Master Planned Communities
QwlQwl Village
An Indigenous-owned, multi-generational wellness village beside Vernon Regional Airport.
- Site
- 20 acres (8.1 ha)
- Residential
- 497 units of varying asset classes
- Lands
- Okanagan Indian Band
- Utilities
- Private sustainable utility
QwlQwl Village is an Indigenous-owned, 20-acre (8.1 ha) master-planned development on Tronson Road beside Vernon Regional Airport, on Okanagan Indian Band lands within the traditional territory of the Syilx (Okanagan) people. Conceived as Canada's first multi-generational, wellness-focused community, it supports individuals and families across all of life's stages. QwlQwl means "to grow, to become, to transform" in the Syilx language.
- 135 seniors condominiums
- 20 seniors communal living units
- 203 open market rentals
- 100 short-term rental (hotel) units
- 39 townhouses
A village centre brings together a wellness spa, farmers' market, café, amenity building, offices and commercial space. A private sustainable utility integrates heat recovery, greywater reuse and thermal energy storage.
Our role
Optimum provides development management, pre-construction management and construction management for QwlQwl Village on behalf of Live Well Development Group and QwlQwl Developments, an Indigenous-owned development company that includes the Certificate of Possession holders, members of the Okanagan Indian Band. Together they lead the Indigenous partnership and shared prosperity framework.
Delivering on head-lease lands
QwlQwl Village is developed on Certificate of Possession lands through a 49-year head lease under section 58(3) of the Indian Act. Optimum built the delivery program around that structure: an integrated end-to-end workflow of fourteen workstreams across eight parallel tracks, sequenced through defined gates from activation to financial close, civil works with concurrent vertical design, and operations.
- Head lease and approvals. Locatee consents, Band Council Resolution, Canada Lands survey and environmental site assessment, Indigenous Services Canada review, and registration in the Indian Lands Registry in the right priority order.
- Two-layer servicing. On-reserve servicing rights secured within the head lease demise or by section 28(2) permits, and off-reserve servicing through a Municipal-Type Servicing Agreement authorized by the Nation.
- Private sustainable utility. Heat recovery, greywater reuse and thermal energy storage, operated by a utility corporation that reduces the community's call on municipal infrastructure and creates a long-term operating income stream for the landholders.
- Lender-ready structure. Registered, assignable rights and a financing pathway built for CMHC MLI Select, First Nations Bank of Canada and the Canada Infrastructure Bank.