Kelowna Construction

[giallo]

Fantastic news!

[Bcasey25raptor]

Anyone heard of whats going on with the Monaco project?

[Emtee]

Originally Posted by Bcasey25raptor

Anyone heard of whats going on with the Monaco project?

According to a post they replied to today on their Facebook page:

Thanks for your continued interest in The Monaco. We are in-fact hard at work on pre-construction work at HQ. With all of the wonderful things happening in the community we are excited to be a part of it.

https://www.facebook.com/TheMonacoKe...70628776349983

Also, an update on Sopa Square and 24 from Aquilini:

“Everything now depends on what’s best for the market,” said Aquilini’s Hoffman.
“Construction [of Sopa Square] will depend on pre-sales and there might be some tweaking of the plan depending on what buyers want and what makes sense.”
Aquilini also owns on site on Bernard Avenue in downtown Kelowna where it plans to build a 26-storey condominium tower with commercial space at the base.
“That proposal is in a holding pattern right now,” said Hoffman.
“The development permit there has expired and there are no plans to get one in the near future.”

http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/bu...92ac6f908.html

[Ogopogo Fan]

Woohoo! Construction on Lucaya starts in April!

http://globalnews.ca/news/1799668/wa...getting-a-fix/

[Emtee]

Originally Posted by Ogopogo Fan

Woohoo! Construction on Lucaya starts in April!

http://globalnews.ca/news/1799668/wa...getting-a-fix/

Great news! Quick screen grab from the video:

[Bcasey25raptor]

Originally Posted by Emtee

According to a post they replied to today on their Facebook page:



https://www.facebook.com/TheMonacoKe...70628776349983

Funny story, it was I who asked them in their Facebook page.

[vitc]

Sorry, but I will believe it when it actually rises!

[Metro-One]

Hope this is true, I will be more happy to see this tower and Sopa Square completed than seeing any of the new proposals get off the ground. There is just something so depressing about major uncompleted towers.

[vitc]

i SO hope this gets build - it will be an amazing array of construction in that area later this year!!

[Ogopogo Fan]

Construction of a 24-storey, $65-million hotel in downtown Kelowna should begin later this year.
Site work is expected to begin sometime between October and December, Gail Temple, a vice-president of Edmonton-based Westcorp Inc. said Monday.
“That is the game plan at this point,” she said.
Once work begins, construction is expected to take about 22 months, city council was told earlier by senior staffer Doug Gilchrist at the regular Monday meeting. Council gave all necessary approvals for the project, at the base of Queensway overlooking Okanagan Lake, last summer.
Gilchrist referred to the hotel during a review of what he said were “very positive” future developments for downtown Kelowna.
Other major projects about to change the landscape of the central core, he said, include the new RCMP building on Clement Avenue, the Innovation Centre on Doyle Avenue next to the library, a new Interior Health building, where 800 people will work, expansion of Stuart Park, and construction of two new parkades.
The flurry of construction projects may bring some “growing pains” in terms of traffic interruptions and other temporary inconveniences to the public, Gilchrist said.
Purvez Irani, a senior city engineer, has been assigned the responsibility of co-ordinating the projects and trying to minimize their construction impact, council heard.

From: http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/ne...9a2db1567.html

[Emtee]

19-storey highrise hotel proposed for Big White



Vancouver-based Berezan Developments is taking another stab at building a stunning highrise condominium-hotel at Big White Ski Resort.

A few years ago, the company wanted to build a highrise complex that included a casino, condos, hotel rooms, shops, restaurants and bars at the ski resort just northeast of Kelowna.

But that proposal fizzled as the recession set in.

“We’re putting feelers out there to see what the market might be interested in,” said developer Babu Kadiyala of Berezan.

“There is no casino in this proposal at this moment.”

On Wednesday, a billboard went up in Big White’s lower parking lot introducing Chateau Blanc.

It features two striking renderings of a stacked and curved 19-storey highrise ski-in, ski-out condo-hotel that would contain 450 units.

