New apartment building approved for North Kamloops

A six-storey apartment building in North Kamloops received city council's approval yesterday.

The apartment building is slated to be built on the site of the current Brendan Shaw Real Estate office at the corner of Tranquille and Oak roads, according to a city staff report. It's expected to include 32 rental suites with 28 studio units. The new building will have a 28-space two-storey parkade, along with commercial office space on the ground floor.

Coun. Nancy Bepple used the opportunity to question the city's parking requirements, calling the guidelines for this project "excessive."

"The parking on this building seems absolutely excessive based on my experience of who lives in this type of apartment building," she said, suggesting people in studio suites are less likely to own a vehicle.

Staff suggested the city could review its parking requirements for multi-family builds in the future, but a development in progress near Brendan Shaw's development will be an experiment to watch. A development at 501 Tranquille Rd. approved two years ago with just 16 parking spaces for its 40 suites.

It's currently under construction, but may reveal just how much a massive reduction in parking could put pressure on the surrounding area.

Council approved the new development at 101 Oak Rd. yesterday, Oct. 31.

Along with the development application, Shaw also applied for a ten-year tax exemption for the area, which the city created to incentivize development along the corridor. If approved, that will allow the six-storey condo to be taxed based on its assessed value before construction, which is currently valued at $533,000.

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