What is being called ‘the Okanagan’s largest real estate transaction of this year’ has officially been completed in Penticton, B.C.
On Thursday, two Richmond developers, Stryke Group and Tien Sher Group of Companies, announced that the sale of 1704 Government St. had been finished.
“We were lucky enough to work with local lender Valley First as well on that, which is great. It’s nice to get a homegrown team together. For our team, it was 18 months of hard work coming to a really nice end and now the rest of the hard work begins,” said Stryke Group managing director Rocky Sethi.
Back in October, council unanimously approved an Official Community Plan (OCP) amendment for this 10-acre property on Government Street across from the Penticton Regional Hospital.
That was the first step of an $800-million investment program over next the 10 years.
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The industrial-zoned site will now move forward under a mixed-use designation for housing, retail, and office development.
“It was nice to get that unanimous vote of confidence from the local council and it was after months of a lot of hard work from staff that was also very supportive, it was nice that we are on the right path. And we had the support, and we had 75-per cent public support through that OCP amendment which was great to see a number of people came out and spoke in favor of development at city council as well,” said Sethi.
“I think in the early part of the new year, we’ll have some stuff that we’ll be able to show a little bit more publicly.”
The project, which is tentatively called the Penticton Health and Innovation District, is considered one of the most significant developments ever proposed for the City of Penticton.
The developers have 11 buildings between six and 12 storeys high, meaning up to 1,500 residential homes, plus office and retail space with the opportunity to create over 300 jobs, across from Penticton Regional Hospital.
“We, like many cities in British Columbia, we are desperate for housing. We’re very much looking forward to seeing construction start on more housing units The location is great, being that close to the hospital. We know that we have a lot of workers with interior health and a lot of workers that we still need to fill some vacant positions,” said Penticton Chamber executive director Michael Magnusson.
The Chamber adds that although a great addition to the community there have been some concerns raised but the developer has been open to making changes.
“They’re very aware of the concerns that the community has brought forward, and they’re on top of it,” said Magnusson.
“They’re looking at ways to mitigate it. Whether that’s the noise that’s coming from the industrial district or the traffic flow patterns, they are aware and they’re going to work to make this a very livable property for everybody that moves into it.”
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