All tenants gone; City-owned hotel in Kamloops will be sold soon
The City of Kamloops is preparing to sell off its Tranquille Road hotel now that all of its former tenants are out.
The last tenants left roughly a month ago after the City gave them a September 2022 deadline.
Now, the Northbridge Hotel is vacant and boarded up, waiting for its owner to decide whether it will demolish the site on its own or leave that with the next buyer.
The City's chief administrative officer David Trawin couldn't detail how the hotel will be sold yet, but expects an announcement to come soon.
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The City of Kamloops bought the property in 2021, intending on selling it off for market housing in a $7.1 million deal that included the 346 Campbell Avenue property behind the dilapidated hotel.
The City bought the property with a loan, but quickly agreed on selling the Campbell Avenue property to B.C. Housing for $3.8 million.
"I believe it's the City's role to spur these things on. We may not make money on the sale, but at the end of the day, we'll make money on the development of the area," Trawin said.
The Tranquille Road corridor has been steadily redeveloped for the past few years, with a mix of more multi-family and supportive housing sites on the way.
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Trawin said the last tenants moved out of the Northbridge within the last month, long after the Sept. 30 deadline the City previously gave.
In letters to tenants last Spring, the City said the decision of whether to demolish the former hotel and strip club will be up to a future developer, based on its "structural integrity." However, an inspection of the building previously estimated repairs would cost hundreds of thousands just to repair damaged windows and a leaky roof. It's unlikely the building will stay.
While a deal for the Northbridge Hotel still appears to be in infancy, and how much say the City will have in its design is unclear, B.C. Housing already has a plan for 346 Campbell Avenue.
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It's already submitted a development application for an 80-unit seniors housing facility, which is expected to reach six storeys.
The exact details of the build plan aren't public yet because it hasn't gone to City council, but Trawin expects that will change in the next month.
B.C. Housing was originally planning the six-storey build for the Brock Shopping Centre area, but that "fell through" and was rerouted to the Tranquille Corridor when the City bought up the Northbridge Hotel.
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