The City of Penticton is looking at road closures as part of heavy construction for the North Gateway area.
The proposed closure would reduce Alberni Street to one lane between Vernon Avenue and Westminster Avenue.
City council will weigh whether to approve or reject the proposal at their upcoming June 1, council meeting.
During the closure, the empty lot currently used for parking would be reconfigured as part of the construction of the planned hotel on the site and to allow an expansion to the Hotel Penticton, formerly the Coast Hotel. The closed section of the road would be added to the property that the Mundi Hotel Group will be putting a new hotel on.
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“Staff believe the proposed road closure and associated land reconfiguration will provide a better design for the future Mundi hotel and strengthen the connection to the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre. Likewise, creating expansion space for the Hotel Penticton will support the goal of constructing additional hotel rooms in this area,” said Blake Laven, the director of development services for the city.
The expansion would add between 30 to 45 additional rooms to the Hotel Penticton. The new Mundi Hotel would be 100 to 110 rooms in six-storeys, with an attached two-storey restaurant.
The city is proposing that the closed portion of Alberni Street be added to the land at 903 Vernon Avenue, purchased by the Mundi Hotel Group and, in exchange, that the Mundi Hotel Group take on additional works to facilitate the road closure and give up a small westerly portion of the site.
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“The proposal helps to provide an appealing entrance from Westminster to the hotel and restaurant, while also giving us enough space to fulfill important needs like parking,” said Mundi Hotel Group President, Ron Mundi.
Likewise, the city is also proposing that, in return for selling the small westerly portion of 903 Vernon Avenue to the Penticton Hotel, that it be compensated by a cash payment of $265,000. This amount is based on an evaluation of the land value, including a premium to cover legal, survey and other costs.
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