Category: Kamloops Real Estate News

Tranquille on the Lake is a former Tuberculosis Sanatorium. It is currently in the early development stages of a comprehensive waterfront village plan. The developers have a grand vision for this large lakefront parcel of land. I came across this website recently and found that their ideas and concepts for this region are very interesting. I thought before looking at what the developers plans are, it would be good to revisit this region’s very rich history.

History of Padova/Tranquille

Tranquille, also known as Padova is located at the eastern bay of Kamloops Lake. It gets its name from the Tranquille River that enters Kamloops Lake in this area. In the 1840’s and 1850’s this area was a main route for fur traders, passing along the north shore of Kamloops lake. The area was largely uninhabited until gold was discovered in 1857. The area was mined for years to follow.

In 1868 the Fortune family developed the first grist mill and sawmill in the area. It was run by a waterwheel using water from nearby Tranquille Creek. The ranch was established in 1878. They successfully ran the mill and farmed until a disastrous fire in 1898. A decade later the ranch was then sold to the Troup Brothers in 1888 where a large 18 room mansion was built to later be repossessed after they went bankrupt in 1892.

Charles T. Cooney and his wife Elizabeth in the meantime had take up land at Tranquille in 1869. The ranches (Fortune and Cooney Families) prospered with cattle, hay and fruit orchards. Cooney passed away in 1917 and his wife in 1942. Their family plot (cemetery) is still kept up by the Provincial Government today.

Ranch into Hospital

As early as 1897 the Fortune family was taking in TB patients at their ranch. The Fortunes sold their ranch in 1907 for $57,000. The hospital was officially named the King Edward Sanatorium but was known as the Tranquille Sanatorium. Many residents of Kamloops opposed the Sanatorium.

Construction on the property began in 1908 with the new main building, the hospital and administration building in 1912, nurses residence in 1913 and the east and west pavilions in 1914 and 1915.

The CN Railway along the north side of Kamloops lake was completed in 1915 making this area more accessible.

The government purchased the Cooney farm in 1922.

The Sanatorium was a very self sufficient entity for decades operating both as a hospital and farm.  There were as many as 40 buildings on the property. Tranquille housed over 600 patients and staff at one time. The BC Health Minister closed the Sanatorium in March of 1958.

After closing the Sanatorium in 1958 it was reopened in 1959 and then became the home of an institution for mentally ill patients. There was a large movement for deinstitutionalizion in the 1980’s which led to it’s closure in 1984.

Historical information gathered from: Kamloops Museum & Archives and Jordan Keats Blog

The Developer’s Vision for Tranquille

A lakeside village, urban farm, dynamic, sustainable community, breathtaking aquatic landscapes and pristine shorelines are all phrases the developers use to describe their vision. This lakeside community will feature a local market, public trail network, public beach, working farm, local artisans, eco friendly living, boat launch, marine ecology research centre and beachfront cafes all set among residential properties.

The developers have defined three areas where residential homes will be built and sold. Click here to view their neighbourhood plan. Each neighbourhood will have it’s own distinct personality. The village is still in it’s planning stages and there are not yet any properties for sale currently.

The plan sounds great. I really like the ideas they have for this property. It is however going to take years to develop. I do believe that once these plans are put into play they will create a fabulous community.

The developers have built new buildings on the site, refurbished some of the pre-existing homes and dealt with some of the environmental issues such as asbestos and lead paint. There is farming activity right now. Currently there are hay fields and produce (cantelope, blackberries, cherries, grapes and more).

Kamloops lake is a vast body of water stretching for miles. Motorized boats are permitted on this lake. This is one of the closest bodies of water to Kamloops and for the most part is very undeveloped due to the fact that it is mainly surrounded by either steep cliffs or railways. The nice thing about this property is that the CN tracks are not very close to the development site. People will not have to cross any tracks to access the property.

