It seems that everywhere you look in downtown Kelowna, highrise buildings are going up and there’s no sign of that momentum slowing down.
Case in point: The Brooklyn tower on Bernard Avenue.
A few months ago, the developer, Kelowna’s Mission Group, announced plans on building a tower at the site of the Old Bargain Store building. On Tuesday, the company announced the sales figures to date.
According to Luke Turri of the Mission Group, the building is at 70 per cent sold. That’s 125 units and that’s before the grand opening of the sales office, which is this weekend.
Those numbers appear to be bucking the trend in the condo real estate market lately. According to the latest figures, condo sales are actually down significantly in the Central Okanagan.
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In August, 116 condos were sold — slim in comparison to the same month last year, when more than 160 condos were sold. That’s a drop of nearly 28 per cent.
The Mission Group says about 80 per cent of the buyers are from B.C.; people who are not affected by the dreaded speculation tax.
“The majority of buyers are looking to make this their long-term home or to rent it out to a long-term tenant,” said Turri.
Still, the Mission Group says unit sales would probably be above 70 per cent if it wasn’t for the speculation tax. Meantime, construction of the Brooklyn tower is expected to begin early next year and there are plans for two more towers on the same block in the coming years. And when construction does begin, Kelowna will have five towers under construction — a pace never seen before in this city.