In the base of the building, there would be room for stores, restaurants, bars, a spa and pool, nightclub, liquor store and children’s play area.

“People can register with us and let us know if Chateau Blanc is something they are interested in,” said Kadiyala.

“Because this is just gauging what the market is interested in, there is no construction date and no prices.”

The billboard urges those interested to register at BerezanDevelopments.com.

The registration asks if you’d be interested in buying a hotel room or condominium and whether you’d consider putting it in a rental pool when you aren’t using the unit, so the property can operate as a hotel.

Big White has many hotels and condo complexes in its village, but nothing as big and high as the Chateau Blanc proposal.

Berezan is currently building a casino in Salmon Arm. It has also built smaller industrial and commercial buildings in the Lower Mainland.

Besides the bold Chateau Blanc proposal for Big White, the company also has proposals for highrise mixed-use complexes in Surrey and Langley.

http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/bu...04e4ce244.html

[osirisboy]

Wtf. Does anything actually get built in this city??

[Emtee]

SOPA construction this year

The SOPA Square project is back up and running with yesterday's announcement that the Aquilini Group has officially taken over the project.

Given the building was initially approved by the city in 2008, South Pandosy residents have long wondered if the grey shell of a empty building would ever be completed.

Vice president of Aquilini Development, Kevin Hoffman, says they hope to have sales start in a few months and construction starting by the end of the year.

“We are working on setting up a new marketing campaign right now, which we hope to launch later this Spring or early Summer,” says Hoffman. “We are also looking at the building itself now and trying to refine what was there and seeing if we can make things a little bit better.”

He says they are working with existing tenants and are optimistic about the high interest from others who would like to move their businesses into the building.

“Now that we are the owners of the building we can go ahead and work with those people to try to get the space occupied, make it a little bit more vibrant and look like it is lived in.”

He says it will take three or four months to get the showroom and sales going again and then construction start time will be based on its success.

“It will depend on how much demand there is,” says Hoffman. “But, our goal would be to start construction some time later this year. If things go really well that would be the plan.”

As for the building design, he says they are looking at all their options, but wouldn't comment on any changes that might be made.

“We are exploring that right now. We love the concept that was there, I think it just has to be refined.”

All investors that had previously purchased homes in the building had their deposits returned so Hoffman says they are starting with a clean slate.

Although Hoffman cannot talk numbers, he says the units will be priced to sell.

“I think we always do our best to price it aggressively so that we can make it a successful marketing camping, so ya it will definitely be an attractive offer in the Kelowna market."

Hofffman says there will be a range of unit offerings from 1-bedroom to 3-bedroom with different floor plan types.

“We are really excited to be in the Kelowna market again and we are happy and proud to be the new owners.”

http://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna...tion-this-year

[Bcasey25raptor]

Originally Posted by osirisboy

Wtf. Does anything actually get built in this city??

That'd be a negative

[Procrastinational]

Originally Posted by Bcasey25raptor

That'd be a negative

Other than strip malls of course.



Such a shame. The city is in a beautiful location, and some of the older neighbourhoods are actually really quite nice. So much potential squandered by poor urban planning.

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by Procrastinational

Other than strip malls of course.



Such a shame. The city is in a beautiful location, and some of the older neighbourhoods are actually really quite nice. So much potential squandered by poor urban planning.

Or NO urban planning! Like you say beautiful location, great climate (for Canada) but the city has all the character of a Houston suburb.

[SOSS]

Kelowna 2015 Capital Projects have been announced. Overall it looks pretty good IMO. Wondering why the new South Perimeter road is not listed. Also wondering what is going on KLO Road & Mission Creek Bridge Upgrades at Spiers & Hall. Anyone know? I can't seem to find additional information on it.

2015 Capital Projects Map
2015 Capital Projects Presentation

[Metro-One]

Honestly, i feel Kelowna is not as bad as some of you make it out to be. Been there many times myself.

