Kelowna will be getting new additions to its downtown core as city council has approved development permits for two high rises.
City council approved the proposed 43-storey downtown University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO) campus, which will be the tallest tower in Kelowna. The original height was 46 storeys tall, but after public hearings and recommendations from council, it was lowered three storeys.
UBCO says the campus will allow students to have more hands-on learning experiences and alleviate the current demand for student housing.
“Student housing space is really needed. We have a waiting list of 1300 students to get into our residences on our main campus and we know from experience, there are many more who don’t even put their names on the waitlist,” said UBCO principal Lesley Cormack.
Cormack said the granting of the development permit means builders will put shovels in the ground soon.
“The timeline on this project is probably about four years. We’re really hoping by at that point we’ll have people in there and it will be in this vibrant downtown,” Cormack said.
After a public hearing, city council also approved a development permit for a 33-storey hotel and residential property at 289 Queensway Ave. The Westcorp Inc. property has been approved by council many times in the past but was recently put on pause.
“We were ready in March of 2020 to come forward and unveil the name of the hotel, the brand partner. COVID completely derailed that of course,” said Gail Temple, chief operating officer of Westcorp.
“We haven’t even been able to progress drawings forward because we didn’t have an approved development permit anymore.”
The hotel will be on Kelowna’s downtown waterfront and connected to Kerry Park.
Temple said the brand partner is still on-board with the project and the developers are hoping to unveil a lot more details sometime in the next year.
Councillors were very supportive of the two new additions — with the exception of Coun. Charlie Hodge, who opposed both.
Mayor Colin Basran acknowledged what it meant to approve two big projects.
“We end the night by approving an iconic waterfront hotel. It just shows how progressive and vibrant our downtown has become and this is an important part of that,” Basran said.