Sun shining on Copper Sky

Things are looking up at the Copper Sky condo development in West Kelowna.

They have a brand new pool, deck, and entranceway as part of the rebuilding of amenities following some remediation work that began in 2012.

Residents at the time were not happy, saying it did not appear that builders did a good enough job during the initial build.

The property had already gone into receivership in 2010 and the condos were eventually turned over to KPMG. The value priced homes were sold until the spring of 2012, but that’s when the big problems were discovered.

Cracks began to show up on the pool deck, and along a retaining wall, which forced a massive rebuild of some parts of the development.

Copper Sky then found itself with more negative press last year during reconstruction, when a contractor hit a gas line that leaked fumes for almost an hour and forced the evacuation of the entire property.

But according to those in the know at Copper Sky, things are flourishing once again with a brand new pool, large deck, year-round hot tub and tennis courts overlooking Okanagan Lake.

Long time resident Rod Yule says there had been a lot of dust, noise and eyesores throughout the tough times, but that is all over with now and he has no complaints.

“For a while there it was hard to stay optimistic, because we didn’t know through the receivership what was going to happen.”

He thought about selling when times were tough. But due to dropping prices and the loss of appeal following media coverage of the developments problems, he decided to ride it out.

“When I saw how well they were doing everything -- a lot more attention to detail -- and they did a lot better job this go around, so there was more room for enthusiasm,” he says.

“Its exactly what it was supposed to be in the beginning. I won’t lie, it was tough going through that; the deconstruction and the reconstruction, and we didn’t really know at that point where we were going to end up.”

Those sentiments are echoed by Helen Katnich, who also chose not to sell her unit, and instead bought another.

“Things were changed on the pool deck for the better, but it was a long haul. And I certainly would not have wanted to be one of the first owners, that’s for sure, because it has been a long haul for them,” she says.

“There were some disappointing times when we thought the pool would have been finished earlier, but all in all, I knew there was a lot of negativity, but I knew one day it would be fixed and it would be a great place.”

Things are looking so good at Copper Sky that management now says there is potential for more buildings in the development.