Kamloops Construction

[RHINO]

new apartment building in Valleyview



Kamloops council has given the green light to a new five-storey apartment building in Valleyview.

Gill’s Dream Enterprise Ltd. plans to build a 50-unit apartment building at 1693 East Trans-Canada Hwy., which is along the frontage road between Burger King and the Brick.

The property is proposed to be rezoned from C3 (highway commercial) to C6 (arterial commercial).

During a public hearing on Tuesday night (Sept. 20), council heard about traffic concerns plaguing the area and concern that an additional 50 apartment units — and the vehicles that would come with them — would only add to area congestion.

Coun. Dale Bass said that while she knows the city needs housing, she considers nearby Vicars Road to be the slowest and most dangerous intersection in the city. She said it worries her, in terms of traffic.

The city’s transportation manager, Purvez Irani, however said the additional housing is not expected to have a significant impact on area traffic. He said the building is expected to generate about 20 vehicular trips in the morning and 25 trips in the evening, which are considered peak times

[RHINO]

New industrial park


A new light industrial park is planned for the Iron Mask area in southwest Kamloops.

Comet Industries — which is based in Vancouver and holds property throughout British Columbia — has submitted an application to the city to rezone 190 acres of land between Sugarloaf Road and Bowers Place. A public hearing is expected some time next year.

In addition to rezoning, the company is currently undergoing an environmental investigation of the property, which was previously home to a mine. It is not known at this time what kind of remediation work will be required, but the company said it is committed to fulfilling the recommendations.

Comet Industries president and CEO Mike O’Reilly, who is also a Kamloops city councillor, said work on the project began in 2020, but noted the city has wanted to see the area developed for the last 15 years.He said market conditions and demand pushed it forward.


O’Reilly said there is huge demand for such land for distribution, warehousing and logistics companies, similar to businesses in the Campbell Creek and Mount Paul industrial areas. The city has not seen a new industrial park for 25 years. O’Reilly said the last was the Campbell Creek industrial park, which is located in the east end of the city.

He said it has limited availability and businesses that wish to expand leave city limits and develop in the Mount Paul Industrial Park on Tk’emlups te Secwe̓pemc band land, where they do not pay taxes to the city.

O’Reilly said Kamloops residents pay higher taxes when industrial companies relocate.

“A prime example is Finning and we all know that Finning is leaving the City of Kamloops and moving over to Mount Paul — and those are very costly to all taxpayers in Kamloops,” he said.

Finning is leaving its Valleyview location and crossing the river to build a new facility in the Mount Paul Industrial Park.

“Those are tax dollars that we are bleeding out of the City of Kamloops,” O’Reilly said. “But, obviously, the majority of people that work over there are still using City of Kamloops arenas and pools and beaches and parks and we are stuck footing more of the bill for that.”

[RHINO]

New condo project at Sun Rivers

[VantageHD]

I've been wondering for months what that crane is for in Sun Rivers. Thanks Rhino! Took this photo a couple weeks ago from the water to ask on here. It stands out from below.

[VantageHD]

Here's what's getting built in Valleyview. Another Kamloops special courtesy of Blue Green Architecture. This design firm is just brutal. Everything they design looks the exact same, and for some reason every developer in town uses them.

[RHINO]

AZURE

A sustainable fuel company is looking to open a plant on the Tk’emlups reserve that will turn canola oil and animal fats into jet fuel.

Douglas Cole, president of Azure Sustainable Fuels Corp., told Castanet Kamloops the location, next to the CN Rail yard along the North Thompson River, north of the Halston Bridge, has everything the company was looking for.

“Logistics play a very key part in in this type of a project. We need to rail in canola oil and rail out aviation fuel to its destination,” Cole said. “So the siding here with CN was particularly attractive. That’s what initially brought us here to Kamloops.”

Cole said his company has been in lengthy conversations with the band and it seems likely that construction will begin next year.

Azure, a Calgary-based company with Swiss backing that was incorporated last year, hopes to start operations at the new plant in late 2026 or early in 2027.

Cole said in addition to sustainable aviation fuel, the plant would also make renewable diesel. He said if the project is successful, Azure will be the first sustainable diesel plant in the province.

He said Kamloops’ central location in B.C. and the easy access to rail makes the area a perfect sustainable fuel hub.

“Currently, B.C. imports all of their renewable diesel fuel from from outside of Canada,” he said.

Cole said Azure is hoping to break ground on the project in a little over a year, depending on regulatory timelines.

