The City of Vernon is optimistic about the future of development in the city. Statistics show an upswing in the construction of residential spaces in 2016 and a number of large projects are also in the planning stages. The rosy picture has the city’s mayor predicting big changes for Vernon in the years ahead.
“Over the last couple years there has been quite an upswing [in development] in Vernon in general and there has been lots of interest in developing in the city centre,” said city economic development planner Craig Broderick.
Attracting particular attention is a plan to redevelop the downtown site of the former legion building on 31 Avenue, which has been empty for years. Squatters have occupied the site and last summer a fire started outside and spread to the roof. The plan is to knock down the old building and build a mixed use development with commercial spaces at street level and at least three storeys of residential units for seniors on top.
A few blocks away there are plans for another mixed used development on 28 Avenue. The plan calls for commercial space on the ground floor and three floors of condominium units. Those behind the project say they are filling a gap in Vernon’s real estate market.
These new projects, currently in the planning stages, come on the heels of a hot year for residential construction in Vernon. The city says up until the end of November there have been 478 new residential units created this year. That’s up significantly from the 201 residential units developed in all of 2015.
The positive numbers and new projects in the works have Vernon’s mayor predicting significant changes for Vernon’s downtown core and the city’s future.
“Look at Kelowna [and] how much they’ve grown over the last 25 years. I think Vernon is the next town to do that,” said Mayor Akbal Mund.
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