Was reading through an old Kelowna development thread on another website that went back as far as about 2004 as well as this one. Good lord there have been a lot of false starts and developments that never ended up happening over the last 15 years! Just curious, which development, that is more or less dead, would you have most liked to see go up? For me, one of them would have been the Westin hotel but because One Water street is happening on that site now, I am over it. In terms of the location and design, I think I would have to go with "24" or "Aura". Would love to see more happening between Harvey and Bernard.
Was reading through an old Kelowna development thread on another website that went back as far as about 2004 as well as this one. Good lord there have been a lot of false starts and developments that never ended up happening over the last 15 years! Just curious, which development, that is more or less dead, would you have most liked to see go up? For me, one of them would have been the Westin hotel but because One Water street is happening on that site now, I am over it. In terms of the location and design, I think I would have to go with "24" or "Aura". Would love to see more happening between Harvey and Bernard.
I definitely agree 24Kelowna would have been an exciting project but that unfortunately never materialized. Is it still owned by the Aqualinis? Are they in financial trouble or something? I think Sopa Square (Aquilini owned?) hasn't addressed some of their construction deficiencies yet.
This picture brilliantly illustrates what i've been whining about for ages, the business district is a mile and a half from downtown-name another city in North America that has put such little thought into planning
This picture brilliantly illustrates what i've been whining about for ages, the business district is a mile and a half from downtown-name another city in North America that has put such little thought into planning
Fortunately, Kelowna still has a lot of time to rectify this mistake. There's a lot of space in downtown to be filled and I'm certain that Kelowna will eventually see more office towers going up in the core once the area fills out with more condos.
Landmark may seem significant now, but it's just a glorified office park at best.
I don’t think City of Kelowna had any say in it. Nobody saw a development permit for Landmark 7 although there is one to add an additional storey on the parkade facing Dickson Ave.
This picture brilliantly illustrates what i've been whining about for ages, the business district is a mile and a half from downtown-name another city in North America that has put such little thought into planning
The Landmark buildings were built at a time when it was popular to build office buildings outside of the downtown. It is unfortunate, but most of the newest office proposals (although not to the scale of Landmark 7, there are multiple of them) are downtown. There's a good chance Landmark ends up not being the office district, but an office tower complex disconnected from the actual downtown business district. Too bad, but I think it will be incorrect to refer to it as the business district for the city.
^Except virtually all the office space in the city is around the Landmark buildings, with almost none downtown so it isn't just a satellite business district, it is the business district and other cities that have done this like Uptown-Houston, Buckhead-Atlanta, Burnaby-Vancouver and Century City-Los Angeles already had downtown business districts
^Except virtually all the office space in the city is around the Landmark buildings, with almost none downtown so it isn't just a satellite business district, it is the business district and other cities that have done this like Uptown-Houston, Buckhead-Atlanta, Burnaby-Vancouver and Century City-Los Angeles already had downtown business districts
Kelowna has 3.9 million sq ft of office space. The landmark district represents 700k sq ft. Landmark 7 is adding 200k to this but there are also new projects downtown (80k sq ft bernard block, the wedge, ubco downtown).
Walk around downtown kelowna, there is office space but they are mostly 2-6 floor lowrises. Not the same scale as landmark 6 and 7
Kelowna has 3.9 million sq ft of office space. The landmark district represents 700k sq ft. Landmark 7 is adding 200k to this but there are also new projects downtown (80k sq ft bernard block, the wedge, ubco downtown).
Walk around downtown kelowna, there is office space but they are mostly 2-6 floor lowrises. Not the same scale as landmark 6 and 7
Civic Precinct Plan taking shape with key development selection
Progress is being made on a key piece of real estate, core to the vision of the Civic Precinct Plan in Kelowna’s Cultural District. RISE Commercial Developments has been selected to lease a portion of the property located at 350 Doyle Avenue, the former RCMP site.
“At this stage, we are pleased to release conceptual images to show how this space delivers on the overall vision of the area,” said Graham Hood, Strategic Land Development Manager. “Moving forward with RISE on this site supports the momentum of the Cultural District and fills the need for more housing options downtown, in addition to delivering new spaces and amenities to benefit the entire community.”
As part of the $7-million lease agreement, RISE will provide a 6,000-square-foot cultural space within the development, construct a new civic plaza, and extend the Artwalk to Doyle Avenue. This $4.3-million investment in public space contributes key elements in fulfilling the vision of the Civic Precinct Plan, developed in 2016 following extensive community engagement.
RISE Commercial Developments, headquartered in Kelowna, has extensive experience developing projects across Canada, including The Shore, recently completed on Lakeshore Road.
“We are very excited to work with the City in delivering on the objectives they have established for this site,” said Greg Appelt, President of RISE. “The property has a unique connection to the Cultural District and RISE is thrilled to be selected to move forward with our proposal, which includes exceptional public spaces and adding a significant number of modern rental suites to the heart of downtown.”
The development of the property is part of a long-term 99-year land lease, meaning the land will ultimately revert to City ownership. Upon release of all contractual conditions, it is anticipated the developer will proceed with the public development permit process as early as September.
Just read this as well. Great news that they are getting the process started! I really like the job RISE did on The Shore as well. A similar article on the Dailycourier had a few more details about possible building height(s) as well. The city signalled a desire for a maximum of 13 storeys but the developer may seek permission to go higher through the approval process:
I hope they don't screw this up. Personally I don't like The Shore. Doesn't fit well with its surroundings.
Hmm, I hadn’t considered that. It certainly doesn’t fit in with its surroundings as they are now but perhaps that will change. For this project - at least the preliminary renderings look nice on the article. I really like the small outdoor amphitheatre in the one drawing. Would this project include a new theatre as well? Or would that be adjacent to the site.
On another note, I was going through my photo archives, and found some images of Kelowna that could be classified as "vintage" due to the changes downtown.
One Water Street - East tower - looks like they are on level 35 of 36
Ellis Parc - glass all the way up now
Brooklyn - looks to be on level 9 or 10 already
Landmark 7 - never really noticed just how massive this podium is going to look. Going to be very imposing IMO. Don't mind the design of the tower portion however.
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Thank you! Awesome work. Kelowna's downtown skyline from the bridge is going to look phenomenal.
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