FILE PHOTO: The entrance to Kelowna Mountain, a proposed $100 million wine park and tourist attraction that is now in foreclosure. Part of the property went up for sale recently.

(ADAM PROSKIW / iNFOnews.ca)

KELOWNA – Mark Consiglio's dream of a $100 million wine park in the Upper Mission is melting away like the snow around the vacant Kelowna Mountain welcome centre.

In order to repay millions owed to lenders Consiglio has been forced to put the largest of three parcels of land he owns on Kelowna Mountain up for sale.

The court-ordered sale was recently listed with HM Commercial Group for $7,995,000 and includes 320 acres of land, a 6,000 square foot welcome centre with outdoor amphitheater, and an embattled history with the Central Okanagan Regional District.

Consiglio wanted to turn Kelowna Mountain into a 600-acre wine park tourist destination complete with ski hill, waterfall, suspension bridges and a golf course. Situated outside the city limits, Consiglio came to odds with the Regional District when he began and completed millions in construction before getting proper approval.

Consiglio filed a lawsuit against the Central Okanagan Regional District first in September 2014 and again 14 months later. Justice Heather Holmes denied the first challenge of the regional district’s interpretation of ‘agritourism' and Consiglio alleged the regional district unfairly targeted him and drove him out of business in the second failed appeal. He claims to have already spent $50 million on Kelowna Mountain.

Global Okanagan reported Consiglio owes around $15 million in lawsuits to other investors and last February a Supreme Court Justice ordered him to sell some of his properties in order to pay back $4.5 million owed to Tri City Capital Corporation. Court documents show Tri City sued Consiglio and his wife Nicola, as well as a numbered company, after monthly payments on eight mortgages stopped.

FILE PHOTO: Kelowna Mountain developer Mark Consiglio has been forced to sell the largest portion of land he owns in order to repay investors.

(ADAM PROSKIW / iNFOnews.ca)

The plaintiffs were asking for the sale of the entire parcel of land on Kelowna Mountain but lawyer Roy Sommerey refused any further comment.

A January 2016 foreclosure order says six residential properties in Upper Mission as well as two more in West Kelowna will also be sold.

During the 2015 municipal elections iNFOnews revealed Consiglio as the single largest contributing donor to any campaign in Kelowna, spending more than $50,000 to get a slate of council candidates called Taxpayers First elected on a platform that promised downtown canals, no new taxes and the abolition of the regional district.

None of the candidates — Dale Olson, Carol Gran, Billie Aaltonen, Michael Gorman and Graeme James — were elected.

Consiglio had until last June to pay back a $4.5 million loan, after which the law allows him a six-month redemption period. An investor group of roughly 30 people, who have been waiting years for their money, were so sure repayment wouldn't happen they requested a judge force Consiglio to sell immediately.

“These defendants cannot pay their debts when they come due,” Sommerey said in Kelowna court June 8. “We don’t know what Mr. Consiglio can pull out of his hat. All three parcels on Kelowna Mountain are in foreclosure.”

Consiglio’s lawyer, Reinhard Burke, said all money would be repaid within the six-month redemption period.

“He’s not selling the property because he intends to develop (it),” he said.

For a description of the listing visit this page on the HM Commercial website.

A sketch shows one of the 11 structures developer Mark Consiglio hoped to build on Kelowna Mountain.

(ADAM PROSKIW / iNFOnews.ca)

To contact a reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw or call 250-718-0428 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2017