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Proposed 26-storey hotel in limbo




Plans for a 26-storey hotel and office building in the Manhattan Point area of downtown Kelowna have been withdrawn by the developer.
City planning staff were poised to recommend approval for the major project and it had been expected a rezoning request would soon be considered by council.
However, Argus Properties has now withdrawn the application in a move that surprised city officials who were working on the file for months.
“We're a bit puzzled by this,” Ryan Smith, the city's urban planning manager, said Tuesday.
“The report to council was ready to go and we were going to recommend support for the rezoning, subject to a few conditions,” Smith said. “It's an uncommon point for a development to come off line.”
But company officials say they expect the project will still go ahead if some outstanding issues with the city can be resolved. One apparently contentious point is how much the company is being asked to pay for road improvements in the area.
“We've got a few off-site servicing issues that we're still working through,” said Darren Schlamp, Argus' development manager. “We're pretty positive these issues can be resolved.
“It's an exciting project, a great building, and we definitely believe it would be a win for the community,” Schlamp said.
Mayor Colin Basran made specific reference to the project during his inaugural address on Monday night at the Rotary Centre for the Arts. He described the proposed hotel as one of the projects that would help spark a “major transformation” in the north end industrial area.
The site for the proposed hotel, at the corner of Manhattan Drive and Sunset Drive, is currently zoned industrial. The company's plan was for a 26 storey building, made up of 14 floors dedicated to an “internationally-branded hotel”, eight storeys of office space, and four storeys of year-round residential suites that could also be rented out on a short-term basis.
The company's website still lists detailed plans for the project, including components such as conference space, rooftop pool, and restaurant.
Some residents of the north end had raised concerns about the project's potential impact on the community, but the Kelowna Downtown Knox Mountain Neighbourhood Association had yet to take a formal position on the application.
“Considering the time and money spent on this proposal, it's curious it would be pulled now,” association president Lisa Masini said. “But our wish would be that if it is revived, there'll be an opportunity for the public to provide meaningful feedback.”

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