Tesla owners in the interior of British Columbia look like they will finally get their long-awaited Sales, Service, and Delivery Center. The company has filed a development permit application to build a 30,000 square foot building in Kelowna.
Since at least 2021 Tesla has been working to expand their presence to the interior of the province. As Tesla has done all across Canada, they were looking to take over an existing dealership location, with talks nearing a conclusion in late 2021 to take over the Kelowna Hyundai dealership at 3260 Hwy 97 N. Those talks ultimately fizzled out, just as it did when Tesla was close to signing a deal to take over a former Volvo dealership on Vancouver Island, leading to Tesla building their first purpose-built location in Canada that opened this summer.
After years of searching and without a viable alternative, Tesla is taking the same approach in Kelowna with plans to build a 30,000 square foot Sales, Service, and Delivery Center. According to the development permit application, first reported by Castanet, the Tesla Kelowna will be located on a 3.49 acre lot at the Airport Business Park at 3425 Circuit Rd.
“We are confident the proposed form of development will set a new level of industrial standard for the neighbourhood,” Urban Design Group Architects wrote in its development permit application, adding it “will function well for land use, parking and tenant operations, and provide employment-generating opportunities to the city.”
The permit application is still in its initial stages and no date has been scheduled for when it will be heard by city council.
If it gets approved, this will become Tesla’s second purpose-built location in Canada. The first opened in July on Vancouver Island, where there is now a 35,000 square foot Sales, Service, and Delivery Center in Langford, just outside of Victoria. The site also has four V3 Superchargers, but those are limited to Tesla’s internal use only.