There is space currently available in the heritage barns that have been refurbished on the property. The developers have a nice website set up for this project where you can sign up for further information on the residential plans, becoming a part of the artisan market, volunteer and/or be a part of the planning process. Click here to sign up on their site.

YouTube video from the developers. Link

A video and story provided by CFJC TV7. Link

 

This article appeared on the CFJC TV 7 News on the 17th of March, 2012. The story was by Doug Herbert.

This morning at Riverside park Kamloops North Thompson MLA Terry Lake along with Community Development Minister Ida Chong announced funding for 5 infrastructure projects in the Kamloops area.

In downtown Kamloops the Lorne street enhancement project is getting a 250 thousand dollar boost from the provincial government.

Mayor Peter Milobar says the total project cost is around 1.3 million dollars and this new money will go towards making the street more walk able. Milobar says it will cover the cost of more benches, fruit and nut trees as well an enhanced entranceway to Riverside park.

On top of the Lorne street upgrades, the Village of Chase gets 365 thousand dollars towards the rebuild of the memorial wharf.

Clearwater gets 400 hundred thousand dollars to expand the Sportsplex dressing rooms, Sun Peaks is receiving the same amount towards a new community centre with Barriere rounding out the list, being given 238 thousand towards a recreation project.

This article appeared on the Kamloops Daily News site on February 28th, 2012.

The company tasked with completing the first building at the Mission Hill complex expects to have the building ready for occupancy by mid-April.

Brentwood Enterprises has been contracted by lender Harbour Mortgage Corp. to complete the first building. The lender foreclosed on the property owned by developer Mike Rink’s New Future Group in December.

Brentwood president Jay McMartin said Tuesday the company will unveil a sales and marketing plan this spring.

“We’re really just doing finishing work,” McMartin said.

Major construction is complete. Trades workers are doing final painting, trim and flooring work, readying the building for sign off by authorities.

“Sales would likely be the same time as occupancy was ready,” McMartin said. “Given the history we want to be done. We want disclosure statements to be ready.”

McMartin said prices are not yet set for the 54 units in the first building.

Mission Hill was one of the major developments by Kamloops-based New Future Group. The company was granted protection under the federal Companies Creditors Arrangement Act in 2010 after it could no longer pay its bills.

That protection was removed for the final project, West Beach at the Shuswap, last month.

More than $35 million was owing on Mission Hill when Harbour foreclosed on the property. There are five buildings in the Mission Hill plans, with significant work done on the first two.

This article appeared in the Kamloops This Week on March 5, 2012 and was written by Jeremy Deutsch.

It’s been talked about for years and now more details have been released on a Telus data centre planned for the Tournament Capital.

The communications giant announced on Monday, March 5, that it plans to start construction on the data centre later this year, with the $75-million facility opening sometime in 2013.

The centre will be built on former School District 73 land near Thompson Rivers University.

“In these economic times, investments of these types aren’t common at all, so it’s very significant,” said Josh Blair, executive vice-president of human resources for Telus.

In total, the company is expected to invest $100 million in Kamloops during the next three years.

The data centre will employ 200 people during the construction phase and another 75 once complete.

The facility is being described as a giant centre filled with bays of equipment to store all kinds of data, from health information to business and banking data.

It will be one of two Telus data centres in the country, the other located in Rimouski, Que.

It’s expected the two centres will back each other up in case of a problem.

Blair said Kamloops was chosen because of its access to talent at TRU, its proximity to other locations within the Telus infrastructure and the city’s lack of seismic activity.

Telus will also be spending another $25 million to extend its 4G LTE network in Kamloops and to extend its Optik TV coverage area in the city by 6,000 households.

The company said the 4G LTE is the fastest wireless technology in the world.

Telus is also calling the facility one of the greenest data centres in the world, noting it will be built to LEED Gold standard.

Mayor Peter Milobar called the centre a “significant shot in the arm” for the local economy.

He said the centre sends a strong message to the investment world that Kamloops is a good place to do business.

The project is part of the company’s larger $3-billion infrastructure investment recently announced for B.C.