ALISTAIR WATERS
Black Press
Lake Okanagan Resort has been sold.
The sprawling resort, which includes accommodation, food and beverage facilities, 5,000 feet of waterfront, a nine-hole golf course and a 30-slip marina, as well as tennis courts and other recreation amenities, is located on Westside Road on the shore of Okanagan Lake.
While the listing company, Vancouver-based Jones Lang LaSalle Real Estate Services announced the sale, no sale price was revealed. The asking price was $10.1 million.
The resort was owned by a Calgary-based Northwynd Resort Properties.
The buyer is being reported by Global Okanagan as being from mainland China and is connected to a large tourism organization in that country, prompting speculation this area could see an influx of Chinese tourists thanks, in part, to the purchase.
Developed in the late 1970s, Lake Okanagan Resort has seen major upgrades in the last five years, with the addition of two new condominium buildings, the marina, gas dock concession facility. It is currently rated as a three-star resort.
Sitting on 74 acres, the property has 217 accomodation units, 64 of which are time-shares and 77 of which are privately owned.
The new owners are expected to invest heavily in even more upgrades to the resort.
The road leading to the resort, Westside Road, has been rated as one of the worst roads in B.C. for the last years in an annual public survey run by BCAA.
The province has been slowly improving the road, widening some parts and straightening out some dangerous curves.
Premier Christy Clark, the MLA for the area, has promised Victoria will do even more to improve the road in future.