It does have urban design problems, and there is far too much sprawl throughout the valley eating farmland and grasslands on the hills, but the downtown core is decently nice, and they did add a lot of infill during the economic boom of the mid 2000s.

Since 2008 though Kelowna has been kind of cursed. The city has been proactive in trying to get taller / larger projects off the ground (look at all the projects already green lit now, Monaco, the two hotel towers, Sopa, etc...) but sadly everything seems to stall / fall through due to economic.

Hopefully this is the year where a little luck falls on Kelowna (hell, I would be happy with simply getting Sopa completed, along with getting Lucy going and maybe one of the two hotel towers going).

[Procrastinational]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Honestly, i feel Kelowna is not as bad as some of you make it out to be. Been there many times myself.

It does have urban design problems, and there is far too much sprawl throughout the valley eating farmland and grasslands on the hills, but the downtown core is decently nice, and they did add a lot of infill during the economic boom of the mid 2000s.

Since 2008 though Kelowna has been kind of cursed. The city has been proactive in trying to get taller / larger projects off the ground (look at all the projects already green lit now, Monaco, the two hotel towers, Sopa, etc...) but sadly everything seems to stall / fall through due to economic.

Hopefully this is the year where a little luck falls on Kelowna (hell, I would be happy with simply getting Sopa completed, along with getting Lucy going and maybe one of the two hotel towers going).

I agree that they've done a really nice job with the downtown core. The lakefront and area along Bernard St are both very well done, but I just find that if you fly into the city, by the time you've gone past all the strip malls getting to downtown, your impression of the city is already ruined. Same thing coming in from the connector with all the strip malls in West Kelowna.

[Emtee]

Payment deadline looms for Monaco's would-be builders



Previously-given municipal approvals for a major downtown project will expire next month unless the developer pays the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in required fees.

Proponents of the twin-tower Monaco project, which envisions nearly 300 suites and hotel rooms, aren't sure they'll come up with the cash before the April 23 deadline.

“It's a pretty tight timeframe for us,” Tyler Dueck of Premier Pacific Group, said Tuesday. “We're still intending to go forward with the project, but we're just plugging away on the financing and some engineering issues.”

City officials say they doubt the required payments, for parking-related issues and a landscaping performance bond, will be made by Premier Pacific. “I think we'd be surprised to see the project move ahead right now,” planner Ryan Smith said.

Council issued the development permit for the $100 million project in April 2013, on the developer's second-attempt to secure the necessary approvals. Plans for the Monaco show towers of 22 and 30 storeys at the corner of Doyle Avenue and St. Paul Street, directly north of where the new Interior Health centre is now under construction.

Plans also included four levels of retail and office space, as well as the downtown business core's first daycare. Originally projected to be finished in early 2016, the residential units were going to sell for between $300,00 and $500,000, the company said when council approved the project.

Councillors were excited about what they said was the Monaco's potential to convince hundred of Kelowna residents to move downtown.

“It's very consistent with where we're going as a city, which is to densify town centres and get more people living in downtown Kelowna, downtown Rutland, and the South Pandosy area,” then-mayor Walter Gray said.

If the required fees aren't paid by next month's deadline, the previously-given development permit would be taken off the city's books and it would be necessary for the company to begin the approval process all over again.

Dueck indicated the company would do so. “We'd have to put in another application, and we'd be interested in doing that. Nothing would change about the project from our end,” he said.

The company has not been shopping the site and its development approvals around to another builder, Dueck said.

He said the company believes there's enough demand in the Kelowna housing and real estate market to make the project viable. “We're quite happy with the market,” he said, adding many people have gone onto the company's website and registered themselves as prospective buyers of Monaco suites.

For now, the site is being used by dozens of downtown workers who are leaving their vehicles there all day in disregard of the No Parking signs.

Dueck said the Vancouver-based company is aware of the situation. But it hasn't entered into a site management contract with a parking contractor, he said, because it didn't want to see tickets being issued to people who work downtown and who may one day be interested in buying a suite in the Monaco.

http://kelownadailycourier.ca/news/a....html?mode=jqm