More Towers Slated to Change the Downtown Landscape

[Terris]

Personally, I believe some of the problem, would be better addressed by tightening up legislation, that pertains to real estate transactions, and shadow flipping for example. I think there are loopholes that industry is exploiting, which could be closed.

Double agency is a big part of the problem here now too...

I had my lawyer remind a well known local agent about that a few years back, after he actually tried to sue me over changing a deal that he was 2 fisting unbeknownst to me...

[bob vernon]

I am listening to CBC Monday morning as I type this. It's an interview about the loss of the parking lot at Prospera Place to allow a developer to build more highrise towers. 234 parking spaces to vanish and be replaced by 70. Downtown is already crowded for parking on a game night. Just listening to the young city planner being interviewed by Chris Walker who is asking some tough questions and the kid is floundering around with no answers. Developers own city hall. No matter how he phrases it, parking in Kelowna for a concert or hockey game will get a lot worse.

[Gilchy]

Over time there will be more parkades, and better transit. Surface lots downtown are a massive waste of space.

[WalterWhite]

Over time there will be more parkades, and better transit. Surface lots downtown are a massive waste of space.

- but as with most infrastructure in Kelowna, the parking will be removed long before it's ever replaced.

[dle]

Over time there will be more parkades, and better transit. Surface lots downtown are a massive waste of space.

Problem is, they don't seem to build them in anticipation of the known upcoming growth. They build them long after the fact, when parking is horrendous. They know they have given the developer permits to build. They know how many units, storefronts etc. That is the time to also put the building of the parkades out to tender. By the time they are built, the spots are gone and so begins another waiting list.

There is a 2 year.....yes I will repeat that, 2 YEAR waiting list for a monthly paid parking spot in Chapman Parkade on Lawrence. There is, I believe, a 1 year wait for the Library Parkade. City of Kelowna leases(?) these 2, plus a 3rd parkade from Impark, which is also full and I think that one might be the new one across from Interior Health but don't quote me on that.

Now, you can call Kelowna Parking and check this yourself if you find it hard to believe - which I did.

[Jflem1983]

Personally, I believe some of the problem, would be better addressed by tightening up legislation, that pertains to real estate transactions, and shadow flipping for example. I think there are loopholes that industry is exploiting, which could be closed.

Double agency is a big part of the problem here now too...

I had my lawyer remind a well known local agent about that a few years back, after he actually tried to sue me over changing a deal that he was 2 fisting unbeknownst to me...

Sounds like AJ

[dle]

One nice sunny day in the near future, I am going down to the waterfront with my video camera and take some nice videos of the horizon, the landscape as it is now, the beauty of what this City is now. I am going across the lake to the Bluffs and take more video of the downtown area. Also some nice stills (no, not the whiskey kind! ).

Y'all might want to think of doing that yourself so you can look back in years to come and see what we've lost (if that is how you view the new rapidly changing skyline).

On another thread (proposed new buskers rules) OldIslander posted a cool little U-Tube video of the little boats in Victoria Harbour....worth checking out and very much worth noting the LACK of skyrises and visual interference with the adjacent waterfront area. Victoria is a beautiful city, they've managed to keep their waterfront protected. Who is going to say Victoria is a 2-bit town with no class??

[bconzevo]

Idiotic! Something like our Hospital. I am sure that the Mayor will support this as he feels we should all walk ie: his hospital comments. Staff should relocate so they are close to work!

[techrtr]

It's going to be great when the entire lake is ringed by an impenetrable wall of high rises.

[Urban Cowboy]

I am listening to CBC Monday morning as I type this. It's an interview about the loss of the parking lot at Prospera Place to allow a developer to build more highrise towers. 234 parking spaces to vanish and be replaced by 70. Downtown is already crowded for parking on a game night. Just listening to the young city planner being interviewed by Chris Walker who is asking some tough questions and the kid is floundering around with no answers. Developers own city hall. No matter how he phrases it, parking in Kelowna for a concert or hockey game will get a lot worse.

Well, another member clearly stated that on a recent game night, there were still 300+ spaces available at the Library Parkade, so that sort of suggests your concern is invalid.

As the city grows naturally they will have to plan for more parking structures, but at this moment there are enough.

Since this was part of the original agreement for getting the arena in the first place, I don't quite see the animosity as justified.

[dle]

I am listening to CBC Monday morning as I type this. It's an interview about the loss of the parking lot at Prospera Place to allow a developer to build more highrise towers. 234 parking spaces to vanish and be replaced by 70. Downtown is already crowded for parking on a game night. Just listening to the young city planner being interviewed by Chris Walker who is asking some tough questions and the kid is floundering around with no answers. Developers own city hall. No matter how he phrases it, parking in Kelowna for a concert or hockey game will get a lot worse.

Well, another member clearly stated that on a recent game night, there were still 300+ spaces available at the Library Parkade, so that sort of suggests your concern is invalid.

As the city grows naturally they will have to plan for more parking structures, but at this moment there are enough.

Since this was part of the original agreement for getting the arena in the first place, I don't quite see the animosity as justified.

Not always - there have been game nights when the "Lot Full" sign has been out....especially when there are other activities going on in the area at the Laurel, the Arts Centre, the casino, the KCT....etc

[Urban Cowboy]

OK I won't dispute that, but those "lot full" signs can just as easily come out now, with those surface spaces available still, no?

Naturally when there are multiple events going on parking becomes more of an issue, and people may have to walk a few blocks to park. Happens in every city under similar circumstances.

I doubt any place has the luxury of ensuring that there is parking within 300 meters of an event, when multiple events are in progress. That would entail building parking structures that would for the most part sit half empty, not much of an incentive to invest in such.

[Terris]

It's doubtful, that 30 years from now, residents will be owning and driving as many personal vehicles as we do now thus reducing the requirement for large parking spaces.

Parkades will likely be used to dispatch AUV's (Automated Urban Vehicles) that you can call from an app...

I don't see how erecting large concrete phalluses is an improvement on the Kelowna landscape.

Too "Back to the Future" for me...

[Omnitheo]

If only there were some possible way to arrive downtown without having to drive. And what about all these new condos they’re building downtown? How are these people going to get a few blocks over to their destination if they can’t find a place to park?!

[casey60]

Don't get it. Why was Prospera place build while it was known the parking lot is owned by a development company that now wants to build on the parking lot? Please explain? And who allowed this to happen.