Kelowna Construction

[djmk]

Originally Posted by araman0

Been following this thread from afar for a long time. This weekend we're making our first ever visit to Kelowna. Really excited to see the city first-hand! Once the border is more fully open I can see Kelowna being a regular Summer destination for us.

IMHO, Penticton is significantly better summer destination than Kelowna.

[giallo]

Originally Posted by djmk

IMHO, Penticton is significantly better summer destination than Kelowna.

You can do both pretty easily though. I'd recommend exploring the entire valley.

[araman0]

Originally Posted by giallo

You can do both pretty easily though. I'd recommend exploring the entire valley.

Thanks. This time around we're only there for 1.5 days before heading further east. In future years we'll defiantly explore the valley further.

[JayMi]

Originally Posted by Papabear1

Interesting that Castanet picked up this story with links to UN website and deleted the story less than an hour later. Something says it wasn't ready for an official release and either Mission group or UBCO called in for a removal. Fingers crossed it moves forward.

Remember reading a story about it “that UNstudio is no longer working on the project -- the new architect is HCMA and these renderings do not accurately reflect the upcoming design.” So I guess we’ll see what happens in the next little while.

[giallo]

Originally Posted by araman0

Thanks. This time around we're only there for 1.5 days before heading further east. In future years we'll defiantly explore the valley further.

Cool.

Feel free to ask for suggestions/recommendations here. While a lot of us don't live in Kelowna currently, many have lived there at some point in their lives, and have decent knowledge of the city and its surroundings.

[araman0]

What an amazing city! We’ve been floored, especially by the riverwalk and the closed street downtown. There’s something special about the city, and we’re excited to watch over the progress for years to come.

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by araman0

What an amazing city! We’ve been floored, especially by the riverwalk and the closed street downtown. There’s something special about the city, and we’re excited to watch over the progress for years to come.

That’s great that you enjoyed it!

Did you visit any of the wineries or golf courses?

Also Knox Mountain is the best view spot of downtown!

[Vin]

Originally Posted by JayMi

Remember reading a story about it “that UNstudio is no longer working on the project -- the new architect is HCMA and these renderings do not accurately reflect the upcoming design.” So I guess we’ll see what happens in the next little while.

Sigh: should have known. It did sound too good to be true.

[DKaz]

Originally Posted by giallo

While a lot of us don't live in Kelowna currently, many have lived there at some point in their lives, and have decent knowledge of the city and its surroundings.

Unfortunately there's not a whole lot of staying power in Kelowna. The entrepreneurial culture is great but they also need to attract top tier employers. I find that Kelowna is cliquey because a lot of people come and go. Why develop meaningful friendships if people aren't going to stay?

Originally Posted by JayMi

Remember reading a story about it “that UNstudio is no longer working on the project -- the new architect is HCMA and these renderings do not accurately reflect the upcoming design.” So I guess we’ll see what happens in the next little while.

Hopefully it's as good if not better. HCMA is also designing the ICI Building on the main campus.

[rofina]

Originally Posted by DKaz

Unfortunately there's not a whole lot of staying power in Kelowna. The entrepreneurial culture is great but they also need to attract top tier employers. I find that Kelowna is cliquey because a lot of people come and go. Why develop meaningful friendships if people aren't going to stay?
Hopefully it's as good if not better. HCMA is also designing the ICI Building on the main campus.

Ahem. Vancouver would like to have a word. If a City ever was an AirBnB. Its Vancouver.

[csbvan]

Originally Posted by DKaz

Unfortunately there's not a whole lot of staying power in Kelowna. The entrepreneurial culture is great but they also need to attract top tier employers. I find that Kelowna is cliquey because a lot of people come and go. Why develop meaningful friendships if people aren't going to stay?



Hopefully it's as good if not better. HCMA is also designing the ICI Building on the main campus.

They also did the Pharmaceutical Sciences building at UBC Vancouver, the Anvil Centre in New West and quite a few others. They have done some nice projects, many high-quality institutional. It seems like UBC went big with UN, then safe with someone they know. I expect it will be nice, given HMCA's portfolio, but not as exciting as what we saw from UN.

[Homerbush]

Updated plans for phase 2 of the old Hiawatha campground and trailer park in this link:
https://okanaganedge.net/2021/08/30/hiawatha-plans-more-defined/

[csbvan]

This is quite a substantial development - some 600+ units in all phases?

[giallo]

The city is going to have to really start to invest and promote its transit infrastructure. Buses aren't even a factor in most people's lives in Kelowna, but developments like this are going to cause a massive strain on the road network, especially along Lakeshore/Pandosy. With only two lanes, and no room to expand, they'll need to start pilot projects like a downtown bus every 15 minutes.

People need clean and reliable public transit before they'll think about making the switch.

[Homerbush]

A few photos of Landmark 7 from last week. Cladding is getting close to the top and they are finally starting to get something over that ugly concrete wall of the parkade.

[DKaz]

Coming along. It's obviously designed with future towers' parking podium in mind.

They also poured the 7th floor of the parkade along Dickson Ave.

[DKaz]

So I designed something that should alleviate the intersection of Springfield and Benvoulin, namely the huge number of left turns onto Benvoulin. Not only did I make it a dual left turn lane, I also designed it in a way that allows the left turn staging area to load up when Springfield has a red light then allow the left turn onto Benvoulin happen concurrent to the straight green light signal at Springfield. This would improve the flow of Springfield going straight through eastbound which often has a very short green light signal as a result of the left turn and traffic is often backed up to Cooper in the PM rush.

Turning right from Springfield to Benvoulin southbound has an extended merge lane with barriers to avoid conflicts with drivers turning left, there is an extended merge lane onto Springfield because of the high number of drivers making that movement (I should've extended the right turn staging lane from the south), and the turn from and onto Benvoulin on the north follows the new right turn island design designed for safer pedestrian crossings and reduced collisions with vehicles going straight through. I wonder if I should've eliminated the islands completely?

[JayMi]

Next tower making it’s way to council on October 5. At first council reading it received unanimous support. Don’t see any issues with it getting 2nd and 3rd. Fairly nice project coming from BC Housing.

https://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/news/article_562149ca-1ca1-11ec-aa70-b3e62bea02dd.html

[DKaz]

BTW, the rejected 42 then 35 storey Newtown tower is between this proposed 20 storey BC Housing tower and 34 storey Bertram at Bernard Block. So is 20 the magic number? Or somehwere between 20 and 34?

Maybe the other issue is that it would be five towers in a very small area. Which is not uncommon in Vancouver but will certainly look a little weird in Kelowna's skyline until the rest of downtown is further developed.

I am definitely all for this project though. I feel for those scraping by in the region.

[JayMi]

Originally Posted by DKaz

BTW, the rejected 42 then 35 storey Newtown tower is between this proposed 20 storey BC Housing tower and 34 storey Bertram at Bernard Block. So is 20 the magic number? Or somehwere between 20 and 34?

Maybe the other issue is that it would be five towers in a very small area. Which is not uncommon in Vancouver but will certainly look a little weird in Kelowna's skyline until the rest of downtown is further developed.

I am definitely all for this project though. I feel for those scraping by in the region.

One of the major rationals in the report for supporting the height variance of 8 stories is because of community benefit. Incentives like child care and below market housing makes it easier for staff and council to get behind. This is in the same density area (12 stories) as where the 46 storey was proposed. Big difference between 8 stories with community benefit vs 34 height variance with the applicants rational being “the city needs to build more units”.