12-storey towers with up to 1,500 homes proposed for Penticton
An ambitious plan to turn a 10-acre underutilized industrial site into a “Health and Innovation District” across from Penticton Regional Hospital will go to the public for input in July.
Penticton city council agreed earlier this week to get public input on the project that would redevelop the former Britco modular home site that is now being used as a bottle washing operation.
“Our vision is to create an urban, mixed use master planned community which will deliver much needed housing, office, retail, and other uses (such as age care, hotel, and ancillary space) by the location adjacent to Penticton Regional Hospital,” says a letter to the city from Stryke (Okanagan) Investments Ltd.
The letter says the company has done major projects all across Western Canada, including Calgary and Vancouver.
It wants to draft a concept development plan that will allow for up to 12 storeys, where only 10 are allowed now in residential/mixed use zones.
“If granted, this 12-storey height will be coordinated with Interior Health and other governing bodies to ensure there were no conflicts with the helicopter flight path to Penticton Regional Hospital,” the letter says.
The plan also calls for short-term rentals in the housing, which is expected to include 1,200 to 1,500 units and take 10 years to complete.
READ MORE: Hundreds of new homes on the way to Penticton
“The existing warehouse will remain on site for some time, protecting the industrial space for the time being and providing security for the existing warehouse tenant, a long term Okanagan logistics company,” the letter says.
It will also create more jobs than past industrial uses. The letter says there will be more than 90 retail jobs and more than 200 employees in offices. At its peak, the industrial uses only had about 100 employees and that was almost 10 years ago, the letter says.
READ MORE: Large layoff at Penticton modular building manufacturer
‘With the province’s desire to promote the use of mass timber in construction, and Stryke’s expertise and experience with this construction methodology, we feel this site is ideally suited for this,” the letter said.
Mass timber manufacturer Structurlam (now Mercer Mass Timber) is based in Penticton. It was recently sold for more than $80 million.
READ MORE: Penticton mass timber producer Structurlam sold for more than $80M
The site is at 1704 Government St. on the edge of Penticton’s industrial area.
The public consultation will include things like information being posted on the city’s website, letters to nearby property owners and public information sessions.
“In moving to public engagement, this does not signify that council has endorsed, supported or approved the proposed development,” says the staff report that went to city council “Rather, this indicates that Council would like to engage with residents and interest groups to see what the community’s thoughts are for the proposal.”
Before the project can go ahead there needs to be a rezoning application and public hearing, along with other work like a traffic impact study.
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