Kelowna Now: Hungerford Properties and Ntityix Development Corporation form valuable partnership to increase rental vacancy in Kelowna
Posted on December 01, 2022
Hungerford Properties and Ntityix Development Corporation (NDC) have announced that they have formed a partnership to increase residential rental supply within the Kelowna area. Together, the two organizations have invested in a 3-building development located at 700 Spland Road, West Kelowna on Westbank First Nation reserve land. The partnership will deliver much needed high quality rental homes to the market.
“This project has been in the talks since early 2022” says Nelson Derickson, Business Development Officer for NDC. “We have spent the last few months really getting to know each other. Hungerford and NDC have aligned values in sustainability and believe our partnership will offer value to the community.”
This 23-unit townhome development will help to alleviate the rental vacancy in Kelowna, which has been on the decline since 2020. The vacancy rate for 3 bedroom units decreased from 2.6% in 2020 to just 0.6% in October 2021 — Hungerford and NDC acknowledged this gap in the market and jumped on the opportunity to service the demand.
“Hungerford is always looking for meaningful projects,” says Susan Lee, Senior Marketing Manager for Hungerford Properties. “With partners Andrew and Michael Hungerford having Gwich’in heritage and being involved in the First Nations community, this partnership just made sense.” Environmental Social Governance (ESG) is a set of standards that socially conscious companies & investors follow through their behavior and how they choose to invest. Hungerford adopted these ideals and has taken it one step further by adding ‘Indigenous’ — making it ‘ESGI’ to stress the importance of Indigenous involvement.
Hungerford & NDC have already commenced work to get the units up to rentable standard — the community can expect these rental units to be on the market by Spring 2023. “Our main objective is to provide affordable rentals to the community while growing our relationship with Hungerford — we have lots to learn from each other” says Derickson.
The start of this valuable partnership has exciting ventures on the horizon. There is additional land on the development site available for future opportunities, likely to be more housing. More details are to be announced in the future.
Hungerford Properties and Ntityix Development Corporation are committed to providing necessary housing opportunities in the Okanagan market for the long-term and are excited for what the future holds.