(ROB MUNRO / iNFOnews.ca)

A Kelowna realtor has pegged the true value of the Tolko mill site in Kelowna at close to $50 million if it stays in industrial use.

The mill was officially closed on Jan. 8 of this year with the almost 40 acres of land assessed at about $19 million.

All the land is zoned I4 for industrial uses.

“Based on average price per acre for other I4 zoned lands in Downtown Kelowna’s North End, a more realistic value for the land is closer to $48,000,000,” Ken McLaughlin, a Senior Partner with the MCL Real Estate Group, wrote in the company’s Industrial Market Outlook released yesterday, Feb. 3.

There has been a big push to develop industrial land in Kelowna in the last year or two that has pushed up the price of the land to an average of more than $1 million per acre.

But, the nearby former OK Builders property on Ellis Street sold for $5.29 million for less than one acre.

“The price paid for this property was more characteristic of the prices being paid for mixed-use tower development properties,” McLaughlin wrote.

That land is being rezoned commercial for a grocery store and other uses.

McLaughlin encourages the City to keep the Tolko site as industrial land as it makes up about three per cent of Kelowna’s current industrial land supply. He didn’t speculate on the value of the land if it’s sold for commercial or residential use. The city’s long term plan for the Tolko site is for industrial and park use.

“Tolko, itself has given no indication as to what they are planning to do with the properties they own,” McLaughlin wrote. “The current mill will need to be decommissioned and some of the land will require extensive remediation. But once complete this large piece of industrial land will see its value rise.”

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