The Westcorp hotel....

[LANDM]

Yeah, I hear what you’re saying but the reality is that times change, markets change, the city has changed, maybe their financial position has changed......life is about adapting to change. Businesses are no different and the city has not accepted anything yet. It is simply a set of negotiations and discussion that will end up in some sort of decision that will probably look pretty darned nice.

[Rhime]

After the whole political bs that Alberta has tossed onto BC's wine industry, I'd hesitate to allow an Alberta company to build anything in our province too...just saying.

[Scrobins94]

After the whole political bs that Alberta has tossed onto BC's wine industry, I'd hesitate to allow an Alberta company to build anything in our province too...just saying.

This is the dumbest comment I've read in a while.

[Scrobins94]

Based on the location of this proposed hotel, I think this this hotel would kill the morning sun for Kerry park. Also it seems it would destroy the open views of the skies towards the lake when going down Water St.

Nice looking hotel though. However, they didn't even use local resources to help design this building. To me, it feels somewhat as a sellout. Westcorp has no real vested interest in Kelowna other than this prime piece of real estate.

As much as we b*tch and complain about Mission Group, at least they are invested in the city. E.g. they have rentals and other properties.

Westcorp has little to lose and everything is for them to gain. Of course they want to go as tall as possible.

Hope City Council has some teeth, as the planners have shown this round.

[zerograv]

After the whole political bs that Alberta has tossed onto BC's wine industry, I'd hesitate to allow an Alberta company to build anything in our province too...just saying.

They have an office in Kelowna, you could almost argue that they are a kelowna company

[lindenhof72]

This is the blandness building you could put in such an iconic area. It's just a big beige cylinder that needs some grey at the stop to make it look like an old stubby cigar. If the developers were really serious about this project, why couldn't they make something just as beautiful and iconic as the area it's going in? A building that looks like the sails perhaps? Why do most people in Kelowna seem satisfied with second best when we're an international destination with a thriving airport flying people here?

Or maybe Kelowna wants to be just as bland as the buildings put up here.

[nordhausen]

Rhime wrote:
After the whole political bs that Alberta has tossed onto BC's wine industry, I'd hesitate to allow an Alberta company to build anything in our province too...just saying.


This is the dumbest comment I've read in a while.

To call a comment dumb is disrespectful of those unfortunate enough to not be able to speak. I can speak and I say that Westcorp can stuff it until Notley backs down from her dumb idea.

[wanderer]

So Westcorp buys and demolishes the Willow in.
They put forth a plan that gets shot down.
They ammend and downsize the plan a time or two till
one gets accepted.
They do not start the build.

Now more time passes, Councils change, and they start working their ammendments back
to upping the scale of the project again.

Yo-Yo comes to mind.

maybe get a few allowances and not some others.

Then, wait out till another Council gets elected and start in with the
ammendments to upsize again..

How am I doing ?

How many Councils and Mayors have they been playing now ?
Three if I recollect.

Wait out Councils and Mayors, wait out the lives of some old timers, wait out
the memories of others, wait for people to move away.
Wait for younger big city dwellers to move in.
And then take another shot at it.

They could have just left the Willow standing the last 10 years and at least had some
revenue generated off their property.
Not like they're in a hurry to build.

I was at one of the Westcorp/City workshops for Westcorp's vision of it's hotel and the downtown waterfront area years ago, it was held under tents in Kerry Park. A city person had taken a couple aside who thought the amended plans did not have what they felt would work for them to invest in. The group had actually moved closer to me outside of the tents so I could hear what they were saying. The city person explained that the first step is getting the basic plans approved and from there applying for variances until they get back to what they really had wanted in the first place. Since that time I've watched this process happen over and over again everywhere in this city.

[Grandan]

This is the blandness building you could put in such an iconic area. It's just a big beige cylinder that needs some grey at the stop to make it look like an old stubby cigar. If the developers were really serious about this project, why couldn't they make something just as beautiful and iconic as the area it's going in? A building that looks like the sails perhaps? Why do most people in Kelowna seem satisfied with second best when we're an international destination with a thriving airport flying people here?

