BCTF warehouse listed

BC Tree Fruits is moving ahead with the consolidation of facilities and the disposition of surplus assets as it continues to strengthen its financial position.

The co-op listed its Kelowna warehouse at 858 Ellis Street with Kelowna brokerage HM Commercial for $20 million on April 1.

“Roanoke no longer fits our portfolio,” says BC Tree fruits CEO Warren Sarafinchan. “As part of our strategic plan, we will sell the property and use the proceeds to pay down debt and for future investments.”

The four-acre site is currently zoned industrial but the city is drafting plans for the district, with HM Commercial noting “strong potential for the north end to be part of a master planned waterfront community.”

The site’s redevelopment potential underpins the list price. While the existing warehouse is 89,000 square feet, the site has a maximum buildable area of 516,186 square feet. This puts the list price at $38.75 per buildable square foot. With the prospect of residential zoning providing greater density, the list cost per square foot declines.

HM Commercial is receiving sealed offers on the property until noon on April 21. Offers will then be evaluated and discussions will proceed from there. HM Commercial did not respond to a request for comment about how many prospective buyers have jumped into action.

HM Commercial previously handled the sale of BC Tree Fruits’ headquarters in downtown Kelowna. The two-storey property sold to an unnamed buyer in December for $7.5-million, well above the list price of $5.2-million. Current zoning allows for a 19-storey tower, and the sale points to the level of interest such properties command.

Meanwhile, Sarafinchan says the co-op’s Summerland and Keremeos facilities will be coming back online this year after sitting idle last year.

“Both Summerland and Keremeos are fully functional,” he says.

with files from Tom Walker

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12 hours ago

Forty-six regions in BC are eligible to participate in the federal livestock tax deferral program, announced yesterday, more than anywhere else in the country. The program allows producers who downsize their breeding herds by 15% to defer reporting the proceeds until the following year, when they buy replacement stock. But after multiple years of drought, the BC beef herd is cruising 25-year lows and some producers are calling for more support to maintain and rebuild their herds. For more, see: [www.countrylifeinbc.com/bc-leads-livestock-tax-deferrals/]

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4 days ago

After weeks and weeks of no moisture, there's rain in Kelowna today. While much more moisture is needed over the coming weeks and months to reduce drought conditions and the air smells of wet campfire, the slow, steady rain is very welcome for fruit grower#BCAg#BCAg ... See MoreSee Less

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5 days ago

The first Delta Farmland and Wildlife Trust Grassland Set-aside Variety Trial Field Day was held at Delta's family-owned Tecarte Farms, August 27. Co-owner Bill Bates and DFWT executive director Christine Schmalz welcomed more than 35 people to view seven acres planted to different grassland blends specifically chosen to rejuvenate the soil and support the farm's blueberries. For the Bates family, it was time to try something different following the decline of the field's blueberry bushes over the past several years. "We tried everything, and nothing worked," says Bates. The blueberries were removed in May and the grassland crops planted about a week later.

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Bessette Creek is the latest watershed hit with a temporary fish protection order this year as the province moves to protect returning Chinook salmon. A total of 131 surface and groundwater users must cease drawing water immediately, with forage producers, greenhouses and nurseries impacted. "Declining flows in Bessette Creek reached record lows in early July 2026 and have remained below the minimum level required to support fish population survival," says the province. Bessette producers have embraced voluntary cutbacks, scheduled irrigation and other measures to reduce water use, and are also waiting on funding to boost water storage infrastructure. They're the second group of producers hit with a provincial order this year. Salmon River irrigators were told to top watering earlier this month following a reprieve to address wildfire risk. Growers in both the Salmon River and Bessette watersheds are urging the province to support new water storage infrastructure in advance of next year.

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There is a problem... having lived in the salmon river ( silver creek ) area, I remember a fish biologist telling family members that salmon only "survive" in high iron content creeks, they do not "thrive".... salmon river ( silver creek ) is a very high iron content, would stain clothes brown when i would use bleach... So don't expect high salmon numbers off of that creek , even in ideal situations...

I just wish they would take an interest in CHASE CREEK....went bone dry...100% of trout abd other species died...smell was terrible from rotting fish. Understand this has happened many times in the past. Chase Irrigation District totally responsible for this disaster. Now fishermen are complaining about major drop in water levels at Pillar Lake.

They could not mismanage things worse than they have. It's impossible for them to. The fact that farmers that we need for our animals are now suffering the consequences our governments have not protected us from, is absolutely fucking wild.