WEST KELOWNA – One of Westbank’s biggest eyesores, and A source of many complaints, has been sold with plans to develop the site.

The old Cattle Country restaurant strip mall and gas bar has been sold to an eastern developer and plans include reopening the gas station and retail stores on Highway 97 at Elliot Road.

While the plan isn’t as ambitious as the residential tower that was once proposed for the site, West Kelowna Mayor Doug Findlater is welcoming the redevelopment of the site.

“This is very good news. It’s been the single biggest source of complaints we have. It’s been vandalized repeatedly and unfortunately, has been let go since the recession killed the project.”

The 1.76-acre site encompasses an entire city block and is zoned for commercial use, but Findlater says the city would support a mixed use residential development with increased density should the developer be interested.

Known as Westwynd Village, the site is currently zoned for commercial and a service station with 500 feet of highway frontage. The property was listed at $2.2 million.

Despite the limited scope of the redevelopment, Findlater says the city is happy to see some action along Main Street, which the mayor says has been in decline since the introduction of the highway couplet in the 1980s.

To contact the reporter for this story, email John McDonald at jmcdonald@infonews.ca or call 250-808-0143. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.