Kelowna council moves pair of downtown housing developments forward

A pair of housing developments were moved forward by Kelowna council last week.

The first application that was unanimously approved by council was a rezoning for 1181 Bernard Ave.

On Monday, Sept. 25, council agreed to change the land use from the MF2 – Townhouse zone to the MF3 – Apartment Housing zone.

Now that council has given the application the green light, the applicant will be able to submit a development permit (DP) application.

At this stage, the developer is proposing a four and a half storey building with 54 units which would include four studios, 12 one-bedrooms, 10 one-bedrooms with dens, 28 two-bedrooms.

According to the initial DP application, there will be underground parking for 30 vehicles and surface parking for 53 vehicles.

The second application that received approval was a DP permit for a six-storey building at 1280 Sutherland Ave.

The 240-unit apartment was supported by a 8-1 vote with councillor Ron Cannan opposed due to the amount of micro suites.

According to the developer, there would be 153 bachelors (147 micro-suites), 40 one-bedrooms, 36 two-bedrooms plus six two-bedroom townhouse units and five three-bedrooms.

Due to the large number of micro suits and smaller units, the developers are providing about 125% of the city’s amenity requirements.

Staff explained that because of the large number of micro suites, the applicant has agreed to make a $480,000 contribution into the Housing Opportunities Reserve Fund.

That includes an indoor amenity lounge on the ground floor fronting onto Pridham Avenue, a gym on the ground floor and a shared workspace on the second floor.

The rest of the amenity space is located outdoors, on the second level courtyard, the rooftop on the east portion and on private balconies. That includes an outdoor pet run with a community garden.

The developer will be providing 225 parking stalls with 322 spaces for bikes.

A staff report says the developer will also be making a cash in lieu payment of more than $112,170 for three parking spots that are not being provided.