West Kelowna’s development services department says it dealt with a record-breaking number of building permits in 2016.
According to the department, total construction value last year was $116.3 million and all signs are pointing to an even better year in this year.
“We knew during the year that 2016 was going to far exceed any previous years by the number of applications and the quality of the projects we were seeing,” said Nancy Henderson, general manager of development services in West Kelowna.
“To say we were extremely busy in 2016 is putting it mildly, and so far in 2017 we are not seeing any signs of a slowdown. In fact, I would say we may be looking at another record-breaking year based on the interest we are seeing for larger scale multiple-family projects, something we haven’t seen a lot of since 2008.”
Last year, the city issued 649 building permits, compared to 507 in 2015, involving 174 single-family dwellings and 17 multi-family dwellings with a total of 90 units.
In 2015, 82 single-family homes received permits and 13 multi-family dwellings, with a total of 50 units, were approved.
With new carriage house regulations now in place, the city saw seven carriage home permits handed out in 2016.
While not even a month into this year, West Kelowna is dealing with a number of large-scale commercial and multi-family projects, said Henderson.
They include a three-building, 240-unit purpose-built rental apartment complex slated for Carrington Road and a new large medical building proposed for the corner of Dobbin Road and Old Okanagan Highway in the Westbank town centre.
Redevelopment of West Kelowna
Plans are also wending their way through city hall for the redevelopment of a long-time eyesore in Westbank, the boarded up strip mall and adjacent gas station at the west end of the town centre that used to be home to the Cattle Country Restaurant. Plans call for the redevelopment of small commercial centre, anchored by an Otter Co-op store and gas bar.
The numerous plans for the Westbank town centre are welcome news for the city, which has long tried to spur a revitalization of the city’s major commercial centre.
Helping with that are plans for a small brewery on Main Street in Westbank in the former Salvation Army thrift store building at the corner of Main Street and Old Okanagan Highway and a cidery planned for just outside the town centre area.
But it’s not just in the town centre where building is being seen. In Lakeview Heights, the Lake Heights Mall is being redeveloped on Anders Road, with the first phase now complete and the second, adding a grocery story, scheduled for completion later this spring. The nearby former site of the Lakeview Elementary school has been bought by a developer with plans for a large multi-family residential development.
An entirely new neighbourhood at Goat’s Peak, south-west of the Westbank town centre, is envisioned and a substantial addition to the residential area at Vineyard Estates on the south side of Mt. Boucherie is planned.
And that’s not even the full list.
Changes in operation
To help handle the increased workload that all the new development is creating, West Kelowna implemented an application software system last year that has helped to streamline the management of applications.
The city will launch a public portal to this software in the coming months to allow both applicants and the public to access information and monitor the status of development applications.
Increased construction in the community results in increased application fees and development cost charge revenues. DCCs are fees paid by developers to fund infrastructure improvements associated with growth. The city is also planning a review of its DCCs
West Kelowna population surges
Recently released B.C. statistics indicate West Kelowna’s population growth is continuing to rise, with a 2.7 per cent increase over 2015. West Kelowna leads the Central Okanagan in population growth and is estimated now to have a population of 34,930.
“We have been anticipating an upswing as we watched the B.C. economy improve and grow over the last few years,” said Henderson.
“Judging from our growing population, we believe we will see continued development in not only residential development but also in the commercial and industrial sectors as well.”
She said a number of factors appear to be influencing that growth, including the cost of housing in the Lower Mainland, people “cashing out” there and moving to Interior communities like West Kelowna where their housing dollar goes farther.
The city is also continuing to see Alberta buyers despite the downturn in that province’s economy and, Henderson noted, on the national stage the whole Kelowna area is now regularly included when B.C.’s housing market is talked about, not just the Lower Mainland. That, in turn, is raising the profile of the Central Okanagan when it comes to buyers from other parts of Canada.