Proposed development east of Highway 97
Michael Kane
Sun
Vancouver‘s Co-operators Development Corp. has been selected to design a $75-million “Wine Village” for the town of Oliver in the South Okanagan valley.
The proposed development on 4.3 acres east of Highway 97 is expected to showcase 15 local wineries and make the town the destination of choice for Okanagan wine tourists.
Internationally recognized producers in the area include Burrowing Owl Vineyards, Black Hills Estate Winery, Jackson Triggs, Tinhorn Creek and Gehringer Brothers.
The project will be a mixed-use development which may include multi-family residential, commercial, hotel and restaurant facilities, said Les Lawther, economic development officer for the Oliver and District Community Economic Development Society.
It is expected to create about 200 permanent jobs for the 10,000-strong Greater Oliver community and straddle the major access road to both the four-season mountain resort of Mt. Baldy to the east and the proposed national park of Mt. Kobau to the west.
South Okanagan tourism generates $58 million annually and about 350,000 overnight visitations, mostly in Osoyoos.
“We are a greenfield waiting to happen,” Lawther said. “It would be a marketing executive’s dream to have a four-season mountain resort on the east, a national park to the west and in the middle, a destination wine village anchoring Canada’s premier wine-producing area.”
Conceptual planning and approvals will take place over the next six months with public review meetings planned at key milestones. Co-operators will then submit a proposal to the town and site work could begin as early as November.
Oliver bills itself as the Wine Capital of Canada with British Columbia’s largest concentration of both vineyards and commercial wineries, mostly located along the “Golden Mile” of Highway 97 south of the town.
New wineries and additional lands are being put into production in what is expected to be a growth industry for the next five to 10 years.
Co-operators Development Corp. Ltd. has been involved in the development of condominiums, resort properties, seniors’ residences, and office, industrial and commercial properties for more than 20 years. Recent developments include The Terraces at 7th in Vancouver, the Sausalito at 3rd and Lonsdale in North Vancouver, Casa del Lago in Osoyoos, and Gloucester Industrial Estates in Langley.
© The Vancouver Sun 2006
