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kamloopsthisweek.com | kamloopsthisweek |
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021 | Volume 34 No. 40
DAN CECCHINI
kamthisweek
#YKASTRONG
Shelter space not part of hotel redevelopment THE CITY OF KAMLOOPS HAS PURCHASED THE NORTHBRIDGE HOTEL AND ADJACENT LAND, WITH MARKET AND SOCIAL HOUSING PLANNED FOR THE TWO NORTH KAMLOOPS PROPERTIES JESSICA WALLACE
STAFF REPORTER
jessica@kamloopsthisweek.com
More details have been released in a closed council meeting report about the city’s purchase of the Northbridge Hotel on Tranquille Road and adjacent property on Campbell Avenue in North Kamloops. The report states council authorized negotiation for the property in partnership with BC Housing during an April 13, 2021, closed council meeting. Council voted 6-0 during a Sept. 21 closed meeting to purchase the two properties, located at 377 Tranquille Rd. and 346 Campbell Ave., for a total of $7.15 million. Mayor Ken Christian and councillors Dale Bass, Dieter Dudy, Mike O’Reilly, Bill Sarai and Denis Walsh voted in favour. Councillors Sadie Hunter and Kathy Sinclair declared conflicts of interest and Coun. Arjun Singh was absent for personal reasons. Conditions were removed on Sept. 23, but the deal does not
The city has purchased 377 Tranquille Rd. (home to the Northbridge Hotel) and 346 Campbell Ave. ( a one-acre parcel of land behind the hotel that has a vacant building on it). DAVE EAGLES/KTW
close until Oct. 22. The city purchased the properties to create affordable and market rental housing, with plans to partner with BC Housing to put affordable housing on the Campbell Avenue property and for future market redevelopment of the hotel property facing Tranquille Road.
The report notes the city is in the “very early stages” of determining with BC Housing future development of the Campbell Avenue property. KTW asked BC Housing about its plans for the property and received this response from Laura Mathews of the Crown agency:
“Planning is in the very early stages, but once more details have been confirmed and a proposal is in place, we will update the community and welcome feedback at that time.” A report in Tuesday’s council agenda stated “shelter housing” as part of the plans, but city CAO David Trawin said during the
council meeting that inclusion of shelter housing in the report was an error and that such housing will not be part of the properties’ redevelopment. Instead, market and affordable rental housing will be part of the redevelopment. The Campbell Avenue property behind the hotel was to be the site of the Envision day space for the homeless, one of two day spaces that were to open in August. The downtown location — The Gathering Place — did open, on Victoria Street West, next to the storage facility for the homeless, but the North Kamloops day space never did materialize, due to issues with negotiating a lease with the landlord. It remains to be seen whether the Envision day space will open on Campbell Avenue once the city officially takes ownership on Oct. 22. A local advocate for the homeless, Glenn Hilke, said shelter space is needed in North Kamloops. See VARIED REACTIONS, A20