Image: City of Kelowna
The Vancouver company that owns Prospera Place has taken the first steps toward building a pair of highrise towers directly in front of the arena.
GSL Group has submitted plans to the City of Kelowna for two towers—stretching 37 and 27 storeys high—it wants to build on the Water Street property that currently acts as the arena’s main parking lot.
In a letter to the city outlining its plans, GSL Group says the site “represents a noteworthy major opportunity for development” in the area that will lead to the “creation of a well-designed entertainment district.”
GSL says the two towers will be primarily residential (with 332 total residential units) and set atop a retail podium that “playfully interacts with the plaza and streetscape in a dynamic layering of retail shops and cafes.”
In order to make the project possible the company is asking to rezone the property, which right now allows buildings as high as 12 storeys.
Parking predicament
Adam Cseke is a planner with the City of Kelowna. He points out that, while the property has been used as the arena’s de facto parking lot for some time, it is actually zoned for the kind of development GSL proposes.
“This is not required parking for the arena, so we’ve been in negotiations for a while now to talk about provision of public parking in lieu of losing this parking lot for the arena,” he said.
Cseke said negotiations between the city and GSL are still ongoing, but that the development right now contains five floors of parking garages, and one will likely be set aside for public use.
In early 2017 city council rejected a staff proposal to reduce parking requirements for the property, expressing concerns about parking in front of Prospera Place and saying it hopes any development there will accommodate arena parking.
The proponents
Headed up by Graham Lee, GSL Group is a Vancouver-based holding company that owns the Victoria Royals WHL hockey team, a private airplane charter business, a blueberry farm, an online fantasy sports website, as well as other properties.
It also has significant major real estate holdings and is associated with RG Properties, which owns and operates Prospera Place in Kelowna.
Prospera Place was built through a public-private partnership that saw RG Properties build and take ownership of the building for 30 years after it was completed.
With ownership of the building set to revert to the city in 2028, Cseke said the renegotiation of the Prospera lease could give the city some leverage in negotiating more public parking within the development.
He reiterated, however, that the application is still in its very early stages, and that it is still subject to more talks, as well as approval from Kelowna City Council.
GSL Group did not immediately return requests for more information.
Image: City of Kelowna
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