Photo: City of Kelowna / Zeidler Architecture
Revised plans for a 350 Doyle residential tower.
A Kelowna grassroots group is questioning whether developers at the former RCMP site on Doyle Avenue have put the wool in the eyes of City Hall.
Kelowna Legacy Group, which has spoken out against plans to develop the site in favor of a “more ambitious city center vision,” is calling for a formal lease investigation after the proposed scope of the project changed. drastically.
According to the group, a call for proposals issued by the City Council stipulated that any building on the site should be built with a maximum of 13 floors.
Rise Developments, which signed a $ 7 million, 99-year-old property lease, proposed a 13-story tower. The property was successfully subdivided.
However, following complaints from neighbors about mass construction, the developer proposed a taller, slimmer 25-story tower.
That decision caused Kelowna Legacy Group to make a fuss, claiming that the new design not only protects the views from the adjacent innovation center, but also offers unobstructed luxury views from the additional 12 floors.
They claim that the developer has made a “bait and switch” to collect more rent on the upper floors.
“As a result, the Kelowna Legacy Group is raising questions about whether the mayor and council were fooled by the bait and switch, or whether they were aware that this would happen when the bidder wins the initial call for proposals.” , the group. he said in a press release.
“The developer said they could get what the tender wanted and they won the tender. Now they say they can’t make the project viable without community concessions and substantial variations.”
If the developer is unable to comply with the terms of the original call for proposals, he / she wonders if the process should not go back to the beginning.
The new proposal was presented to the City Council earlier this month and has not yet been reviewed by the City Council, which Mayor Colin Basran said when asked about the group’s objections.
Basran says that although the property has been subdivided, they have not yet seen details in the applications for development and development permits, of which the new plans would be part.
“It hasn’t reached the town hall yet, so I really can’t say too much because there’s not much to say. At the moment there is no decision point for the town hall,” Basran told Castanet News.
“Certainly one of the things the council could ask for is a pause in the process when it is presented to the council, but until it is before the council in a proper staff report, there is really no decision on the part of the council. from the town hall at this time. “
Basran added that the new plans do not increase the density of the project which calls for 259 rental units as opposed to the original 316.