$23 million deal for new builds in Penticton dubbed 'Innovation District'
Ten acres of land across the street from the Penticton Regional Hospital has been purchased for $23 million with plans to turn it into a mixed use community.
After months of public engagement on the project, the deal has been finalized and plans for Penticton's "Innovation District" are moving ahead.
Developer Stryke Group bought the land and has plans to build 12 buildings with 1,200 to 1,500 housing units, along with retail and office spaces.
READ MORE: 12-storey towers with up to 1,500 homes proposed for Penticton
The project will take 10 to 12 years to complete and will be rolled out across seven phases.
Stryke’s managing director Rocky Sethi says the developer views the project as “an opportunity to really help the community.”
The first phase of the project is estimated to take three years to complete.
“The first phase is three buildings. It’s an office building and two condo buildings. There are going to be more than 200 units, and about 60,000 square feet of commercial space that includes offices and pedestrian access retail space,” Sethi said.
The company plans to start construction of the first phase in 2024.
Sethi says Stryke Group plans to make a variety of housing types to help the housing crisis in Penticton.
“We’re trying to make a village that’s a mixed use community that has a lot of opportunities for mixing different types of people. We’re going to have market condos, rental housing, senior’s housing, independent living, and hopefully a hotel,” he said.
The units will range from 310 to 1000 square feet, and the developer wants to try to keep rental costs low.
“We are hoping to work with Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation, provincial and federal bodies to improve affordability but it’s still early days,” Sethi said.
It’s too early in the project to know the exact cost of the units and other details but Sethi says the developer is excited about the project’s potential.
“It’s ten acres across from a major provincial infrastructure asset, it’s an opportunity we couldn’t say no to,” he said. “We’re seeing this as an opportunity to really help the community. We want to build something that’s not just for the residents in the buildings but also for the hospital workers and the rest of the community. We want localized retail, walkable retail, we want to be able to promote non-vehicular movement so e-bikes, e-scooters and a bunch of options for getting around without a car.”
Find out more about Stryke Group here.
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