The Westcorp hotel....

[Omnitheo]

Pathetic...here's an opportunity.! To build something epic... on the best piece of property in the okanagan.
A true centre piece. Something that would be recognized world wide.

And so sadly... only the best West Corp could come up with is anothe cynricall building... done a million times over.
Like a pack of lifesavers on standing end.

Here... we are in the Rivera of Canada...
& sadly a West Corp clown from Edmonton comes up with that ..? Oh well To bad...
Some people can see the big picture.

I sent him some examples... of real epic prime waterfront buildings. Yet Again sadly.. his pride must have gotten in the way.

What are your examples? The waterfront hotel is hardly just "another cynricall building"
http://www.westcorp.net/images/uploads/ ... Street.pdf

[Grandan]

Pathetic...here's an opportunity.! To build something epic... on the best piece of property in the okanagan.
A true centre piece. Something that would be recognized world wide.

And so sadly... only the best West Corp could come up with is anothe cynricall building... done a million times over.
Like a pack of lifesavers on standing end.

Here... we are in the Rivera of Canada...
& sadly a West Corp clown from Edmonton comes up with that ..? Oh well To bad...
Some people can see the big picture.

I sent him some examples... of real epic prime waterfront buildings. Yet Again sadly.. his pride must have gotten in the way.

Is that cylindrical? Or cynical? Or both?

[dirtybiker]

How many more times will Westcorp come back before Council with "new" and better for them changes to further increase the size and massing? How big will the building actually be when finished?

Or, get all the zoning and variances in place, hold it for another couple years and then sell it all
outright at a huge up-tick from their original price.
And leave the headaches of the build to the next group of speculators.

[cv23]

Are you sure? I am 99.9% sure that, while Kelowna has approved a Kerry Park redesign, the hotel or building will not be on Kerry Park. But, I could be wrong.

Council was very cagey about this.
Westcorp wanted Mill St decommissioned and sold to them in order to increase the size of their hotel. As zoning extends to the center of the adjacent roadway this meant the City would be selling a portion of parkland, what was a part of Kerry Park, to Westcorp and Council knew full well this would create public outrage. Council quietly rezoned the west side of Mill St from parkland, part of Kerry Park, to commercial then sold it to Westcorp. Most people think that Westcorp just bought the street but they actually bought part of Kerry Park thanks to Councils shenanigans.

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

This beautiful hotel has the overwhelming support of the citizens of Kelowna for good reason! Its time to welcome the 21st century. One question though - how do we get rid of the grumpy old men who troll the internet?

Sorry I am not seeing all of the support.

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

Pathetic...here's an opportunity.! To build something epic... on the best piece of property in the okanagan.
A true centre piece. Something that would be recognized world wide.

And so sadly... only the best West Corp could come up with is anothe cynricall building... done a million times over.
Like a pack of lifesavers on standing end.

Here... we are in the Rivera of Canada...
& sadly a West Corp clown from Edmonton comes up with that ..? Oh well To bad...
Some people can see the big picture.

I sent him some examples... of real epic prime waterfront buildings. Yet Again sadly.. his pride must have gotten in the way.

Yeah lets have something epic, an uncluttered waterfront. ... something that it is too late for in most places.
If it's so bad right now, why do people keep coming?

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

Kelowna is nice, but I would enjoy it more with more tall buildings along the lakeshore..
Said almost nobody....EVER..

[dirtybiker]

Give them an inch, they take a mile.

Oh sorry young uns.....

Give them a centimeter, they take a kilometer.

[Terris]

The worst is yet to come for this developmental disaster.

The weight of the structure alone will eventually demolish any heritage building with 200 meters of the displacement zone including City Hall; and that's if it doesn't lean over first.

It seems that the majority of opinions in favour of this human hamster box come from folks who don't have a sense of home town pride for Kelowna.

Let's face it...

