The Northbridge Hotel at 377 Tranquille Road in Kamloops as it was being demolished in spring 2024.

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

Shovels could hit the ground by next fall for a housing project replacing a former Kamloops hotel that also hosted the city's last strip club.

That's what Arpa Investments is aiming to do after partnering with the provincial government and the City. A six-storey condo building is expected to rise on the site of the now-demolished Northbridge Hotel and The Duchess night club.

The City bought the 377 Tranquille Road hotel in 2021, planning from the beginning to sell it to a housing developer. Functioning more for housing than short-term stays, Northbridge tenants were evicted gradually over months and it was eventually torn down earlier this year.

Arpa now plans to start construction within seven to ten months, with the goal to have it move-in ready by fall 2026, according to an update posted to the company website.

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This past spring, the province announced it would take the property under its BC Builds program, which seeks to partner private organizations with government to build more housing across BC. 

Though the provincial government approved Arpa's initial proposal, it's still going through a final review before the agreement is completed.

“The plan right now is to put up 90 residential units in six storeys, with commercial space on the main floor,” Joshua Knaak of Arpa Investments said in a news release. “And that fits into the BC Builds mandate to create housing for middle income families. We’ll actually see some three-bedroom units as well, which is something you typically don’t see in a condo setting. This will be great for families and we are proud to be a part of it.”

The City bought the property for $7.1 million, which included a large lot behind the hotel that was once a liquor store. A separate six-storey BC Housing low-income project is going up on that property after construction kicked off earlier this year. The province paid nearly $4 million to the city for that portion.

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Northbridge tenants were notified in May 2022 that they had until the end of that September to leave, with some incentives offered to leave earlier. Evictions took longer than planned with the final tenants leaving that December.

Demolition was then delayed another year. It was supposed to start in early 2023, but fell behind due in part to issues replacing Telus cellular towers to another roof. The tear down cost $2.78 million, but nearly all of that will be paid back to the City as part of its redevelopment, according to a September news release.

Although the Arpa build is contingent on an agreement with the province, the partnership came with the condition that the City will retain ownership of the land, which has a $3.9 million market value, according to the City.

Neither the City nor the province have announced updated timelines on the project.

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News from © iNFOnews, 2024