West Kelowna

Photo: John O'Connor

West Kelowna mayor Doug Findlater outlines the distrct's Westbank Centre Revitalization plan Thursday afternoon.

The District of West Kelowna praised the opening of a new high-density residential development near the city’s downtown core Thursday.

District mayor Doug Findlater and members of council were on hand for a public open house of Dilworth Homes’ Gateway Urban Village, located at 3623 Elliot Road, the first of several planned developments approved by the district in the hopes of revitalizing the downtown core of West Kelowna.

The Gateway Urban Project, a joint venture price tagged at over $50 million, is composed of 215 units within four townhouse pods and is neighboured by another high-density project for seniors. Developers extolled the convenience of having such a development so close to the downtown core and shopping district on the Westbank First Nation land.

“Economic development is our key priority,” Findlater told a small group at the open house Thursday afternoon.

Findlater elaborated on several key components of making the downtown core more pedestrian- and transit-friendly, including a planned rapid transit station, scheduled to be operational some time in 2014, and reducing parking requirements downtown.

Photo: John O'Connor

The new Gateway Urban Village, located at 3623 Elliot Road in West Kelowna.

“Once that’s in place, I think it’s going to be a drawing card for residential.”

He also touched on plans to rethink the Highway 97 couplet that runs through downtown.

The rezoning approval for the Gateway development will see a $100,000 enhancement of Springer Park as well as a sidewalk on a portion of Elliot Road, paid for by developers.

“This is an urban concept…yet it’s got an orchard beside it….everything is within walking distance, and you’re on the cusp of the Coquihalla,” said Jamie Cooper, a developer with Gateway.

“This whole area is going to change; you won’t even recognize it.”

A medical care campus will also planned to go up next to the seniors housing building between Brown and Elliot roads.

For more on the District of West Kelowna’s Westbank Centre Revitalization Plan, visit the district’s website.