Vernon site of $100-million Kristall Resort ho
Province
Construction has begun on the 150-room Kristall Resort and Spa beside Predator Ridge golf course in Vernon, the company’s CEO said yesterday.
The $100-million hotel, the first phase of a proposed 300-room resort, will be completed and open in the winter of 2009, said Hans-Peter Mayr.
“Kristall Resort and Spa will feature an exclusive European-style spa and wellness centre without equal in North America,” he said.
architecture will be kept under wraps as the designs get their final massage,” Mayr added.
The 70-hectare property, purchased in 2003, has a development agreement with Vernon for a two-phased spa and wellness hotel and other resort-commercial development, including a future resort-residential development overlooking Lake Okanagan.
The resort will use geothermal energy for heating and cooling, said chief operating officer Jim Radford. A total of 150 120-metre-deep bore-holes have been drilled to tap into the equivalent of 3.6 million BTU worth of geothermal energy to heat the 157,000-square-foot hotel, he said.
Tim Spiegel, Kristell’s chief financial officer, said the resort’s building will cost about $55 million with another $45 million being spent on “furniture, fittings and spa and wellness infrastructure.”
Said Mayor Wayne Lippert: “This new and exciting development illustrates the confidence that the resort industry has in the city of Vernon. The city acknowledges the importance of their investment and the positive impact it has on Vernon‘s economic growth.”
© The Vancouver Province 2007
