Crown-jewel property for sale

A building that was supposed to be the crown jewel in the revitalization of downtown Penticton may not see the light of day.

Chase Valley Group confirmed Tuesday it has listed for sale for $1.8 million the vacant 123 Front St. property where it planned to put up a five-storey, mixeduse development.

“This listing of the site was a very tough decision; our team has spent over two years working on the project and we are very excited and proud of the scheme produced,” Chase Valley president Trevor Caine said in a statement. “A lot about investment is seeing potential, identifying land, its best use and then working on how to bring those components together.

“The Chase Valley Group has a number of local projects in hand, currently in excess of $10 million, and with current workloads, we are unable to look at a realistic start for this $15-million project until late next year.”

Caine said he’s hopeful another company will purchase the site and go forward with the project. If there are no takers, Chase Valley will make restarting the project a “high priority” for the company next year.

The company’s plans called for a mix of retail and office space, plus 16 rental apartments inside, while the outside was expected to be finished in concrete, wood, stone and glass.

Its contemporary design was polarizing, with some in the community believing it didn’t fit in on historic Front Street and others applauding its modern look.

The building — which would have gone up where Slack Alice’s strip club burned down in 2012 — required a handful of approvals from city council.

Mayor Andrew Jakubeit said he was disappointed to learn the project won’t be going ahead as planned.

“However, it was a $15-million project that probably had a variety factors or conditions that needed to align for it to happen,” he said in an email.

“We still are on track for another record year of development and our permit numbers and values are higher than last year at this time.”