Kelowna’s Gospel Mission downtown could soon be surrounded by highrises

Four parcels of land next to Kelowna’s Gospel Mission homeless shelter are for sale for almost $16 million.

The four parcels include an office building and parking lots.

“Exceptionally rare opportunity to acquire a fully-tenanted two-story professional office building and additional development lands in Downtown Kelowna,” the listing by Royal LePage Kelowna realtor Tony Sprovieri says. “This is a high profile location just across the street from City Park and Okanagan Lake and consists of a four lot land assembly totalling 0.72 acres.”

B.C. Assessments says the building was constructed in 1956, is about 13,000 square feet and valued at $3,900.

The four properties have a combined assessed value of about $7.6 million.

The sale price is $15,999,000.

The address is listed as 1635 Abbott St. but the three empty lots have Leon Avenue addresses and border on the Gospel Mission property.

This shows the properties outlined in red with the Prestige Beach House on the right, Water Street by the Park under construction upper left and the Gospel Mission boardering them at the top. | Credit: Submitted/Royal LePage Kelowna, Tony Sprovieri

Across Leon Avenue, construction has started on the three-tower Water Street by the park development. One of those towers will be 42 storeys.

Nearby, between Water and Pandosy streets, the City of Kelowna has a pending sale of land for what has been proposed as a 40-storey tower.

The properties for sale are shown as qualifying for a 20-storey maximum height on the City of Kelowna zoning map but, given the height of the nearby buildings, a new owner could apply to increase that.

The Gospel Mission has been providing shelter for those in need for more than 30 years.

In the fall of 2019, much of the sidewalk along the 200 block of Leon Avenue, where it’s located, were filled with tents before the city moved them off to a temporary campground on Recreation Avenue. Shopping carts, tents and tarps are still common sights along the street.

The Gospel Mission does have a master plan that calls for a purpose-built shelter by 2027 but operators have yet to say whether that might be in its present location or somewhere else in the city.

There’s not much left to buy in the 200 block of Leon Avenue other than the Gotham Nightclub.

Hotel Zed borders on Leon Avenue but has an Abbot Street address. B.C. Assessment says that building dates back to 1958 and sits on 0.55 acres of land. It’s assessed at $6.4 million with the building valued at $184,000.

See the listing for the four parcels here.

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