Kelowna's Landmark District is about to get bigger and it's about to get taller.
Today Al Stober Construction, which owns Landmark, announced its plans to go ahead with a seventh office building.
Landmark Centre spokesperson Dallas Gray provided an interview to KelownaNow as the news release went out.
The 24-storey Landmark 7 will become the tallest in the district, eclipsing the 18-storey Landmark 6.
"It's an exciting day," said Gray. "We're announcing that Landmark 7 is on the horizon."
The new building, designed by Stoke Tonne of Meiklejohn Architects Inc., will have parking on the lower floors and it'll be built kitty-corner to Landmark 6.
Along with a lot of high-end office space, the newest addition to the district will include an 11,000 square foot community events centre with seating for 350 people, as well as an outdoor entertainment deck and community gardens.
There are already 150 businesses working out of the existing six Landmark buildings.
The district boasts 10 restaurants and coffee shops, 25 tech companies and dozens of retail outlets, including a convenience store, pharmacy, salon and flower shop.
Landmark has plans to increase the number of residential units in the area, so more and more people can live and work in the district.
"We do have a number of plans," said Gray. "We're just waiting on the City."
Once Landmark 7 is built, it's expected that 5,000 people will be working within the seven buildings.
Gray said the Landmark 7 project comes as after a record breaking year that's brought the centre to near capacity.
"In the past 12 months, 23 new business moved into Landmark Centre," he added. "Plus 15 of our existing tenants expanded their space with us."
He dismisses any concerns about the additions to the Landmark District hurting the downtown.
"I don't think so. I mean if you look at what's happened downtown over the lasts number of years. There's been a number of office buildings built and they're filled as well."
The new building also boasts a state of the art fitness facility and an outdoor plaza that connects Parkinson Recreation Centre and the Hwy 97 overpass to the Landmark District.
Construction is expected to start in the spring with completion in the spring of 2022.
Pre-leasing of Landmark 7 will start early in the new year.
"Based on current demand, we expect to be busy," said Gray.
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