Image Credit: Contributed / A&T Project Developments

By Dylana Kneeshaw

GROWING DOWNTOWN KAMLOOPS

The Hive announcement one of several projects to kickstart commercial building growth for downtown

Jan 31, 2020 | 5:03 PM

KAMLOOPS — Come springtime, the parking lot on Lansdowne Street from Fifth to Sixth Avenues will have shovels in the ground for a cluster of new buildings, known as The Hive.

Kamloops Mayor Ken Christian says the project will make good use of the space, which is currently a single-level parking lot.

“The location has been under-utilized really as a surface parking lot for many, many years,” he says. “And I think that will give rise to some of the other downtown initiatives that we have. A pedestrian area, calming of traffic on Lansdowne and Seymour (Streets), and hopefully a development in the Centre for the Arts area.”

Announced on Wednesday, the project is a joint venture between A&T Project Developments, and Invictus Properties. The first of the three five-storey buildings will be built on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Lansdowne Street. It will include two levels of underground parking, offices, and retail space.

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Christian says the project already has sparked interest in the business community, with a local company already set to move in.

“That will accommodate Urban Systems Limited — another great Kamloops company, so we’re excited. It’s just another continuation of the energy we’ve seen in Kamloops, and we’re excited to welcome them as part of our offerings for commercial office space.”

Downtown stakeholders are looking forward to the potential that comes with the build.

Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association Executive Director Carl DeSantis says since the Fulton and Company/Interior Savings building was constructed, and the Sandman Signature hotel, there hasn’t been much in the way of large scale commercial developments in the city centre.

“It’s (been) about 15 years, and again, it’s this revitalization tax exemption bylaw that was just recently approved. And within 24 hours, the announcement for The Hive was made,” he notes. “So the story is pretty clear — developers were waiting for an incentive to introduce their developments.”

On Jan. 14, Kamloops city council approved amendments to an existing bylaw — which now allows a 100 per cent tax break lasting 10 years for new commercial developments, or commercial buildings undergoing major improvements. The changes were enacted on Jan. 28.

DeSantis notes that the other draw for the KCBIA is the public plaza space shown in the early depictions of the Hive, which he says could expand the usage outside solely business purposes.

The Hive will be one of several new buildings to transform the downtown core in the next few years. The development will be built alongside the upcoming seniors housing building on the corner of Sixth Ave and Victoria Street, the Lightwell in the 400 block of St. Paul Street, and a potential Centre for the Arts at Fourth Avenue and Seymour Street.

“What this is going to do is it’s going to create jobs,” says DeSantis. “It’s going to create jobs for construction for the next 18 months at least for the first phase of the project. It’s going to attract businesses, and those businesses, they’re going to eat, they’re going to shop, and they’re going to play downtown.”

Construction on The Hive is expected to begin in the spring of this year, with the first building finished by fall of 2021.

“There is no downside to this whatsoever,” stresses DeSantis. “The jobs, new businesses, we’re going to attract new businesses, and new people to contribute to downtown.”