Kelowna city council has given the final development approvals for a high-rise hotel in the heart of downtown.
Westcorp Projects plans to build a 33-story hotel-condo tower with a construction value of about $200 million.
“I think it really will be an iconic landmark building for the downtown, and most importantly, it’ll be a venue that will help to really raise the bar and be an attraction for people from all over the world,” says Westcorp spokesperson Gail Temple.
The development includes 174 hotel rooms, about 45 luxury condominiums, a conference centre, a 17th floor restaurant and six stories of above ground parking.
The council vote was 5-2 in favour of the project with the mayor among the majority.
“I think there’s a number of things to like about this project but for me it really epitomizes the city we’re trying to create which is vibrant, progressive with a world class downtown,” says mayor Colin Basran.
Councillor Ryan Donn voted against the project largely because that was the recommendation of city planners who felt the hotel complex was too massive for its location.
“It’s a big concern if a development comes without staff support,” says Donn. “So forget about discussing the height, forget about the conference centre. All good discussions but l just wanted to set a precedent to say ‘no’ you need to at least come with staff support for these big ones and then let’s have a public discussion.”
With the approvals now in place, the focus for the developer shifts to pre-selling the residential units at between $1.5 and $10 million each.
“And if that all goes according to plan, and there really aren’t that many residences so it should, we will be in the ground by the end of the year or early 2019,” says Temple.
At 131 metres, the tower would be the Okanagan’s tallest building.