City lot in downtown Kelowna with view of nearby Okanagan Lake up for sale

A prime piece of real estate in downtown Kelowna, one that will offer unobstructed views of Okanagan Lake, is now up for sale.

On Friday, the City of Kelowna announced that it was taking bids for 350 Doyle Ave., site of the former RCMP detachment.

The old police building was demolished last year.

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Located one block from Okanagan Lake, the 0.35-hectare lot (0.87 of an acre) is located in the city’s cultural district, between the one-storey Kelowna Community Theatre and the six-storey Okanagan Innovation Centre.

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According to the city, the property is listed at $6.5 million and that the new building will provide housing and ground-level commercial space.

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“The property will be marketed starting July 5 until early September, and then staff will evaluate bids and make a recommendation to Council for the disposition of land consistent with City practices and pre-established evaluation criteria,” said Graham Hood, the city’s strategic land development manager.

The city says its requirements for the development include:

• Prepaid land lease (80-plus years)
• Primarily residential development (minimum 10 storeys)
• A two-year timeframe to begin development
• Provision of 6,000 square feet of community amenity space
• Construction of the Artwalk extension

The city noted its development calls for densified housing and mixed-use commercial at the ground level, and that the housing could be strata-ownership or planned rental apartments.

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When the site is eventually developed, it’s anyone’s guess as to how long the building will have unobstructed views of Okanagan Lake. In announcing that it was opening the lot for bids, the city also said its civic precinct plan “also foresees redevelopment of the Kelowna Community Theatre property, although there are no plans yet for that part of the plan to proceed.”

In related news, another lot, two blocks over at 550 Doyle Ave., has a listed asking price of $12.7 million.