Osoyoos Times

(OSOYOOS TIMES -- July 5, 1947) A high-profile piece of land at the junction of Highways 3 and 97 has been sold to a company with the intent to build an upscale 150-unit seniors and assisted-living facility for Osoyoos. Osoyoos resident Frank Stariha told the Times that late last week he sold the three-acre orchard fronting along the west side of H... ighway 97 across from Buy-Low, between the Ridge and Kobau Lanes bowling alley, to Baltic Properties. Baltic managing partner Vic Yates says the company has built seniors and assisted-living facilities in Chilliwack, Kamloops, Langley and Winfield and intends to build a two-building development on the Osoyoos property. Yates says they will be called Baltic Mariposa Manor and Baltic Mariposa Lodge. He said the intent is that the private facility, owned and operated by Baltic, would be contracted by Interior Health for the care services in Osoyoos. Interior Health put out a call for proposals for a private facility a few months ago and has said it plans to close its own 52-unit Sagebrush Lodge when a new facility is built. Will McKay, another Baltic managing partner, says his company is the preferred bidder to build the new facility in Osoyoos, but as of July 4, the deal with Interior Health had not been signed. Yates says the new Mariposa development will have a "higher-end, non-institutional" appearance and will house living units, a hospice, meals on wheels, and a seniors daycare. Stariha, whose family owned the property since 1945, says he and his wife Sally are pleased with the proposed use of the land, and see it as a tribute to his parents and others who built the area. The Times contacted Interior Health yesterday, but the health agency wasn't able to provide an immediate comment.Read More