Welcome!
The Kelowna Mill Site plans you’re about to see have been guided by more than three years of planning and community input. We’re excited and proud to share them with you!
Community Vision:
Mixed-Use, Mixed-Life
The Kelowna Mill Site is 16 hectares (40 acres) on the site of the former Tolko sawmill located between Knox Mountain and Lake Okanagan in the city’s North End neighbourhood.
The site’s owners, the Thorlakson family, have been working with some of Canada’s very best master planners and architects to design a socially innovative community – a mixed-use, mixed-life neighbourhood that honours the history of the site, reflects the needs and wishes of the people who call Kelowna home today, and creates a destination of enduring happiness and vitality for those who live and visit.
The Masterplan:
A Blueprint for the Future
The master plan is created from thoughtful development principles and public engagement to ensure a cohesive, connected community where many walks of life and ways of life will be at home.
The plan provides residents and visitors with access to the lakefront and rehabilitates a shoreline degraded by decades of industrial use.
It’s a design for a walkable, bikeable, drivable neighbourhood made up of residences, gathering places, work spaces, retail, dining and entertainment – and it makes the Mill Site a social, playful destination that brings nature, wellbeing and city living within reach for all.
Public Space:
Connections For All
The community is linked by public open spaces – pathways, greenways and plazas that flow from one to the other, connecting residences with leisure facilities, historic vestiges with vibrant gathering places, and city residents with the lakefront via a wide, inviting promenade and park.
This new lake walk plan responds to the community’s desire to fully enjoy the Okanagan lakefront. It will span the Mill Site, connecting to the greenery of Kelowna’s Sutherland Park, to the playground beyond the barge site and west to Zegema Beach.
Mobility:
Choices, Access, Activity
The Mill Site is designed to accommodate many ways of getting around: it’s oriented to pedestrians but is multi-modal, which means that bikes, transit and cars also travel easily around the community.
The goal: offer sustainable transportation choices, encourage exploration, and contribute to a dynamic community that’s part of the neighbourhoods and city around it.
Architecture:
Inspired by the Elements
The architecture proposed for the Mill Site is inspired by the nature that surrounds it – by the conversation between the geology of Knox Mountain and the waters of Lake Okanagan, by the cultural heritage of the region and by a commitment to reconnect this nature and the community.
The desire is to foster a sense of belonging to the Okanagan with a varied, human scaled environment that prioritizes sunlight, views and a dynamic mix of heights, scales and materials throughout the site.
Buildings will enhance community wellbeingwith shared outdoor spaces, sustainable materials, energy efficiency and green roofs to foster a community that’s as livable as it is resilient.
Next Steps:
Input and Approvals
Submission 7 represents a significant step in the development of the master plan, integrating feedback from the public, stakeholders, and technical partners, as well as responding to the site’s opportunities and constraints.
The adjustments are grounded in a growing understanding of the site’s potential and are closely aligned with the aspirations and priorities expressed throughout the engagement process.
We’re excited to have shared this evolving vision with you, the people who will live in and enjoy the Mill Site in the years to come.
The Team:
Experience and Understanding
About Holar Developments
Holar Developments is managing the development and planning initiative for the Mill Site Area Plan. The company is owned by the Okanagan-based Thorlakson family, which also owns Tolko Industries Ltd.
“The Mill Site is a legacy project,” says Brad Thorlakson. “We are proud to be working to bring the site to life for everyone in Kelowna”