Plans for a major renovation of the Crossroads Inn at Seymour Street and Sixth Avenue in downtown Kamloops took another step forward after City Council approved a zoning change Tuesday.

The ASK Wellness Society applied for the rezoning last fall, so it could convert nine hotel rooms on the first floor of the building into multi-family, long-term rental units.

It is also planning to replace the caretaker suite with a comparable-sized suite and convert the coffee shop into a shared dining room and kitchen space complete with accessible washrooms and office space.

ASK Wellness CEO Bob Hughes says the plan also includes the addition of kitchenettes to the other 42 units in the four-storey building.

“All the designs are in place, permitting is just beginning, so its just basically hoping for the six to eight week turnout for us to actually turnkey on this thing and get going,” Hughes told Radio NL.

“Lord knows the site, the building, the units are barely holding on here right now so we’re just really grateful for the province to finally recognize that we needed to take this plunge in doing a major retrofit of the building.”

Construction was scheduled to begin this spring, but Hughes notes the scope of the work is what led to the delays.

“The scope of the work that is happening required considerable permitting and lot consolidation, so we’ve seen delays in the bureaucratic end of it for quite some time,” he said.

“We also obviously have residents in the building that need to feel safe and secure. We’re in the very last stages of trying to figure out how to relocate some of the residents to ensure that they have the supports and services that they need before we can get underway.”

Hughes says he now expects construction to begin in early September, and take about around 10 to 12 months to complete.

The Crossroads Inn at 569 Seymour Street was first developed as a hotel. It was formerly known as the infamous Rafter G, before ASK Wellness took it over in 2011 and turned it into a social housing facility.