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Kelowna Emerging as B.C.’s Techno-Economic Hub
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(Posted on Apr 27, 2016 at 01:57PM by Michelle Bogle)
Kelowna’s commercial real estate sector has started to attract more attention from investors as the city transforms itself into a new, emerging technology and economic hub.
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The city is now home to the Okanagan Centre for Innovation – a 104,000 sq. ft. facility being built on the corner of Doyle and Ellis Streets.
The $35 million project is largely being funded by the building’s owner and operator, Kelowna Sustainable Innovation Group, as well as the provincial and federal governments. It is slated to open by the end of this year.Â
The $35 million project is largely being funded by the building’s owner and operator, Kelowna Sustainable Innovation Group, as well as the provincial and federal governments. It is slated to open by the end of this year.Â
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The city-owned land, in which the building is situated is on, has been leased to the Okanagan Centre for Innovation with the goal of building the nation’s most innovative and entrepreneurial hub. It will be home to the non-profit tech incubator, known as Accelerate Okanagan, as well as private tenants, including tech businesses and start-ups. Not only will this project drive growth in the area, but it will also create more jobs and build a stronger community.
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The construction of this new innovative hub is a huge step forward for the Kelowna technology sector, which is now a $1 billion economic contributor. In fact, technology businesses in the area have grown by 13% since 2010.
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To accommodate this massive growth, the Kelowna’s Official Community Plan estimates that an additional 3,000,000 sq. ft. of commercial real estate space will be needed to house new and existing businesses by 2030. Shorter projections, however, are showing that 800,000 sq. ft. of new space is needed immediately to accommodate growth within the next five years.Â
Of course, this growth is also boosting Kelowna’s residential real estate sector, which is in need of more housing units to accommodate the number of transplants to the area.
Just last year, Statistics Canada named Kelowna the province’s fastest growing city with a population of 191,237 – a 1.8% increase than the previous year and a higher rate of growth than the national average.
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