KPMG will be moving to space left vacant by the Gateway Casino in the Hotel 540 building which is owned by the National Hospitality Group.

Image Credit: FILE PHOTO

KAMLOOPS - With financial institution KPMG moving to 540 Victoria St. and taking up the space left vacant by Gateway Casino in the Hotel 540 building, it could be the start of a new era for downtown Kamloops.

Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association president Mike O'Reilly says there is a major focus right now on redeveloping the area around the 500 and 600 blocks of Victoria Street.

"There are studies being done right now to narrow that down from four lanes to two lanes to make that a more walkable shopping area," he says. "And this will just have more people down there."

The National Hospitality Group owns the building KPMG is moving into as well as several other properties downtown and throughout the city. O'Reilly says it plans to renovate the space to make room for the new tenants along with other major changes in the surrounding area.

"They have invested a significant amount of money in all of Kamloops and they believe in the downtown product," he says. "For them to redevelop that whole block from Lansdowne to Victoria Street, the whole 500 block, it will reshape the downtown."

With KPMG moving into the vacant space that was once proposed for a year-round Farmers' Market, O'Reilly wants to ensure Kamloops residents that idea is still on the table, just at a different location.

"There's definitely still discussion on that," he says. "Because (the National Hospitality Group) owns the whole lot, there is a lot of area they can still do it in," he says.

"They are in conversation with the Farmers' Market group. They own a lot of land for that development and they are even looking at the potential of doing a special build for a Farmers' Market type development."

O'Reilly adds the Hospitality Group also has plans for a six-storey office building on the corner of 6 Avenue and Victoria Street.

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