City of Williams Lake accepts design for Boitanio Mall housing

The City of Williams Lake has accepted the revised design for 82 apartment units to be built on the second floor of Boitanio Mall.

The design by the Janda Group includes 59 one-bedroom apartments, 20 two-bedroom apartments, and 3 studio apartments, and 164 parking spaces within the existing parkade have been designated for residents. Three changes have been made from the original design:

• Incorporation of blue and grey coloured cementitious panels on the building facade per the Downtown DP guidelines of incorporating natural colours.
• Two canopies are also proposed to the West and South entrance of the building. The canopies will have adequate snow protection aligned with rodeo roof colour and exposed wood cladding.
• Incorporation of balconies and windows at both the front and back of the building, adding interest to the building walls.

“Finally we’re getting a little closer,” said Mayor Walt Cobb at Tuesday’s City Council Meeting, “The pictures and everything are public, I think it’s going to give everyone a good idea of what that development will look like, and it’s looking pretty impressive to me.”

Director of Development Services Hasib Nadvi says he spoke to the developer last week “They’re still very much expecting to start this project this year, they’re going through the archaeological department right now, and they expect to start working on their water and sanitary sewer upgrades next month.”

“It’s a multi-million dollar investment that’s going to take place in our community”, said Councillor Scott Nelson, “what better way to help out our community than to make sure this one gets into the ground in 2021”.

Final consideration and approval for the development are expected to come at the next city council meeting on April 27th, 2021.