Or maybe Kelowna wants to be just as bland as the buildings put up here.

LOL, I can just imagine what an elevator encapsulated inside a wing of the hotel shaped like the sails would operate like.
The cantilever loads would be massive on such a structure.
Ever wonder why Westcorp is not utilizing local talent? Wonder no more. With goofy ideas like that it is better to stick with firms that have actually designed a hotel before.
I read the Westcorp hype and believe that they are responding to market trends by offering buyer owned units. By doing so it ties residents of Kelowna to the long term vision of the hotel. I really like it. The city planners have no choice but to pan the development because it is beyond their pay grade.
Having recently presented a proposal to one city official, I was met with an closed mind, a person that was more interested in telling me why my proposal was no good without taking the time to even explain the proposal or put a drawing in front of them before they shot down the whole idea.
Kelowna is asking for" Imagine Kelowna" ideas but then put dopes like the character I had to talk to on the front lines to discourage anyone that did not fit into their narrow view of the world. I think the term is "gate keepers".
As it stands now, the concrete canyon that Ellis Street has turned into now is pretty pathetic and if we keep the clowns in the planning dept calling the shots we will have more of the same for a great long time.

[goalie]

An original height variance to 87 metres was supported by council in 2014, however, that development permit has now expired.

The council was willing to work with them but they are playing dirty. Double the height? I hope the city deals with the accordingly.

[Rhime]

After the whole political bs that Alberta has tossed onto BC's wine industry, I'd hesitate to allow an Alberta company to build anything in our province too...just saying.

This is the dumbest comment I've read in a while.

The whole targeting of the wine industry politically is the dumbest thing you've probably read...

[kbjohnson]

The city's concerns do not seem to match their plans to make Kelowna a world class place for business and tourism. What the city should be concentrating on is taking advantage of possible add ons to Westcorps development that coud be done at the same time rather than the city deciding, after development is complete, to do that would be budget restricted projects and done in a small town way. Yes, the hotel will become the focal point of downtown Kelowna. The city needs to take advvantage of this development opportunity now. They can all sit around and provide their pros nd cons after it is built. Height is not an issue. Adding stories to the development would have very little visual effect. I just hope the city does not restrict first class developers such as Westcorp from providing designs that the majority of council have never probably seen, imagined or heard of before. Council must do their job which is more "listening" than criticizing.

[LANDM]

An original height variance to 87 metres was supported by council in 2014, however, that development permit has now expired.

The council was willing to work with them but they are playing dirty. Double the height? I hope the city deals with the accordingly.

Playing dirty?

Property owners ask for variances all the time. It is an acceptable solution where someone has a proposal that is outside of the written regulations. Is a homeowner who has his eaves intruding into the zoning setback allowance "playing dirty" when they ask for a variance? Or would you suggest that the city deals with it by telling them to tear the house down?

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

Yeah, I hear what you’re saying but the reality is that times change, markets change, the city has changed, maybe their financial position has changed......life is about adapting to change. Businesses are no different and the city has not accepted anything yet. It is simply a set of negotiations and discussion that will end up in some sort of decision that will probably look pretty darned nice.

I t looks pretty darn nice down there now.
This will end shortly when the COK club house goes up.

[dle]

is our fire depatment equipped and prepared to handle a fire in a building of this size?

depends on what you mean by "equipped".....from what I've read on other posts regarding this issue with other buildings the "fire safety plan" hugely relies on the building being built to a code that has firewalls in the staircases, the cladding on the outside of the building, etc. NOT SO MUCH on whether the fire department can reach you with a ladder truck for instance and pluck you out of your bird's nest in the Penthouse.....

So, I guess you can put your own interpretation it, as another poster said ("they wouldn't allow it if it wasn't"), and like you said ("is our fire department equipped and prepared to handle.....").

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sound like all that has to be in place for it to be safe according to the fire department is a "built to code" stamp with those types of certain features.....now, whether or not you will be able to scoot down 33 flights in that firewalled, fireproof staircase in the middle of the night before the whole thing collapses is another story. What if you happen to have fallen off a table while out dancing a couple nights before and your leg is in a big cast? Just a for instance....