The tallest apartment complex in Lake Country’s town centre will fulfill a vision that previous councils have had for the district prior to its incorporation.
Lake Country council approved a development permit which allows a six-storey mixed use building, currently the tallest apartment in Lake Country, including 59 residential units and underground parking, on Main Street, a few weeks ago.
“It will be good, still not sure when it’s going to move along, but it’s a concept that’s affordable and meets our town centre requirements in terms of what the build is,” said Mayor James Baker.
The development will allow more people to walk to stores in the vicinity, he said, which is good for business.
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Although he isn’t sure on the time frame when the building will be constructed, he said developers typically wait for an uptick in the market.
The development will be located between Hill and Winfield Roads and will include rooftop amenity space and meets staff’s parking requirements with parking located behind and under the building.
The tallest buildings in the district can be located in the town centre with a max of six storeys. Elsewhere, three or four storey buildings are allowed.
The apartment complex along Main Street is in line with the district’s community plan, which outlines the town centre, around Main Street, in order to densify the area.
Mark Koch, director of community services with the district, said the amount of construction in the district remains high, even though the market has been cooling for the past six months.
“At this stage, things are still very busy and there’s a lot of activity continuing,” Koch said.
“That will help contribute towards the mixed use, residential and commercial vision the district had for the town centre for the very long time, so the idea is to build a very compact core where the community can access amenities, accommodations and doing so to develop in more of a cost effective way, and protect the rural areas.
That vision started before incorporation in 1995…it’s a fulfillment of council’s vision when they put the zoning in place a number of years ago.”
Construction is ongoing at Lakestone in Okanagan Centre, which is the largest development in Lake Country’s history with 1,300 units of single family homes, townhouses, trails and mixed use development.
The Lakes on Oceola Road is still under construction and in the past six months, council has given stamps of approval for an apartment complex in the Woodsdale Road corridor.
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