If you're in the market for 92 houses, a hospital and two rec centres, an abandoned B.C. mining town – with a $7-million price tag – may be worth a look.

Kitsault, which is 140 kilometres northeast of Prince Rupert on a mountain edge, is for sale, along with 80 hectares of forest and one kilometre of beach.

Real estate agent Rudy Nielson, with Niho Land and Cattle Company, said the view from the town is its best selling feature.

Kitsault (courtesy Niho Land and Cattle Co.)
Kitsault (courtesy Niho Land and Cattle Co.)

"It's a fjord, like you'd see in Norway," Nielson told CBC Online. "You can see big glaciers. And within one mile of Kitsault, there are eight rivers and creeks.

"You look across the bay at an emerald green bay and snow-capped mountains."

Nielson, who sold the abandoned B.C. lumber town of Laming Mills in 1978, said an American company specializing in recreation properties has expressed interest in Kitsault. And once news of the town being for sale hit the media Tuesday, he received two more queries.

Kitsault, which once had a population of 1,200, was abandoned in 1982 when the nearby molybdenum mine was closed a year after it opened. Molybdenum is a metal used in steel production. The last inhabitants moved out in 1983.

Kitsault is now owned by copper company Phelps Dodge Corp., which has decided to sell it off.

Potential buyers would be picking up:

  • Seven apartment buildings.

  • Ninety-two homes.

  • A hospital.

  • Two recreation centres, with a pool, hot tub, racquetball courts, library, theatre, curling rink and pub.

  • A shopping mall.