Motel meets wrecking ball

Photo: Neil Pendleton

Demolition crews knock down the Highland Motel Wednesday

Penticton’s notorious Highland Motel is gone.

Demolition crews started tearing down the structure Wednesday, following weeks of environmental remediation work.

“I’m so happy to see it gone,” neighbour Neil Pendleton said.

The motel was a beehive of drug use and criminal activity prior it being sold and closed, bursting into flames in a suspicious manner on June 30, eviction day for remaining tenants.

The property is being developed by Azura Management Corporation — the same company behind Sendero Canyon — into a 35-unit townhouse complex.

Azura president Ewen Stewart said the development will also include the adjacent RV Park, which they will be purchasing in December.

He called the property “a heck of a site,” close to both downtown and the Okanagan Lake waterfront.

“I haven't gone to market with the units yet, but people are already calling me to get on a list,” he said.

Plans will try to preserve as many trees as possible, and will also likely include some “sprucing up” of the Burnaby and Wylie St. intersection, he said.

Azura hasn’t submitted a development permit to the City of Penticton yet, but Stewart said he hopes to get started on construction in 2018.