Urban planner behind Whistler Village and False Creek South's design passes away
Neil Griggs, a local urban planner whose work helped define some of Canada’s most iconic communities and destinations, including Whistler Village and Vancouver’s False Creek South neighbourhood, passed away in June 2025 at the age of 85, according to a public announcement today.
After earning degrees in urban geography and urban planning from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 1970, Griggs emerged as a key figure in shaping contemporary Vancouver.
Working alongside Walter Hardwick and Mayor Art Phillips, he played a pivotal role in the creation of False Creek South — a bold transformation of industrial land into one of Canada’s most progressive mixed-income waterfront communities.
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But it was Whistler Village where Griggs left perhaps his most enduring mark. In the late 1970s, he co-founded Sutcliffe, Griggs Moodie Planning Consultants and worked with the late Bob Williams to design Whistler Village.
His vision for Whistler’s pedestrian-focused, mixed-use resort set a new global standard for mountain communities at the time.
As the president and general manager of the Whistler Village Land Company, Griggs oversaw its transformation into an all-season destination, helping set up Whistler to eventually fulfill its original ambition of hosting the Winter Olympics, ultimately decades later in 2010.
Neil Griggs
Griggs’ experience with False Creek South and Whistler later attracted global attention.
In the early 1980s, he was invited to Australia to lead planning for Sanctuary Cove, a resort community on Queensland’s Gold Coast. Opened in 1988 with a celebration featuring Frank Sinatra and Whitney Houston, Sanctuary Cove’s marinas, golf courses, and pedestrian-friendly village streets were influenced by Vancouver and Whistler’s own urban design successes.
Back in Canada, Griggs led major redevelopment projects, including the transformation of the former Oakalla Prison site next to Deer Lake in Burnaby into the Oaklands neighbourhood — a project that won the Urban Development Institute’s award for Best Planned Communities in 1996.
Later in life, Griggs turned his focus to philanthropy. In 1997, he founded Builders Without Borders, a Vancouver-based non-profit organization that partners with international non-government organizations to deliver housing, schools, and medical facilities in communities affected by poverty and disaster. The organization has since completed more than 50 projects across 12 countries, from Turkey to the Philippines.
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- City of Vancouver's chief urban planner signals major reforms for more flexible building development