KELOWNA – Is a $120 million development project slated for downtown Kelowna on or off? The answer depends on who you talk to.
“It is very much alive,” says Tyler Dueck, Corporate Vice-President of Premier Pacific Group Development.
However, the City of Kelowna has a different perspective.
“We would say the project is off from city’s perspective,” says Urban Planning Manager Ryan Smith.
The proposed project includes two high-rises, a 30-storey condo tower and a 22-storey hotel. They would be built on a piece of land at the corner of St. Paul Street and Doyle Avenue.
The development was first approved by city council back in April 2013, but the two year development permit has expired. The developer blames the construction delay on financing it’s trying to secure from an American lender.
“Right now we are in between financing. There is construction financing on its way right now but the financing on the land portion of the project is in default,” says Dueck. “But we are still very much going ahead with it and we feel financing is moving ahead as planned although slower than we like.”
Despite the company saying the Monaco project is still alive, a court-ordered for sale sign has now gone up on the property. The developers are hoping the financing comes through before anyone else makes a formal bid on the site. The sale was ordered after the developer failed to make a mortgage payment on the land.
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However, if the financing comes through, the company says the for sale sign will come down and it will reapply for the permit that expired.
“What they would need to do is apply to us for a brand new development permit,” says Smith. “We would have to run that through a council process and public process and potentially get new approval and then the project would be back on.”
Despite the setback, the company remains optimistic about the project saying it hopes to have shovels in the ground this summer or fall.
“We are working hard, it is one of our main priorities at Premier Pacific,” says Dueck. “I would like to assure everyone we are getting going and it will be a project that the city hopes for.”
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