Mixed-use project proposed for Peachland’s downtown
5-storey development will help rejuvenate area, says builder
A new mixed-use development on Beach Avenue in Peachland would help to finally summon a future envisioned 15 years ago, its builder says.
Plans for a five-storey project, with floor space roughly divided between retail premises/offices and residential units, will be presented at an open house Thursday night.
“We think we’ve got a gorgeous proposal that will help to finally begin implementing a town plan that dates back more than a decade,” developer Gaetan Royer said Tuesday.
“It’ll help to rejuvenate downtown Peachland with new economic activity that’s designed to be year-round, rather than just seasonal,” Royer said.
Since the late 1990s, the town has installed sanitary sewers throughout its downtown core and updated its official community plan to encourage mixed-use developments.
But since then, only one significant new building — the Gasthaus restaurant — has been constructed in the aging downtown core, between Princeton Avenue and Sixth Street.
A town-commissioned economic study in 2012 found Peachland had only half as much retail space as is commonly found in communities of 5,000 people. New housing developments have tended to be multi-family townhouse projects in Peachland’s hills, rather than along scenic Beach Avenue.
“I’m not sure why nothing much has happened in terms of new development in downtown Peachland,” Royer said. “Maybe people just didn’t see the opportunity. But we certainly do.”
A former city manager in Port Moody, Vancouver-based Royer is an architect, engineer and the founder of City State Consulting Services. His interest in Peachland, he says, stems from frequent trips there. Also, he and his wife plan to retire in the town.
The Peachland project, dubbed Peach Tree Village, would replace two older single-family homes at the corner of Beach Avenue and Fourth Street. It would have ground-floor retail shops, a second floor of Class A office space, and 12 residential units between 1,400 and 2,300 square feet on the upper three floors.
Thursday’s open house is from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Little Schoolhouse on Fourth Street. Royer hopes council will consider the necessary rezoning in April.