11-storey apartment building approved for downtown Kamloops

Kamloops will see another high-rise tower added to the downtown skyline after a development permit was approved by city council yesterday.

On Aug. 31, council approved the development of an 11-storey apartment building that is proposed to house 115 rental suites. In the current location there is a large parking lot near the Kamloops Curling Club at what is now 641, 651, 657 and 669 Lansdowne Street.

The apartment, being built by Kesar Properties LLP, qualifies for the city's Revitalization Tax Exemption, which means the property owner will be exempt from the land tax increase after the development is complete.

With 109 total parking spaces, 92 of those will be underground, along with 63 indoor bicycle parking spaces.

During the council meeting, Coun. Mike O'Reilly asked whether the building could eventually be changed to a strata, allowing condominium ownership. The City's director of development, engineering and sustainability, Marvin Kwiatkowski, replied that there is no restriction for that, and any apartment development in the city can go that route should they choose.

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Kwiatkowski added that due to market demand, there is an increase in developers in Kamloops seeking to build housing directed at renters.

"That's been a stark contrast to the decade previous, where we really didn't see much of a market for rentals," Mayor Ken Christian said in the council meeting.

Coun. Denis Walsh inquired to staff whether there was any incentive in city bylaws to direct their developments toward renters rather than homeowners.

According to Kwiatkowski, the tax exemption the development qualifies for was originally written to encourage rentals, but had since been amended to widen that scope.

There are two Revitalization Tax Exemptions, with one including an area in the downtown core and the other on the North Shore in the Tranquille Corridor area.

On Aug. 17, city council also approved the development of a two building, 82-unit apartment complex in Pineview. 

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The development will be located at 1800 Copperhead Dr., at the intersection of Copperhead Drive and Lodgepole Drive.

In order to be approved, the development also required a rezoning amendment because apartment will stand four storeys tall, while the Pineview neighbourhood address originally was zoned to only house a maximum of three-storey buildings.

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