Kelowna Construction

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by DKaz

It is essentially a sububan office park. Some of those vibes may be shed as they build more office towers that are closer to the street and have more street activation, and more residential, but it will be decades in the making. Unfortunately they are missing at least one multifamily building that should've started construction 5 years ago, and several more by now. The convenant that allowed Stober to build all of what they built no longer exists so they may be holding on to their cards.

A residential building or two would go a long way to making Landmark a proper district, not just a 9-5 office park.

[csbvan]

There's an Area Plan for Capri/Landmark. It's basically shooting for all residential (or hotel) until residents outnumber jobs 2:1 in the area. The whole area will fill in with residential in the coming years. I highly doubt we see much or any office given the market.

[Pejamu]

Originally Posted by csbvan

There's an Area Plan for Capri/Landmark. It's basically shooting for all residential (or hotel) until residents outnumber jobs 2:1 in the area. The whole area will fill in with residential in the coming years. I highly doubt we see much or any office given the market.

The lot right next to Landmark 7 is for sale. If it is Stober that is selling it i wonder what that means for future office space in the area. I suspect you're right.

[JayMi]

There are some revised drawings for Mission Group's 40 storey tower adjacent to UBCO. Some of the major changes include changing the project entirely to rental. This has dropped their parking requirements significantly and the project now will only contain a 3 storey podium instead of the standard 4. Additionally, the size of floor plate has been reduced to 700m2. This will be one of the skinniest towers in Kelowna.

https://apps.kelowna.ca/CityPage/Dev...awings%202.pdf

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[Vin]

Beautiful structure!

[RHINO]

very impressive

[giallo]

Nice tower, but it gives a 1970s strip mall vibe at the podium.

I really hope architects and city planners can find interesting ways of improving the podium of these buildings. I understand that above-ground parking is not going anywhere, but I do hope it doesn't come at the cost of an interesting streetscape.

[LFC]

Love the character of this one. The slenderness will be an interesting contrast beside UBCO.

Timeline will be interesting to follow as well as we potentially could have two towers side by side being constructed again (Water street by the Park being the other current dueling towers).

[Bcasey25raptor]

Originally Posted by JayMi

There are some revised drawings for Mission Group's 40 storey tower adjacent to UBCO. Some of the major changes include changing the project entirely to rental. This has dropped their parking requirements significantly and the project now will only contain a 3 storey podium instead of the standard 4. Additionally, the size of floor plate has been reduced to 700m2. This will be one of the skinniest towers in Kelowna.

https://apps.kelowna.ca/CityPage/Dev...awings%202.pdf

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How likely is this project to go through though? I'd imagine Kelowna residents may be apprehensive after the problems with the UBCO tower

[Bcasey25raptor]

I'm in Kelowna for a few weeks and went downtown Yesterday and took several pictures mostly of the waterfront by the park development


From the waterfront promenade


Growing South Downtown skyline


Closeup of the waterfront by the park development


From city park

[giallo]

Great update. Thanks!

[Bcasey25raptor]

Originally Posted by giallo

Great update. Thanks!

I'll be posting more over the coming weeks. Saw them working on the UBCO project and that other 19 story project nearby. Didn't get pics yesterday though

[KelownaResident]

Great update Bcasey25raptor!

Sad to see the views of the mountains and sky being lost to those fat towers though.

I like the new proposal of Mission Group, with the skinnier tower and 3 story podium (instead of 4). Hopefully they can make it look more animated somehow. I still think they're better off keeping the podium taller if they can somehow add some commercial units to wrap around the parkade podiums.

Walked down Bernard a few days ago and still think that Bernard Block is an architectural tragedy. Looks too cheap and dead for something that is on our Main Street.

[KelownaResident]

I am often very critical of the generic looking towers with the bulky podiums, but I sincerely hope that once Water Street by the Park goes up and residents move in that it livens up that whole area.

[Pejamu]

Anybody have any thoughts about what is being said in this post about Mission Group on Reddit?

https://www.reddit.com/r/kelowna/s/lKYxCNbd75

[Bcasey25raptor]

As Promised. I took some more photos of Kelowna yesterday and figured you all would love to see them

This area feels quite urban now. The UBCO tower should be going up on the right down the street


This is the same street looking south, its definitely feeling pretty dense


I love Kelowna's rainbow crosswalk, very inviting and progressive and adds colour


From the boardwalk along the lake, on the right you can see the rapidly rising Waterfront by the park project, it's impact on the skyline is massive and i'm very excited for the Eli (42 floors) to top out. Perhaps by next visit around Christmas it may top out.


Looking east down Bernard street has a real big city vibe going for it now, much improved from when I was a kid growing up here


As of right now, the towers in this picture are still Kelownas Tallest, Well the tallest of these towers anyway. But it's reign is coming to an end quickly


Another picture showcasing the tallest buildings near tugboat beach. You can see the clock tower that used to be a water fountain by the bus depot (queensway exchange)


Another angle of the 4 towers from a prior pic noticeable from bernard. Gives the city a clearer dense core that does indeed feel like a proper city.


Though short in stature, Ellis has a visible urban canyon developing


Work on the 19 story 1333 Bertram rental tower has begun, will be a nice addition to this part of downtown


Hope you enjoyed my updates from yesterday

[Metro-One]

Thanks for the update!

Some of those last few pics are amazing to think that's Kelowna, and the largest towers are yet to fully appear.

[Bcasey25raptor]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Thanks for the update!

Some of those last few pics are amazing to think that's Kelowna, and the largest towers are yet to fully appear.

It's wildly different from when I moved away 11 years ago. Kelowna actually feels like a city now instead of a town. It's so much better than it used to be

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by Bcasey25raptor

It's wildly different from when I moved away 11 years ago. Kelowna actually feels like a city now instead of a town. It's so much better than it used to be

My first time really in Kelowna was around 1997. I remember it being very underwhelming and feeling smaller than Kamloops (which we often drive through on summer trips).

Amazing how that has completely flipped now. Kelowna is unquestionably the urban core of the BC interior and has only gotten better every year.

Unfortunately I can’t make it back to Canada this year but hope to be in Kelowna next summer!

[DKaz]

Kelowna was largely a sleepy lakeside city arguably to the mid-2010s when the latest boom started. Stober just completed Landmark 6 which was a bit of a head-scratcher since unemployment between 2009 and 2015 was almost 10% and it was reported that 10% of Okanagan households at least one income coming from Alberta. 2015-18 was a weird time, although Kelowna as gaining lots of jobs, there were lots of newcomers coming in and then Alberta was shedding jobs so competition for the new jobs was fierce and unemployment remained high through the start of the boom, finally dwindling to around 5% by 2019.

People may lament the loss of the waterslides, Flinstones park, etc. that make the Okanagan a vacation destination for families as well as for the kids who live around here, but people are here for the beaches, mountains, trails, wineries, and golf courses anyway.

I see a resurgence in office space happening. Kelowna has embraced hybrid work from home long before the pandemic. Shorts in the office, shifting the workday so they can get a round of golf, 3pm hockey practices for the kids, etc. it's truly one of those places where living there can still feel like a vacation.