By Chad Klassen

BUILDING KAMLOOPS (Part 5): Densification the future on the North Shore

Jul 5, 2018 | 5:58 PM

In the fifth instalment of Building Kamloops, we jump across the Thompson River to the North Shore, which is slowly running out of land to build on but is still growing. The city says the North Shore is one of the area where densification is the answer to future growth. Chad Klassen shows us some of the areas on the North Shore where building is happening. 

The North Shore is in a transformative time. Tranquille Road is in the midst of turning into what the city and developers hope is the hub of the North Shore. 

“Our experience has been very positive. There’s a very strong, vibrant and proud community that gets really excited quite frankly when they see projects going and projects that they see as bringing life and vibrancy to the North Shore,” says partner of Arpa Investments Joshua Knaak, who’s behind projects like The Station on Tranquille. 

Knaak and his team at ARPA Investments are working on the 47-unit development, but he’s also part of another project at Spirit Square where there will be 43 affordable rental units for seniors — to be run by ASK Wellness — and 33 market residential units.

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“We’re anticipating actually spring of 2019 for this to be wrapped up,” says Knaak in regards to The Station project. “But we’re moving forward with the project on Spirit Square. You’ll see construction on that in the fall and we’ve got some great branding that’s underway, a development name for the whole area and a couple buildings that will fall under that. Great response from the community. What do they want to see in the market component there? And we’re already moving ahead with some additional steps for some more property on the North Shore. 

In all, between the two properties, there are 80 residential units, coupled with the housing for seniors. 

Meantime, Tod Cooper is planning for a 70-unit development at an empty lot on Ord Road. He says it’ll be a mix of multi-family units and duplexes. Cooper says with the median price of homes in Kamloops jumping, homes from this project will be a lot more affordable. 

“One of the things that I recognize is that the median price in Kamloops is now almost $465,000, and we have an opportunity here to build these homes and bring them in at a cost to the homebuyer at $100,000 less than that,” says Cooper. 

Building space is limited in other parts of the North Shore. According to developers, there is some developable land in Brocklehurst. Batchelor Heights has some growth opportunities left, and in Westsyde there are neighbourhoods like Beachmount Estates popping up. It’s where this year’s Y Dream Home is located, and there are still lots for sale in that neighbourhood.

“My opinion is I think you’re going to start to see more and more redevelopment on the North Shore,” says President of the Homebuilders’ Assocation of B.C. Matt McCurrach. “Brocklehurst, there’s some great land out there, the lots are quite large, so there’s great opportunities on the North Shore. I think it’ll breath some new life into that whole area.” 

But in the big picture, lots are few and far between, and McCurrach believes neighbourhoods on the North Shore will eventually be more densified. 

“You might see some homes come down and some density put into play, but I also think that there are some alleys over in the North Shore and there is great opportunity to potentially add carriage houses and be able to keep the original residence but add a small home in the back that can help out families, it could help students. There’s great opportunity there.”

It’s what the city has planned over the next 20 years. 

“It’s all about in-fill development,” says the city director of development, engineering and sustainability Marvin Kwiatkowski. “That’s what you’re going to see a lot of. A developer will buy a few parcels, put them together and do a multi-family project. There’s not a lot of what I would call ‘greenfield’ land. It’s pretty much in-fill, smaller projects.”