The future of Kelowna’s waterfront was on full display Wednesday afternoon.
Developer's Westcorp presented their revamped downtown hotel to the public at the Rotary Centre for the Arts.
Westcorp's original development proposal was approved as a 26-storey hotel building, featuring 187 hotel rooms and 27 long-stay rental units.
The new re-designed proposal now features a towering 33-storey building that will house 174 hotel rooms, 40 residences and a public restaurant on the 17th floor.
According to Westcorp the additional floors, residences and resturant have been added to accommodate an underground parkade.
"In order to make this project feasible, the five floors of residences we have added and one floor of the restaurant will make the hotel possible because of the added expense of the downtown parkade," said Gail Temple of Westcorp.
The majority of the hotels 289 parking stalls will now be underground and the 17th floor restaurant will provide panoramic views of the valley.
"It is the last developable piece of the waterfront and a luxury hotel not present yet in Kelowna would be a fabulous addition,” said Temple. “It will have conference space that will rival the best in Canada and we are really hopeful that we have raised the bar so high in terms of architecture and finesse that it is a catalyst for other great things to happen on Lawrence and Leon."
If the new proposal is approved by council in late February, Westcorp plans to have an on-site presentation centre by summer and shovels in the ground by late 2018.
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