. Bennett thought the missed deal left the island little chance of being sold before next summer.

Rabbit Island is about 50 miles north of Vancouver at the top of the Strait of Georgia in Canada and is priced at $2.495 million.

The college used the island for science, yachting and photography classes in the summer. School officials estimate annual island maintenance at $150,000 — a financial drain on the school, they reasoned. A third person has also inquired about the island, Bennett said. The two island visitors seem the most promising so far, Bennett said.

“We’ll see if they’re just lookers or real buyers,” he said.

— Joseph Serna