On Monday, Kelowna City Council will be giving initial consideration to a rezoning application that could make way for a proposed 35-storey mixed-use development building on St. Paul Street.
Kerkhoff Construction submitted an application to rezone 1405 St. Paul Street in February 2021. The company is looking to change the current urban centre commercial to central business commercial.
City staff recommend support for the rezoning application because they say it is consistent with the Official Community Plan and supports the objective of directing medium and high-density residential developments to urban centres.
Staff explain that by creating urban centres will provide a greater mix of housing near employment and maximizes the use of existing infrastructure, services and amenities.
The current site includes the FSH restaurant and offices. If the development application is supported, the existing building would be demolished.
A public information session was hosted on March 29, 2022. If council supports the rezoning, development planning staff will bring forward the development permit and development variance permit applications.
According to the development permit application, the applicant is proposing one 35-storey tower that would sit on top of a five-storey podium that includes above ground parking.
Kerkhoff Construction’s application indicates that 341 residential units would be constructed, including 56 micro-suites, 56 studio apartments, 111 one-bedroom apartments and 118 two-bedroom apartments.
Some of the amenities for the proposed building include a social “bike lounge” for cyclists, a large landscaped terrace, a pool on the podium roof, a private business centre room, gym and yoga studio.
“The intersection of Doyle Avenue and St. Paul Street will introduce a plaza with commercial patios. The plaza and frontage on Doyle Avenue will be designed to relate to the future UBCO campus directly north from the project site,” reads the application.
In December, the University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO) submitted an application for a downtown campus development at the site of the former Daily Courier building.
City staff add that the redevelopment of the vacant Monaco site would also be a high-density mixed-use project.
The development variance permit application requests that the maximum allowable height be increased from 19-storeys to 35-storeys. It also requests that the setback size be lowered to 2.4 meters from the required 3 metres.
City staff say they are working with the applicant to track the variances for overall height, height of the podium and what they refer to as off-site improvements to the surround area and street.
Council will make a decision on this rezoning application during the regular meeting scheduled for Monday, May 9 at 1:30 pm.
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