Forward-thinking motel property owners have created a potential redevelopment plan to accompany the motel they are attempting to sell.
The Ogopogo Motel and RV Park is listed for sale for $6 million and comes with a plan for a comprehensive development.
”The current owners are a group of smart individuals and one had a planning background to put this together. There is a need for more density and there is the commercial area in the Riverside Plaza that also has vendors that need more residential clientele to stumble into their site, so it is a good fit,” said Chad Wozniak, listing agent with REMAX Penticton Realty.
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The older motel is on a 2.21 acre lot at 270 Riverside Dr. The plan to develop it features 31 townhouse units and 187 high rise units in two 15-storey towersas well as parking levels, patios, roof terraces and other features. The current property has two titles and two road frontages.
Wozniak said they have received a fair bit of inquiries on the property from people outside the community. He added it is not necessarily the norm for owners to create a comprehensive plan such as this when listing a property, the partners, in this situation, were adept at creating designs.
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The current owners took over the Ogopogo just over 10 years ago with the plan to develop, but due to the 2008 market crash, they did not follow through. It was put on the market again in 2016 to no effect.
“It is priced in a way that is more for a developer than a person buying a cozy, little motel. However, the buyer would not be committed to the plan. There can be modifications for sure,” said Wozniak, who added the city is in favour of the project.
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Wozniak said the current owners, using property managers, will continue to run the motel and RV park as is until a sale is completed.
Nearby the Ogopogo Motel, earth has already started moving on what will eventually become rows of high-end townhouses at The Riverside project. On Lakeshore Drive, the Spanish Villa motel is for sale for $6.5 million and the Shoreline Resort, also on Lakeshore Drive, has a listing price of $3.5 million
“It’s definitely an area of redevelopment. There are a lot of older homes being torn down to be rebuilt. We have seen carriage homes go up and those types of builds for income purposes such as vacation rentals that are changing the neighbourhood,” said Wozniak.
On the northwest side of town, more housing is coming as an apartment complex nears completion on Ellis Street and public and private investment comes into line with the vision identified in the City of Penticton’s Official Community Plan.
“In the downtown core, you will probably find three or four sites that are building to higher density. This is the wave of the future for sure,” said Wozniak.
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