Westcorp submitted a development proposal to Kelowna City Council on Thursday for a 32-story hotel building in the city center.
Image credit: Westcorp
February 21, 2018 – 2:30 p.m.
KELOWNA – “Onward and Upward” was everything Kelowna Coun. Ryan Donn had to say after the approval of the Westcorp downtown hotel project last night.
Donn and Coun. Charlie Hodge was the only opposition on the council after a public hearing on Westcorp’s request for deviations from the development of a much larger 33-story hotel and condominium complex, the largest in Kelowna’s history.
Despite a negative recommendation from the planning staff, Mayor Colin Basran and councilors Luke Stack, Brad Sieben, Gail Given and Mohini Singh voted for the change, which will nearly double the size of the project and add 49 luxury condos in addition to the original proposed hotel.
Donn said most of the people who turned to the council at Tuesday’s public hearing were in favor of the project, praising its virtues and shaking off concerns from the planners who thought the project was way too big for its location, one of the most famous skyscrapers in Kelowna.
However, the response to the decision on social media has been much less enthusiastic, also due to the project’s prime location on the former Willow Inn hotel grounds.
The schedule for the construction of the new building is not clear. Westcorp plans to start selling condominiums as soon as possible. However, construction will not begin until the end of the year.
The Alberta-based development company previously announced it would begin construction in 2016 after obtaining approval for a 26-story hotel. The development permit then expired before the plan approved last night was submitted.
When voting for the project, Mayor Colin Basran took note of the long history of the development.
In 2007, Westcorp boss Phil Milroy financed a so-called comprehensive development plan for a large part of the city center, in which the company also owns other properties.
The plan, known as CD-21, would have governed not only the construction of the hotel grounds but also its surroundings, including height and density, but also the placement of city parks and road closures.
The heart of the plan would have been the land-based Westcorp Hotel, acquired in 2003, which the company originally intended to protrude into Lake Okanagan and which was partly on land in Kerry Park.
Public pressure at the time urged the company to downsize its original plans and move back from the water’s edge, but ultimately it was all in vain when the council of the day voted against the plan.
The retreat from the Kelowna real estate market after the recession put the project back on hold.
Construction of a 26-story hotel was finally due to begin in 2016, when Calgary-based Westcorp abruptly announced another delay, claiming at the time that further research into the area’s water table was needed.
Instead of continuing, the company filed a new design this summer that moved much of the parking space underground and added six floors and 49 market condos to the original hotel, conference center, restaurants and shops.
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News from © iNFOnews, 2018
