Kamloops Construction

[VantageHD]

The Hive announced they are 60% sold/leased. I would imagine if commitments are in place for the whole building before completion then the 2nd building won't be far behind.

Underground parking is complete. Apparently the bulk of the building is steel so will be interesting to see it go together from here. I assumed it was going to be concrete.

D , on Flickr

[LittleBoy]

Asking as an outsider, how do locals feel about Kamloops potential trajectory over the next 10-20 years? Obviously Kelowna has proven itself as the emergent Canadian metropolis of the 21st century, is there an expectation that this will be replicated in Kamloops? Just looking at population statistics, Kamloops is seeing steady growth, and when I visited in the summer, it looked like a decent bit of development was happening downtown.

[VantageHD]

Everyone seems to be talking about how expensive houses are getting and how much development is going on around the city. No high rises being built but plenty of construction all over town. No one is expecting Kamloops to double in size any time soon, but the affordability that makes Kamloops such a livable place is getting a lot of attention. With the amount of people moving here and low supply it's dramatically driving up housing costs, this year especially. I don't see where the city can expand in order to meet the demand. Cough - indian reserve - cough...

The next 10-20 years will be interesting since we'll surpass 100k and at the same time are already bursting at the seems. I would love to see the downtown and North Shore develop medium/high density units, with good amenities marketed towards the first time buyer in order to get younger people in the market.

Kamloops developers are brutal, and notorious for building the same old wood frame building, with no amenities, in car-centric areas. It seems like what happened in Kelowna is 1 person took a risk to develop big in the core and it paid off, now everyone wants a piece of the pie. I feel like the same thing will happen in Kamloops once a single developer takes that same risk.

[VantageHD]

RIH Surgical tower getting some colour
March , on Flickr

Battle street condos
March , on Flickr

5th & St. Paul apartment
March, on Flickr

Across the street on St. Paul
March , on Flickr

Lorne Street apartment
Mar , on Flickr

This building is a big improvement from what they've built to the West.
Mar, on Flickr

The Hive steel and core going up quickly.
March, on Flickr

[rdave]

Great progress in Kamloops thank you.

Is there an update on the City Gardens towers yet?

[VantageHD]

Nothing public, but I have seen revised renderings of the project. It sounds like Kelson group wants to start with the tallest building first, but that's just a rumour at this point.

[rdave]

Thanks! Hopefully they get to break ground soon.

[VantageHD]

Funny, there's an article today talking about the heritage houses that need to be removed for City Gardens. They reached out to Kelson Group and they mention in the article that they will be applying for a development permit in early April and that they are close to releasing revised plans.

https://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/new...ilt-1.24298361

[csbvan]

I think that it would be short-sighted to not incorporate the homes into the development. It is a huge development on a large site - there are plenty of opportunities to incorporate them. It would certainly raise the quality level of this development as well, and add more texture and visual interest.

[VantageHD]

Looks like Kelson Group released their revised plans. Nice to see they didn't shrink the buildings and they're still going to be the 2 tallest in town. Quite a bit different than the first rendering, but in a good way!
https://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/new...ent-1.24299056

Kelson, on Flickr

Kelson, on Flickr

Kel , on Flickr

Kel , on Flickr

Building on the right is existing
Kel , on Flickr

[VantageHD]

Impressive promo video for City Gardens. Doesn't seem like they're messing around.

• Video Link

[itom 987]

In that video I see full grown trees without roots on balconies, a valley with mountains that don't look like BC mountains, and a section of the city in the distance that looks like Sao Paulo.

[giallo]

Great proposal. It's a pretty hefty development.

[VantageHD]

Kelson Group announced last night they will be starting with the 22 storey building first in spring 2022. Pre-sales begin this fall. Glad to see them starting with the tallest.
https://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/new...021-1.24301007

[Tysonbrown]

Originally Posted by itom 987

In that video I see full grown trees without roots on balconies, a valley with mountains that don't look like BC mountains, and a section of the city in the distance that looks like Sao Paulo.

That's a pretty accurate representation of Kamloops. It's desert so mountains are really grassy hills. You should google-earth Kamloops.

[itom 987]

I have physically been to Kamloops, the mountains around the city are old and worn out, the ones in 2:02 of the video are not. The mountains in the video are extremely tall with jagged peaks, they are probably from South America. It is not hard to find pictures of mountains around Kamloops! I'm not bashing Kamloops and this project in particular, I just wish the designer presented the product more accurately. Mistakes like these are far too common in the industry.

[itom 987]

That video does not make me feel confident in spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on the product.

[moosejaw]

that video reminds me of Capetown SA not really South America. The sole traffic light with the arrow sign sort of gives it away

[VantageHD]

For sure, would have been better taller, but still will be the tallest in town, which is a good start.

As useless as I think this current council is I put the blame on our developers. They've been building overpriced multi-family garbage all over the City, other than downtown for years. I see the Kelson Group doing very well since it's the only concrete multi in the City, let alone downtown. There's no competition. I think if it does well developers will take notice and follow suit. I see the downtown and University district being built up a lot over the next 10 years.

And on TRU - I read that the newest condo on campus called Rock Cliffe came on the market today and sold 95% in a day. https://liveatrockcliffe.ca/

[Tysonbrown]

Originally Posted by Walter1

Kamloops mayor should go to kelowna and take notes
how the city’s growing and attracting big developments downtown.

Please don't encourage that. Kelowna is being ruined by HUGE developments.