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Post by KevDreger on Nov 14, 2006 16:52:43 GMT -5
I found this information in the Kelowna Development thread on Skyscrapercity.com posted by G-roy: [ John Skrotzki: Edited to add render ] 
26 Storey Highrise Proposedby Wayne Moore - Story: 23953
Nov. 13, 2006 / 4:00 pm
Kelowna City Council gets a look at a major 780 unit housing development planned for the cities north end when it meets Tuesday evening.
The residential development, which includes a 26 storey highrise tower and eight-four story buildings, is the brainchild of Canada Lands Corporation.
The complex would sit on the former CN Railyards, between Ellis St and Sunset Drive, adjacent to the Westin Hotel project.
The cities Planning Department, in support of the project, says the proposal is an ambitious residential and commercial proposal that embraces key elements of the Downtown North Area Structure Plan.
The development application includes a number of variances, the most important of which seeks to vary the maximum building height from 16 to 26 storey's and to reduce the amount of off-street parking stalls from 1,129 to 1,028.
The Planning Department also raised concerns about the possible environmental impact on the nearby Brandt's Creek corridor and adjacent wetlands.
Those in the area of the development are able to voice their concerns during the public meeting, which begins at 6 pm in Council Chambers.
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Post by KevDreger on Nov 15, 2006 19:20:45 GMT -5
I just read in the capital news that the 26 storey building is approved by city council!!! There's no photos yet or info on who is building it but here's the article I read in the capital news.
New highrise to climb to 26 storeys
ByJennifer Smith
Staff reporter
Nov 15 2006
The gem of Kelowna’s future metropolitan skyline will be a 26-storey skyscraper in the city’s north end.
Late Tuesday evening, city councillors approved a nine-building development on what was once CN rail yards adjacent to Brandt’s Creek.
The tower will be the tallest building the city has ever seen, and marks a sharp departure—though not unprecedented—from the 16-storey height maximum set by City of Kelowna zoning.
Several other buildings, including the Discovery Bay tower, the Lagoons and a proposed Westin Hotel, all exceed the height set by city zoning, a height characterized by city staff as a guideline not a scientifically defined max-point.
“Most of those heights were kind of boiler-point heights…It wasn’t scientific, it wasn’t based on streetscape…there’s not hard and fast rule,” said city manager Ron Mattuissi.
“When those heights were put in place Kelowna was a very different place.”
Arguing that the development will provide varied and “affordable” housing for Kelowna buyers, the project’s developers won over city council with a plan that creates more green and walking space in a the type of high-density housing units called for in the area by the Official Community Plan.
Eight of the nine buildings will be lower, wooden buildings, meaning they can be sold at lower price-points that young families can afford. The tower provides higher end units, which maximize the near lakeside land’s value.
“It really is an outstanding project in terms of it’s design, it’s livability and general environmental friendliness,” said Coun. Robert Hobson, who defended the environmental impact shading from the tower creates.
The new building will have only 1,028 parking stalls rather than the 1,129 regular zoning would require, exceeds the zone’s maximum height of 16 storeys by 10, and will throw a larger building shadow than has been normally permitted.
Zoning for the project was already passed through council.
Last night’s hearing on the development permit and variances required to grant that permit marks the last stage of paperwork required for the buildings to move forward.
Several members of the community stated concerns over the environmental impact. “If you put a rock in the middle of a creek, you create stress,” said Kevin Ade, of Friends of Brandt’s Creek.
He sighted concerns about ground water and impact of shadowing from the tower on the creek.
But councillors were assured both ministry of environment and municipal environmental staff that environmental concerns were met and that the tower and landscaping would in fact help lower the water temperature in the creek to a level more conducive for fish in the summer months.
“I’m very passionate about Brandt’s Creek and I am convinced the taller thinner tower will have less of an impact than the original proposal with its 16-storey towers,” said Hobson.
© Copyright 2006 Kelowna Capital News
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Post by KevDreger on Nov 16, 2006 3:22:06 GMT -5
I was watching CHBC news and they were showing the renderings for the new 26-storey proposal!! It looks great! totally unlike the discovery bay, lagoons, and dolphin towers!! It's almost all glass!! Look for yourself!! Sorry for the CRAPPY quality but I just took these pics while looking a the TV sooo.... and the TV isn't that great. But you can still see it!!!    |
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Post by Administrator on Nov 16, 2006 15:20:24 GMT -5
Dude you ROCK!!! ;D
Thanks for the screen caps - that's awesome!
Hope u can make it tonight to the meet and greet!
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Post by KevDreger on Nov 16, 2006 18:58:45 GMT -5
^Thanks man...
There's a meet and greet tonight? Didn't know about this...
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jared
New Member
Posts: 28
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Post by jared on Nov 16, 2006 20:09:38 GMT -5
Impressive.... like kev said, it will really break up the current design trend around that area, an give it a splash of... well... any colour other than that horribly boring tanish whateverthatcolouris, that is applied to every building north of the courthouse. Its a welcome change!! i was hoping that Icon would have been the first to buck the trend though. Besides all that... i love reading the letters on castanet when a project like this comes up. zeger of course (no punctuation for that guy ha ha take that!!) like clockwork comes out with his irrational idealist agenda spiel (pop-cap), and then pukes out a bunch of crap about highrises being the end-all of human interaction. Then his gang of ex-hippies and just general naysayers complain about growth and how they moved here to get away from the big city.... blah blah well move again then. Them moving here in the first place only made Kelowna bigger for the people who were here before them (hypocrites? kind of..). They all just love to make a big selfish stink without regard to everyone else.
anyways.... good pics kev. Great addition to a growing prosperous city!
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Post by KevDreger on Jul 9, 2007 4:06:22 GMT -5
the website: (Copy the link with no spaces) http:// liveathingyerscapes. com/ (something is screwing up big time when I try to post this as a url link...) The intro is super lame... so just click on the animation thing to get to the main page. === edit === John here: very weird indeed - try this url: ( remove the _ between a_t ) http://www.liveatwa_terscapes.com/flash.html |
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Post by KevDreger on Sept 4, 2007 17:37:52 GMT -5
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Post by DuaneT on Sept 6, 2007 19:36:09 GMT -5
Those anti-development types will do anything to try to keep us silent.  |
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Post by Administrator on Oct 19, 2007 16:17:10 GMT -5
It appears that they are starting to remove the preloading of the 26 tower portion of the development...
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