Kelowna Construction

[zoomer]

Originally Posted by Dylan Leblanc

that guy in the cap just can't wait to get his hands on it!

yah, the lady to the left...he ain't looking at no highrise!

[giallo]

Not bad

[raggedy13]

That roof is reminiscent of The Melville in Vancouver, silvery as opposed to copper. I like it.

[SpongeG]

another rendering of waterscapes

there is a great rendering of it in the new home buyers guide - impressive

[SpongeG]

here it is

[Blake]

http://www.raisedeyebrowclients.com/flash/

Here is a very cool 3D video of Waterscapes.

[Dylan Leblanc]

check out some new kelowna photos on http://globalairphotos.com/

that's quite the beast under construction. anyone have a rendering of that building?

[giallo]

^ That's Centuria. It is by far Kelowna's best development to date. Retail at the base with a ton of units on top. I believe it's 16 stories.

[The Great Scaper]

Strange it looks like it's quite far away from Downtown.

[Dylan Leblanc]

Thanks Giallo!

I would love to see some more photos of thie Centuria building. Any Kelowna residents listening??

[giallo]

No problem, Dylan.

This a really cool shot of Kelowna's Agricultural Land Reserve in action.

[chris]

What's with all that farmland in the lower part of the photo?

[giallo]

^ That is part of the ALR (Agricultural Land Reserve). Kelowna took some smart steps a few years back and made most of the remaining farmland untouchable to developers. This is one of the reasons Kelowna's density has increased three fold. A lot of people don't like it saying that it is prime land that should be used for future developments. I, on the other hand, would have to disagree. Kelowna is full of underused, already developed land. Why go and destroy something that can't be replaced when there is a ton of it all along the northern and eastern parts of the city?

[raggedy13]

^Good for Kelowna. I hadn't previously heard that they had an ALR.

[SFUVancouver]

The Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) exists right across BC, though, naturally, ALR lands are concentrated in the areas of the province with arable land.

We'll be thanking ourselves more and more over the years as the ALR land simultaneously acts as bulwarks against unchecked low-density urban development and an increasingly important source of food.

[weezerfaninfreddy]

We have a significant amount of land in the ALR up here in Prince George, however it has little to no agricultural value. We are in the process of removing a significant portion from the ALR for some industrial development. THe process to remove it however is quite tedeous and there will probably be some protest from people down south about it but what do they care about northern BC anyways seeing as we are losing quite a few MLA's up here but that is another story.

[clooless]

Originally Posted by chris

What's with all that farmland in the lower part of the photo?

Actually, what is interesting is about 30 years ago the area on the right side of the photo, where the giant Orchard Park Mall is, was all orchard (thus the name). The mall across the street, to the left on the photo, was also orchard but that wasn't bulldozed for a mall until sometime in the 80s. In fact, at one time there was just about nothing between Kelowna and Rutland (Rutland is to the right in the photo, off frame) except orchards, and even though they were amalgamated into the city of Kelowna there was a distinct separation between the two places, similar to the way the Mission area of Kelowna was separated until the late 80s. Over the years the gaps were filled with developments and built up, but it's hard to imagine that at one time it was all orchard.

Developers keep nibbling away at the ALR parcels that are left, and I wholeheartedly agree that it is important that we maintain these green areas if nothing to check urban sprawl and retain at least a little of the charm that orchards provide to the area.

[chris]

Thanks for answering my question regarding the undeveloped farmland, guys.

Now I have another question! Considering Kelowna is located in a valley, and land suitable for housing is already pretty scarce, wouldn't reserving land for agricultural use simply increase the price for land ever more, making it even harder for residents to buy land/home?

[giallo]

^It has. That's why Kelowna is approving high-rises like it never has before.

[Dylan Leblanc]