City council approved the Wedge last night in the city council meeting. Going to be very interesting to watch that go up on such a tiny little sliver of land. https://www.castanet.net/news/Kelown...oncerns#301704
I believe Bertram/The Block were also up for public hearing/council meeting last night but I missed the results of that as I got home too late. Did anybody hear the voting results of that?
Also curious to know if anybody has heard anything about the brand reveal for the Westcorp hotel since the planned brand reveal in March was scrapped due to Covid. Any news out there?
The Wedge is definitely a unique little project is an area that will probably undergo massive redevelopment in the next few years. There's supposed to be a massive wine tasting place I believe opening across from it.
Bertram/The Block. Didn't watch it but I'd be very inclined to say it would have passed without objections. Mission Group never gets turned down by City Council and this type of development is what they like (high rises).
I haven't heard anything from Westcorp but walking past it a few days ago it looked to be fenced in still. Wouldn't be surprised if the whole project gets put on hold indefinitely again as the real estate market is supposed to remain depressed for some time according the many real estate agents. They haven't sold anything yet so they don't need to commit to the project until activity resumes to more normal levels.
On a related note I also walked by Ella, and while it looks okay from a distance, I find the podium too big and hideous. The first main floors shouldn't be parking but rather office/retail in my opinion. If Westcorp can make 2 underground levels of parkade on higher water table why can't Mission Group? Same thing with Brooklyn I believe.
I'm happy to see The Wedge approved. It is a good piece of infill on a unique spot. Smaller buildings like this will help add texture to the downtown core.
The Wedge is definitely a unique little project is an area that will probably undergo massive redevelopment in the next few years. There's supposed to be a massive wine tasting place I believe opening across from it.
Bertram/The Block. Didn't watch it but I'd be very inclined to say it would have passed without objections. Mission Group never gets turned down by City Council and this type of development is what they like (high rises).
I haven't heard anything from Westcorp but walking past it a few days ago it looked to be fenced in still. Wouldn't be surprised if the whole project gets put on hold indefinitely again as the real estate market is supposed to remain depressed for some time according the many real estate agents. They haven't sold anything yet so they don't need to commit to the project until activity resumes to more normal levels.
On a related note I also walked by Ella, and while it looks okay from a distance, I find the podium too big and hideous. The first main floors shouldn't be parking but rather office/retail in my opinion. If Westcorp can make 2 underground levels of parkade on higher water table why can't Mission Group? Same thing with Brooklyn I believe.
I tend to agree on the Ella podium. The massive black/white painted wall facing the lake looks really strange. The rest of the building I don't mind however.
Exciting news that should hit the public today - UBCO is building a mixed-use development on the Daily Courier site (550 Doyle)! There will be office, 80-100k square feet of academic space, and student housing. Perhaps more than any, this development will increase the livelihood of downtown, especially during the winter months.
*EDIT*
Here it is!
Quote:
New UBC campus downtown
The University of British Columbia has announced a new downtown Kelowna campus.
The campus will be built at 550 Doyle Avenue, the current site of the Daily Courier.
It is expected it will take at least two years before construction begins. Once complete, it will contain academic and office space as well as rental housing. Students in healthcare, the creative arts and technology and wine and tourism will likely attend programming at the new campus.
The City of Kelowna and university are making the announcement right now in a virtual press conference.
Exciting news that should hit the public today - UBCO is building a mixed-use development on the Daily Courier site (550 Doyle)! There will be office, 80-100k square feet of academic space, and student housing. Perhaps more than any, this development will increase the livelihood of downtown, especially during the winter months.
Exciting news that should hit the public today - UBCO is building a mixed-use development on the Daily Courier site (550 Doyle)! There will be office, 80-100k square feet of academic space, and student housing. Perhaps more than any, this development will increase the livelihood of downtown, especially during the winter months.
This has potential to be a game changer downtown when you consider the potential of development sites in close proximety. Monaco towers site as example is right across the street and the old police station site (which now is posted as pending sale) is a block and a half away. Twist in the short term rentals in Mission's Benard block of towers and it all appears very positive.
That's absolutely incredible. The proposed downtown campus alone will surely guarantee continued robust interest in the downtown core for at least another decade or two. All the ingredients are there to truly transform the city into a bustling hub.
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"The destructive effects of automobiles are much less a cause than a symptom of our incompetence at city building" - Jane Jacobs 1961ish
That's absolutely incredible. The proposed downtown campus alone will surely guarantee continued robust interest in the downtown core for at least another decade or two. All the ingredients are there to truly transform the city into a bustling hub.
I would agree. And because it's UBC, it is much less dependent on a strong market. UBC has, from what I can tell, followed through with pretty much every plan on the drawing board for UBCO so far. I would argue that the best thing to happen to Kelowna so far in the 21st Century has been the introduction of UBC.
Exciting news that should hit the public today - UBCO is building a mixed-use development on the Daily Courier site (550 Doyle)! There will be office, 80-100k square feet of academic space, and student housing. Perhaps more than any, this development will increase the livelihood of downtown, especially during the winter months.
This is exciting news! Although it’s still early days and the design of the buildings isn’t finalized I sure hope it’s in the same ball park as those renderings. The architecture looks very unique.
So awesome. They're also looking for an architectural firm to design their new 141,000 sq ft ICI (Interdisciplinary Collaboration & Innovation) Building next to the Engineering building in the main campus, so they're going full steam ahead to double in size by the end of the decade. I'm really excited because that's just more options for my kids when they're ready to pursue post secondary education in 7-9 years.
I agree, it's already a great looking building. Seems UBC and the City of Kelowna have been working together on this concept and Kelowna is starting to get tougher on what they deem acceptable for this growing city so no surprise. Now let's hope for something almost equally as wonderful where Monaco was supposed to be across the street.
Unless the city shoots UBCO down (which will never happen), it's a slam dunk. This is probably the single most important project in the downtown's history.
Exciting news that should hit the public today - UBCO is building a mixed-use development on the Daily Courier site (550 Doyle)! There will be office, 80-100k square feet of academic space, and student housing. Perhaps more than any, this development will increase the livelihood of downtown, especially during the winter months.
Amazing, this is exactly the type of anchor project that will help to keep revitalizing downtown and drawing more people to the downtown core to continue developing and growing the core upwards.
Went for a hike up Knox the other day. This skyline has changed so much recently and seems like it will continue to change quite a bit in the coming years. Exciting times here.
Hey everyone, I'm back with another future skyline update. I've added the new UBCO development, Landmark 7, Capri Mall development, and Aura. The buildings in the Landmark area create a nice secondary skyline to compliment downtown and help beef things up even more. The UBCO development also helps bridge the gap in downtown very nicely.
Hope you all enjoy!
__________________ Opinions expressed here are solely my own and do not represent those of my employer.
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