In the last 20 years the population demographics have swung sharply from that of locals who were born here or have lived here for more than 25-30 years and know how nice Kelowna once was when lakefront access was unobstructed; to now where you have a majority of residents who have no long term connection to or knowledge of the history of Kelowna and have come here to escape from concrete jungle city-scapes (Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and... shudder... Edmonton) only to support building those same soul sucking city-scapes here.

I mean; forget having lake views from Orchard Park, those days were bulldozed under long ago.

Have you driven along Ellis St lately? It's already feeling like a Hastings St. back alley. The concerns now should be preserving the natural mountain and sky views.

Developers have brought this destruction of the natural, wholesome, pollution free values that once existed here for all to thrive in.

We need to stop voting salespeople onto city council and rein in all future development. We need trained and scientifically educated leaders instead of the usual crop of $hill$ and p$eudo cheerleader$, from the old boys network, who bend over with every charming sales pitch from the big city greed mei$ter$.

The stakes are to too high and the greedy men in suits are taking too much away by their deconstructions with only increased taxation for the all apathetic residents paying for this disaster...

[Anonymous123]

Give them an inch, they take a mile.

Oh sorry young uns.....

Give them a centimeter, they take a kilometer.

Give them an inch, they think their a ruler!

[rustr007]

I've lived in Kelowna for the majority of my life (almost 49 years). Reality check for people against the proposed hotel: we need to build up, not out. A project like this will be an inspiration to other developers to build and densify our downtown.
So, why does this matter?
-the Central Okanagan has approximately 30% of all endangered species in BC. IF we continue the sprawl, we will irrevocably damage our environment and precious wildlife corridors that add to the natural beauty of our community.
-we need to protect our ALR. Again, IF we continue the sprawl, we wreck viable farmland that we need now and for future generations.
-to encourage downtown living & tourism. Right now, much of the downtown core is a vacant wasteland after business hours. We need people downtown supporting our local businesses & building a thriving community.

Another important FYI: Westcorp (the developer) was asked by the city to jump through a bunch of hoops when they tried to develop this area previously but the City required the entire area to be developed leading to the proposed CD21 zoning. The City drafted and proposed CD21 which took several years. It also took hundreds of thousands of dollars of money from Westcorp. In the end of this process, the council of the day did NOT approve the City staff recommended CD21 plan. Westcorp lost all the money they put into this effort. The current proposal being put forward is not about maximizing profit but making the development financially viable.

I'd also like to encourage people to look in the direction of the lake 3-4 blocks from the Grand Hotel. You cannot see the mountains or lake behind it and that building is maybe 10 stories. Yes, this building is tall but I am not convinced that it's going to take away from anyone downtown. The Kelowna Downtown Business Association and the Chamber of Commerce have come out in support of it. I work downtown and believe it would be an incredible addition to our city. Where the people are, the community thrives.

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

Is there a Public Meeting on this on the 20Th. location ?

[Scrobins94]

Is there a Public Meeting on this on the 20Th. location ?

https://www.kelowna.ca/city-hall/counci ... c-hearings

I think it is today between 6-10pm at City Hall.

[LANDM]

Are you sure? I am 99.9% sure that, while Kelowna has approved a Kerry Park redesign, the hotel or building will not be on Kerry Park. But, I could be wrong.

Council was very cagey about this.
Westcorp wanted Mill St decommissioned and sold to them in order to increase the size of their hotel. As zoning extends to the center of the adjacent roadway this meant the City would be selling a portion of parkland, what was a part of Kerry Park, to Westcorp and Council knew full well this would create public outrage. Council quietly rezoned the west side of Mill St from parkland, part of Kerry Park, to commercial then sold it to Westcorp. Most people think that Westcorp just bought the street but they actually bought part of Kerry Park thanks to Councils shenanigans.

What part of the map below are you talking about? Is it the tiny part that extends into the parking at the top? The rezoning was for the other P1 parking area as I recall. The actual parkland itself is entirely unaffected.

[Scrobins94]

*removed*