On Monday, March 28th, 2022 Kelowna lost a valued member of the community - Gerhard Blenk, the developer and founder of Wilden, Kelowna’s largest master-planned community.
He leaves behind a memorable legacy and impact on Kelowna through his vision for Wilden’s masterplan.
Originally from a small Alpine town in the south of Germany, he was a very successful businessman in the oil and hunting industries as a CEO, manager and owner throughout a majority of his adult life.
Even through his busy years of running corporations, he had a passion for real estate development and would always invest in land on the side, either in Germany or Canada.
Gerhard frequently visited Canada, especially in the west because of his passion for outdoor adventures, winter sports, wildlife, hunting and traveling.
He truly loved Canada for its beauty, terrain and vast green space. Eventually, he moved here permanently in his later years and his family followed one-by-one.
In the 90s, a piece of land that was designated for development, located north of downtown Kelowna, was for sale. Several developers had purchased and put the land back on the market, partly because the topography was difficult to work with.
However, Gerhard quickly bought the land and saw it as an opportunity. Yes, the various hills, bodies of water, wetlands and other obstacles certainly posed a challenge, but it reminded him of his home in the German alpines. He instantly fell in love with the land, its beauty and its potential.
Over the course of 5 years, Gerhard built out his masterplan for Wilden. He purchased several chunks of land from dozens of individual owners for decades to assemble the land, but he did not stop until everything was perfectly aligned with his vision.
These 10 guiding principles are the cornerstone of Wilden, from the beginning of its development to its future:
Build a charming, alpine-style family community with winding roads
Make nature accessible from every home
Always be predictable and reliable
Maintain closed-pocket development, not spreading out over large areas
Follow topography instead of leveling it
Leave as many trees, rocks and outcrops integrated into the lots as possible
Develop and sell without pressure
Only work with very few selected builders
Make quality visible – in home and subdivision design
Keep sales in-house and have personal relationships with prospects and residents
As said in his own words, he “wanted to build something beautiful.” That is why preserving nature was one of the most important principles of his vision.
Wilden is nature-inspired to its core and green space is maintained throughout the entire development to this day. If anything, there is more than originally planned!
Today’s Wilden is only 30% developed with 14 neighbourhoods on the approximately 1,500-acre property.
His children honour Gerhard’s vision and masterplan with immense pride as they continue to develop the beautiful land, staying true to his guiding principles.
While he developed and founded Wilden, Gerhard was also the loving husband of Maria, former husband of Esme, and father of Martin, Karin, Daniel and Andreas, who tragically passed away in 2017. Gerhard was a proud grandfather to Vincent, Lucie and Jonas, a great-grandfather to Bobbie, and father-in-law of Michael and Chrissy. He is greatly missed by his sister Monika and her husband David, as well as many friends and relatives in Germany and Canada.
To read more about Gerhard Blenk’s life, click here.
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