The company said construction of the plant could mean as many as 1,500 jobs over two years. Once operating, Cole said the facility would employ approximately 150 workers.

The process of turning canola oil into fuel might produce a familiar odour, Cole said.

“Canola oil as it’s being treated, or pre-treated for this process, sort of smells like cooking french fries, perhaps. That’s probably the best description I’ve heard for it,” Cole said.

According to the company, preliminary engineering and design studies for the new plant have already been completed, and now the company is working with the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc band, CN Rail and other stakeholders to finalize a site for the facility.
Fr Castanet

[RHINO]

I tell you, another sunny day with highs of +22 to +25 in Kamloops for today....
This keeps up and I'm going to start planting palm trees.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by VantageHD

That's cool. I know lots of people who really liked those houses.

Was working downtown this week so strolled up to the hospital to see the progress. Looks to be getting close.

I remember doing slope grading in front of the entrances to make sure nothing gets too steep: not an easy thing since the hospital building is sitting on a pretty steep slope, and there were existing surfaces to tie into. Glad to see it is finally close to completion.

[Phil McAvity]

Originally Posted by RHINO

I tell you, another sunny day with highs of +22 to +25 in Kamloops for today....
This keeps up and I'm going to start planting palm trees.

We've got hundreds of them in Victoria, i've always liked them but winters there might be tough on them

now back to the topic.....

[PaulR]

Lots of change happening in Kamloops since I've been last (10ish years ago). Definitely one of my favourite Canadian cities.

Quite shocked this thread isn't pinned considering the decent level of posting activity in comparison to the other city pinned threads in this forum.

[VantageHD]

That's awesome. I'm a big fan too. Definitely a city that flys under the radar for the most part.

Funny you said that about being pinned. I've never noticed how some threads are until you said that. Not sure how to even go about it.

[VantageHD]

City Gardens Update



April 2022



October 2022 - Glad I got down there when I did to see both footings poured and some sitting empty. They look around 4 feet thick. Pretty cool to see an entire city block excavated down that much. Says it will be a 3 level parkade.




Crane being installed this week. Looks to be going in the center of the site so my guess is just 1 will be going up.

[Vin]

That's a huge development. Love to see it happening, and that Kamloop's downtown is expanding southwards.

[RHINO]

New census data shows Kamloops as the third fastest growing metropolitan area

It says the population of the Kamloops metropolitan area – which includes the City of Kamloops, Sun Peaks, Logan Lake, and Chase – increased by 10 per cent from 103,811 people in 2016 to 114,142 people in 2021.

In fact, B.C. had four of the five fastest growing census metropolitan areas in Canada in terms of population.

The Kelowna-area grew at the fastest rate among all of Canada’s big cities between 2016 and 2021 from a population of 194,892 to 222,162 – an increase of 14 per cent.

The Chilliwack census metropolitan area had the second highest increase at 12.1 per cent, with the population going from 101,512 people in 2016 to 114,142 people in 2021.

The Nanaimo metropolitan census area – including Nanaimo and surrounding communities such as Parksville and Qualicum Beach – was fifth with a 10 per cent increase as well to 115,459 people in 2021, up from 104,936 in 2016.

London, Ontario in fourth place was the only non-B.C. city in the top five. It too had an increase of 10 per cent as well, from 494,069 people in 2016 to 543,551 in 2021.

The national population reached almost 37 million people in 2021, an increase of 5.2 per cent over the 2016 figure.

Toronto remains the most populous municipality, with almost 2.8 million residents, while Vancouver is the most populous B.C. city, with just over 662,000 people.

[RHINO]

Student housing at Thompson Rivers University coming in 2023

[RHINO]

Ive put forward a request to STICKY the thread.

[VantageHD]

Curious if they're pushing through with student housing on the other side of Summit Drive so the pedestrian overpass has a better shot at getting funding?

[The Great Scaper]

That City Gardens development looks awesome. I had no idea that Kamloops was developing high rises like that. Exciting.

[Phil McAvity]

Originally Posted by The Great Scaper

That City Gardens development looks awesome. I had no idea that Kamloops was developing high rises like that. Exciting.

Yup, it will be a total game changer in terms of the skyline because until now the city has only had mid-rises

I was there in 1999 when I think the last one was under construction too

[VantageHD]

Definitely been awhile other than the hospital, which actually has a presence even though it's not all that tall. It just sits higher up the hill. Will be interesting to see how much these stand out since they also sit quite high up the hill. The difference from the water to site grade is roughly 29 meters.