Long-vacant downtown property purchased by condo developer
Mission Group buys city block currently occupied by former Bargain Shop
More towers will rise as Kelowna’s Mission Group ratchets up its vision for downtown.
“This property is really a great, blank canvas,” said Mission Group vice-president of development Luke Turri.
“It calls for a significant mixeduse project, a real legacy piece that will help shape the downtown of the future.”
The land Turri is referring to is the entire 1.5-acre downtown city block bordered by Bernard Avenue, St. Paul Street and Bertram Street that currently houses the run-down former Bargain Shop, vacant since 2010.
On Tuesday, it was announced Mission Group had purchased the plot for an undisclosed amount.
The property had been listed for sale since last year for $9.4 million.
While Mission Group doesn’t have specific development plans yet, its talk of a “legacy piece” suggests bold design, density and maximizing the space.
The strip fronting Bernard Avenue is already zoned C7 central business commercial, meaning towers of up 26 storeys could rise there.
The parking lot bordering St. Paul Street behind the former Bargain Shop is zoned C4 urban centre commercial, which allows a maximum height of 13 storeys.
However, Turri mentioned the C4 portion probably could be rezoned C7 because the City of Kelowna is encouraging height and density in certain portions of downtown.
In fact, developers are also being allowed to go higher than 26 storeys in parts of downtown. One Water Street just received permission to build what could become the city’s two tallest buildings, at 29 and 36 storeys, on the parcel framed by Sunset Drive, Water Street and Ellis Street.
“This site (the former Bargain Shop) could be a lot of different things,” said Turri. “But, its location and what’s happening in the downtown core means storefronts on the ground floor make sense, and maybe office above that, and then a mix of condos and apartments above that. Given the size and shape of the property, it could definitely be more than one building.”
Mission Group is already high on downtown.
It has plans to build the 20-storey Ella condo tower at Lawrence Avenue and Ellis Street. Construction could start there early next year for early 2020 completion.
Mission Group is also building several four-storey, loft-style condo buildings off Highway 97 and Richter Street in the Central Green neighbourhood.
“Downtown plays a big part in the future of our company,” said Turri.
“We’re committed to downtown and see so much potential here. We see Central Green as anchoring the south end of downtown, Ella right in the core and this piece on Bernard being a great addition on Kelowna’s main downtown street.”
That said, Mission Group isn’t in a hurry to develop the former Bargain Shop site.
“We want to do it right, so we’ll take our time,” said Turri.
“We have to go through the whole design and approval process before we can even start construction, and we’ll have to be well underway with Ella construction before we conceive of starting to build here.”