Motel tenants must move
Another of Penticton’s low-budget motels has a date with the wrecking ball, leaving its long-term residents scrambling for new homes and the property’s new owner mulling over plans for the up-and-coming neighbourhood.
Long-term residents of the 17-unit Ogopogo Motel and attached 28-stall campground at 270 Riverside Dr. were served notice on June 22 that they have until July 31 to clear out.
The property was recently purchased by Surrey-based Azura Management Corp., the same development firm that’s building 35 high-end townhouses on an adjacent lot that was also once home to a low-budget motel and campground.
Many of the soon-to-be-evicted Ogopogo Motel tenants fear they will end up homeless.
“Look in the paper. There’s nothing to rent in this town –— 0% vacancy. There’s a onebedroom place to rent and they want $1,650,” said Leslie Sunderwood, who has lived at the motel for nearly a decade and will miss the sense of community.
“We’re all friends, we look out for one another, we’re like a family. On Christmas, I cook a turkey dinner and take food over to all my neighbours,” she said.
News of the impending redevelopment came as no surprise to residents who have watched the million-dollar townhomes go up next door, but the short time they were given to clear out — just six weeks — was a shocker.
“Everybody here works, unless they’re retired. We don’t do drugs, we’re not skids,” said Sunderwood, who supports herself doing cleaning and maintenance at another motel.
Azura Management president Ewen Stewart said he feels for his tenants, but is eager to get moving on redevelopment of the site, which was rezoned by the city in 2011 to allow high-density housing in towers up to 15 storeys tall.
“None of this should be a surprise to anybody. It’s a change in lifestyle for people who were living the way they chose to live or could afford to live, but I can’t help it — it’s called progress,” said Stewart.
He acknowledged it will be hard for those who are leaving the 2.25-acre site — which was listed for $6 million in 2019 — to find new homes at the height of summer, but noted the vacancy rate is tight year-round in Penticton so there’s no good time to issue eviction notices.
Stewart hopes to start demolition in August and then pre-load the site with piles of sand to help force out water and stabilize the soil — a process that could take 12 to 18 months — to prepare for construction. Plans for the redevelopment are still a work in progress.
While the adjacent Riverside townhouse development has proven popular and is nearly sold out, Stewart said, he’s awaiting the results of geotechnical reports and others before deciding what will go up beside it.
Another factor in his decision will be the North Gateway Redevelopment and Investment Strategy, a city-led project meant to spur revitalization of the area. Stewart is among the property owners participating in development of the plan, which is expected to be finished late this year.
“It’s time for renewal,” said Stewart, “and the Ogopogo Motel is a prime example of that.”
Penticton has seen a handful of low-budget motels demolished in recent years, taking dozens of low-income homes out circulation, while another handful has been purchased by the B.C. government and converted to social housing.