Car dealership first business to open in PIB’s Satikw Crossing
The first of multiple businesses slated for a flagship development on Penticton Indian Band locatee land has finally opened its doors.
While its $7-million building isn’t expected to be finished until April, Penticton Nissan nonetheless welcomed customers for the first time Thursday at its location in the Satikw Crossing development at the foot of Green Avenue.
“I think it’s exciting for the community, also for the Penticton Indian Band. We have a good relationship with them and we’re excited about being the first tenant in this,” said owner John Kot.
The service department at the dealership will be open to customers on March 9 and staff are already selling vehicles, with 110 brand new cars getting dropped off in the next week, as well as 40 or so used models.
Around 20 people are currently employed at the dealership.
“I would say within a year and a half, two years, we’ll employ 35 to 40 people,” Kot said.
Other businesses are expected to eventually open in the Satikw Crossing area, which boasts 57 hectares of flat land next to the Penticton airport.
“They have a pretty big plan to keep expanding this area, hopefully the sooner the better and we can get some other neighbours in here,” Kot said.
It was an interesting process becoming the first business to open on the locatee lands, he added.
“It’s different because on native land it’s a 99-year lease, so it’s a little different operation than just buying a piece of property. So there’s a lot of back and forth and due diligence that’s required when you do that,” Kot said.
The development was only made possible by construction of the fivelane, $8-million bridge over the Okanagan River channel that was built by the PIB with partial funding from the provincial and federal governments.
Completed in 2016, it had been dubbed the “bridge to nowhere” by some, but that’s no longer the case with Penticton Nissan opening.
“It’s a symbol in many ways to strengthen our Indigenous participation in B.C.’s economy, realizing increased opportunities for onand off-reserve revenue generation via partnership through commitment and investment,” PIB Chief Chad Eneas said in a statement Thursday.
“We have much work to do to increase the prosperity for all in these critical times of reconciliation in light of recent announcements of recognition and respect.”
The locatee owners did not respond to a request for comment on other prospective businesses for Satikw Crossing.