Photo: Highstreet Ventures
A longtime adviser from Kelowna has a message for the company, which hopes to develop four apartments in the Upper Mission – show a little creativity.
count. Luke Stack made the request on Monday when the council unanimously considered the initial redevelopment and changes to the OCP, which will eventually pave the way for the development of Frost Road.
Although the council is far from getting permission to build the property, Stack said a number of major projects to rent out several buildings over the past few years have had essentially the same architectural design.
“They’re not as good as I think they could be,” Stack said.
“The thing I would like to state here is whether these will be four very large buildings for rent when it comes to [development permit]I would really like to see a little creativity in design because it will set the tone for this area.
“As much as we want rental housing, I’d really like to see rental housing with some design features that are aesthetically pleasing to the neighborhood, and maybe not every single building looks exactly the same.”
For the past few years, Stack has said the end product of the council’s approved projects has been, he said, “a little embarrassing.”
This is not the first time the council has opposed the development community on less attractive buildings, but it is rare for the council to speak so early in the process.
The project in question is part of the overall development of the Frost Road area. The project with four buildings and 300 rental units will be built as part of the village center.
Town planner Dean Strachan says the village center will include a commercial component that will be built directly opposite Frost Road from the residential area.
“All of this plays an important role in the development of the center … with a concentration of residents with an area that would support commercial use,” Strachan said.
“It’s the chicken and egg component. Do you have housing first, or do you have advertising first?”
More often than not, he says, the housing piece comes first.
Add Comment