With the Brooklyn tower nearly sold out Bernard, the next phase, Bertram Block, will be up for pre-sales in the spring. The Mission Group's Luke Turri is feeling good about his company's investment, but he likes what other builders are doing as well, and what it all means for the future of the downtown. 

Brooklyn is a tall building at 25 storeys, but Bertram reaches up higher still at 34 storeys. The two buildings will be complemented with an office tower on the same piece of property, just a block or so from the first high rise in that part of town, Ella which currently looks a bit lonely at 20 storeys tall. "That downtown skyline will continue to evolve and create that urban landscape that people are looking for," said Turri.

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"Downtown has been on a very good swing in the past few years, but that's all happened without any of the residents that these new towers represent," he expects the onset of the towers to bring a lot of energy.

The Mission Group's buildings in combination with the others that are taking shape in the downtown will mean over a thousand new residential spaces. "You can imagine what that does for the existing shops," said Turri, "But then also the opportunities for entrepreneurs to think about ways to serve those new patrons." 

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If you have strolled past the Bernard Block lately you may have noticed an artists' rendering of what the buildings will eventually look like, and you may notice an interesting bit of architectural flair showing with the office tower.

"One of the things we wanted to do is create a landmark as you look down Bernard," he said. "There's actually a bit of an angle to the face of the building on the office side which is going to create a bit of a unique streetscape."

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Even though consumers have a lot of choices coming on stream at the same time, sales have gone fairly well. 

With studio apartments at Bertram pricing in the 200's, there is a relative advantage over single-detached housing, but Turri said a lot of the attraction is lifestyle driven. "The trends for urban living create a pretty strong level of demand."

Photo credit: NowMediaLuke Turri

The Bernard Block buildings are getting a "Walk Score" of 98. "A walk score of 98 essentially means you don't need to use a car for any sort of services day to day or week to week."

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Turri doesn't see the other tower projects in the downtown as competitors, but rather as more reason for people to consider an urban lifestyle in Kelowna.

"The critical mass that we're going to see downtown is so cool," he said. "With all those people that are going to be in the buildings that are represented with what's under construction and what's still to come, downtown has got such a bright future."