VIDEO: Return to Hadgraft Wilson Place remains a question mark

There is an air of cautious optimism about the new executive director at Kelowna's Pathways Abilities Society, but Alan Clay is making no predictions and no promises.

Pathways is the organization that operates the apartment building that had to be evacuated when the construction of Kelowna's tallest building gave rise to one of its biggest headaches.

Recent comments from UBCO suggest the building could welcome back residents...at some point.

"We are optimistic for the future of Hadgraft and its place in the community," said UBCO's director of public affairs.

"Hourly monitoring of soil movement will continue and all data indicate that conditions remain stable," Skolski told KelownaNow.

But there is still no timeline for when residents might be able to return.

They have been left to scramble for places to stay since the building was evacuated in April.

Some were able to move into the new student housing at Okanagan College for the summer, but that came to an end in mid August.

The scramble to find housing was on again.

"There are two families that still haven't found housing," spokesperson Monique Saebels said at the time.

Pathways' new executive director says the situation has his full attention, but he's not suggesting any imminent return.

"We're certainly exploring various options," said Alan Clay, "I'm very optimistic with our ongoing relationship and working groups with UBC Properties Trust and the City of Kelowna."

"We're committed to a path forward. What it looks like at this point, it's too early to tell."

The encouraging thing is that despite legal action between the parties, they still appear to have open lines of communication.

"Absolutely, we've got those open lines of communication," said Clay. "That's certainly the approach that I'm taking."

And he said it is certainly something that he's spending a lot of his time on.

"I'm new to the job and that's certainly been a file that's occupying a lot of my time and headspace."

Work on UBCO's 43 storey tower ground to a disastrous halt in March.

During the massive excavation at the site, cracks began to appear, not just at Hadgraft Wilson Place, but at the nearby Legion building and the Colab building across the street.

Neither of those other buildings will ever be occupied again.

But for Hadgraft Wilson Place there seems to be a chance, and open lines of communication are a good sign.

"We want to have those open lines of communication with both the city and UBC so that we can resolve this situation for the best of all parties," said Clay.

The UBCO tower is slated to be complete by the fall of 2027.