'Transformational' City Gardens development breaks ground downtown

A $200 million downtown Kamloops development — the largest residential project in the history of the city — has officially broken ground.

A ground-blessing and ground-breaking ceremony for Kelson Group’s City Gardens was held at the development site at Fourth Avenue and Nicola Street on Wednesday morning.

Dozens of people attended, including representatives from the Kelson Group, other firms involved in the project, the City of Kamloops, local politicians and curious members of the community. Tk’emlups te Secwepemc Elder Diena Jules conducted the blessing ceremony.

Jason Fawcett, president of Kelson Group, said it was a significant day for his team and for the community.

“It’s our great honour to be able to do this project in the city of Kamloops. It will be the largest residential project in the history of our great city, and it’s our great pleasure to be able to do this,” he said.

“We’re just so happy to be here today, with so many people having been involved with it. To get started, it's been four or five years that we've been thinking about this, and just to get here today is a great, great honour.”

Ron Fawcett, executive director and founder of Kelson Group, said the project has been in the planning stages for many years, as the company has transformed from purchasing properties for the rental market to developing its own buildings.

“I really believe that this is a game changer for Kamloops,” he said.

“My history with this property goes back about 25 years. I was trying to buy this, and I used to tell my grandkids, we go skiing, I'd drive them home and we'd drive by here and I say I'm going to buy this property and we're going to build something here. It took a long time to come.”

The elder Fawcett said he is most proud of the fact that the development is "a Kamloops production.”

"I'm just delighted that we can bring this to Kamloops,” he said.

The development will include two towers — a 24- and a 22-storey building — and four six-storey wood-frame buildings.

The first step in construction is to build the first of two parkades, which will be three stories deep. Fawcett said by this time next year, people will see the large parkade constructed, and the first 24-storey tower start to rise from the ground.

"We're hoping we're maybe one or two storeys up. It's not going to be that significant, but it'll very quickly rise after after the first year,” Fawcett said.

He said the goal is to have all 525 apartment and townhouse homes built within the next eight years.

Fawcett said Kelson Group plans to open a show suite downtown in mid-April, and pre-sales will begin a few weeks after that.

He said there has already been a lot of interest from a varied group of community members — from those hoping to live in the building to potential investors. He said about 1,000 people have signed up already for updates on the project.

Fawcett said while pricing the suites have been a “moving market” due to the fluctuation of real estate and the construction industry. He anticipates the smaller apartments will start at about $300,000.

"They will they will go up from there, and we do expect that some of the larger apartments may set some record prices for for condominiums in Kamloops,” Fawcett said.

He said the development will include studio apartments, one and two bedroom units to some larger, three-bedroom apartments.

Mayor Ken Christian said the development will be “transformational” for downtown Kamloops.

“The end product is something that we need in Kamloops in terms of our housing shortage, and it will eventually enable housing all across the continuum to be freed up with the addition of these units here in Kamloops,” Christian said.

He said the Kelson Group has proven they will develop the property with care and sensitivity, judging by their focus on salvaging the cultural heritage of the old homes on the land slated for construction, and their acknowledgement they are building on First Nations’ unceded territory.

“These projects take a long time, they span administrations. But the one thing that we know is that Kamloops will be a better place because of your confidence and your investment and the team that you have with you. So thank you very much, on behalf of the City of Kamloops,” Christian said.

Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Peter Milobar said the development is “the next phase” for downtown Kamloops.

“I know Ron would always have conversations around where he saw downtown and Kamloops as a community going, and the fact that you've decided to make sure that your headquarters are here I think just speaks volumes to that,” Milobar said.

“It takes a project like this to demonstrate that type of courage and confidence in the Kamloops economy to move things forward. So congratulations to all involved.”