The City of Vernon has created a development corporation to 
transform 69 acres of city owned land into a “showcase” 
development. Known as Hesperia Development Corporation, the city owned business is tasked with turning the Hesperia lands located south of Okanagan Avenue and Apollo Road into a mix of affordable housing, green space and commercial development that will be as environmentally friendly as possible. “We‘re trying to address a lot of issues with this area. We‘ll be trying to make it a bit of a showpiece to set an example how development should be done,” said Coun. Juliette Cunningham, who is the city‘s representative on the board of directors. Cunningham said the city decided to create a corporation to deal with the development for a number of reasons. “This is a conscious effort to bring in a wide range of expertise. We also don‘t have the advantage of bigger 
cities that have large staffs,” said Cunningham, “Our staff is barely keeping their heads above water because they‘re so busy.” Although the development hasn‘t reached the planning stage, Cunningham said it will primarily be designed to address the need for “attainable housing”, something that Annette Sharkey of the Social Planning Council for the North Okanagan said is lacking. “Any project that will increase the housing stock in the community is welcome. We‘re very excited with this news,” said Sharkey. Sharkey said that high real estate prices – the average house in Vernon is selling for $366,000 – coupled with a tight rental market means that more and more people are not able to afford to live in Vernon.
transform 69 acres of city owned land into a “showcase” 
development. Known as Hesperia Development Corporation, the city owned business is tasked with turning the Hesperia lands located south of Okanagan Avenue and Apollo Road into a mix of affordable housing, green space and commercial development that will be as environmentally friendly as possible. “We‘re trying to address a lot of issues with this area. We‘ll be trying to make it a bit of a showpiece to set an example how development should be done,” said Coun. Juliette Cunningham, who is the city‘s representative on the board of directors. Cunningham said the city decided to create a corporation to deal with the development for a number of reasons. “This is a conscious effort to bring in a wide range of expertise. We also don‘t have the advantage of bigger 
cities that have large staffs,” said Cunningham, “Our staff is barely keeping their heads above water because they‘re so busy.” Although the development hasn‘t reached the planning stage, Cunningham said it will primarily be designed to address the need for “attainable housing”, something that Annette Sharkey of the Social Planning Council for the North Okanagan said is lacking. “Any project that will increase the housing stock in the community is welcome. We‘re very excited with this news,” said Sharkey. Sharkey said that high real estate prices – the average house in Vernon is selling for $366,000 – coupled with a tight rental market means that more and more people are not able to afford to live in Vernon.“We know we‘re going to need more housing for seniors, people just finishing school and young families looking for their first home. That is where there is a huge gap right now,” said Sharkey. “For the economic health of the community we need to be able to attract young families and keep them here.” Cunningham said that the development will use geothermal heating and solar power as part of an effort to make it as environmentally friendly as possible. “It only makes sense to talk about developing the most sustainable way we can,” said Cunningham, who noted that there is the possibility that the city could later incorporate some of the planning practices used in the development into building policy.
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