Image: Kent Simmonds / CFJC Today

By Dylana Kneeshaw

THOMPSON LANDING ON ROYAL

Newest apartment build on Kamloops’ North Shore officially opens; hundreds more units on the way

Jun 17, 2025 | 4:27 PM

KAMLOOPS — Kamloops’ North Shore has become one of the busiest areas of the city for apartment construction, with around 1,200 new living units to be added over the next seven years.

Thompson Landing is the newest build along Royal Avenue and the 64-unit development had its ribbon cutting Tuesday (June 17). It is one of multiple new apartment complexes to go up on the Tranquille Road corridor and it’s a tangible sign of investment interest for the north side of the river.

Joshua Knaak of ARPA Investments, the development company behind Thompson Landing, says the apartments have been drawing in young buyers and downsizers.

“I mean, every unit has a view of the river but there’s some units that are just directly facing the river and there’s been good attraction for people who are downsizing and want that riverfront lifestyle and that scenery but with lower maintenance,” he says.

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Back in 2019, Canadian Real Estate Wealth Magazine named Kamloops’ North Shore as one of the top 100 places to invest in Canada. Six years later, construction on the Tranquille Road business corridor is picking up speed with ARPA being one of the main developers.

“These (Thompson Landing) were buildings nine and ten for us, and probably six and seven on this corridor, and a couple more are already on the go — so certainly, (we’re) going to continue on with what’s been started here,” says Knaak.

According to the executive director of the North Shore Business Improvement Association, Jeremy Heighton, this year will see around 350 units added to the North Shore housing stock, part of the 1,200 units estimated to be built in the next several years.

“The city has done somewhere in the neighbourhood of 120 below-ground infrastructure upgrades on the North Shore over the last seven-ish years,” explains Heighton. “They’re not the prettiest things. They really challenge us, as a community, to get around. But the reality is, we need those upgrades done for the above-ground work like what’s happening behind me (Thompson Landing) to happen.”

Economically speaking, the business improvement association says all those new residents will equal more customers.

“These builds help to create vibrancy for these businesses. And those businesses help to create vibrancy for the community through arts, through sports, and other things that they sponsor,” notes Heighton.

Space to build and other development logistics have lined up well for it, but there are a few other theories about why the North Shore, specifically, has been eyed for investment.

“In the 1980s, this was an incredibly vibrant community. In the 1950s, it was an incredibly vibrant community,” explains Heighton. “Now is the time for the rebirth and the revitalization along the Tranquille corridor, and it will go all the way up Tranquille and up Eighth Street, where we’re seeing projects coming forward in the next couple of years, too.”

From Knaak’s perspective, the area is one of the few established neighbourhoods in Kamloops with potential to grow.

“You’re not going to find anywhere else in town where you’re going to have that mix of commercial with residential above on an extended corridor like what we’re starting to see on Tranquille,” he notes. “And I think that’s going to be an exciting place to live and an exciting place to have commercial space, as well.”