Neighbourhood is critical to understanding why the market is so hot near Fraser Highway.
Michael Sasges, Vancouver Sun, WestCoast Homes Story
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Flanked by a 17-floor tower at Richards and Helmcken, to the north, and by a 24-floor tower at Richards and Davie, to the south, the six-floor 1168 Richards new-home project is a diminutive addition to its street.
A hot corner sizzling with new-home opportunity and a hot developer with an unprecedented previous-year performance are among the reasons why you might want to do more than simply read about the Compass new-home project. You might also want to get out to Cloverdale and see it for yourself.
The signage directing motorists to half-a-dozen new-home projects and the construction activity — both on job sites and the roads — makes clear that the area around 188th Street and Fraser Highway is one of the signature hubs of residential densification in the Lower Mainland.
(Surrey has formed a coalition with three other high-growth suburban municipalities — Langley Township, Abbotsford and Coquitlam — to lobby senior government to provide the services needed to absorb growth.)
Compass is a project from a developer and builder that received 12 finalist nominations in an annual industry competition called the Georgies.
At the end of the awards evening, Townline received five gold medals for its work in 2006: low-rise of the year; show home of the year; new kitchen under $30,000 of the year; and innovation of the year, in two categories.
(Last week, Townline received another industry honour – best mid-rise in a competition sponsored by the local chapter of the Urban Development Institute.)
The Compass show home represents The Vancouver Sun’s first opportunity to show readers: (1) a 2007 multi-residence project from Townline; (2) a 2007 show home from Townline and (3) a 2007 kitchen.
(There will be another soon: Townline’s Metroliving division has started selling the residences it is inserting into the old Hudson’s Bay Company store in downtown Victoria.)
Compass is a townhouse and apartment development; the 104 apartments, in two buildings, were all bought after one month of selling.
“The timing was right for this type of product,” Compass sales representative Elise Sangster says of the quick acceptance by the market of the apartments.
“The neighbourhood had evolved to a point that said this product was very appropriate: There was, and is, a lack of supply in the neighbourhood.”
Townline began selling its Compass homes at the end of last year. It closed its presentation centre for the summer — it was located on the site of what is now one of the apartment buildings — and re-opened it, along with the show home, last month.
The neighbourhood is critical to understanding why so many households are pursuing a new home in the vicinity of 188th Street and Fraser Highway.
Between Fraser Highway and the Compass development, for example, is a shopping centre anchored by a big grocery, a drug store and a liquor store.
A few minutes away by car, at the intersection of Fraser Highway and Langley Bypass, are all the shops and services a household would need after the pantry, vanity and liquor cabinet have been stocked.
The sales-literature declaration about the Compass neighbourhood is therefore well grounded: “‘Everything you need is close by, from major retail outlets to popular family entertainment and athletic centres. You can even walk to excellent schools, parks and playgrounds.”
Walking, indeed, may turn out to be a favourite pastime of Compass households. Townline is planning on installing a “greenway” on the property, connecting the 188th Street entrance on the east and a municipal greenbelt on the west.
The presence of two different types of housing types, townhouses and apartments, makes possible the expectation that the Compass development will turn into a real neighbourhood on its own.
Households wanting to reside in a townhouse are more likely than not different from households wanting to reside in an apartment. And households of differing circumstances — be they mortgage-free or mortgage-bound, with children or without, older or younger, retired or working — are the first dynamic of a true neighbourhood.
Yes, indeed, two generations of the same family have bought at Compass, reports Kerri Carlson, Townline’s marketing manager.
“A single mom who was downsizing and her daughter who was buying her first home bought here,” she says. “They wanted to be near each other.
“We have seen instances of the parents buying to follow their children into the area. Word of mouth, among family and friends, has been a large factor in selling the homes at Compass.”
“Word of mouth” may get people into a show home. Sales representative Sangster, however, gets signatures on the agreements of purchase and sale.
She reports that the features that have helped her “close” in the townhomes include:
- “Generously sized” decks off the kitchen and family room in the four-bedroom plans.
They offer the four-bedroom household about 150 square feet of elevated outdoor space.
“Depending on if your home’s orientation is east or west, you will live in a home with a fully covered deck or with a completely open deck, for those sunny days!”
- Double garages that facilitate side-by-side parking in the three and four-bedroom townhouses.
“All our research indicates that the buyer of bigger homes prefers side-by-side parking to tandem [back-to-front] parking.”
- “Full yards” attached to the bigger homes.
- “Of course, a great location has been a primary selling feature for these affordable homes.”
When it began selling the townhouses, Townline quickly learned from prospects that the three-bedroom-and-den plan might excite more people as a four-bedroom plan.
So, it now offers a four-bedroom plan with one of the bedrooms on the main, or entry, level.
“The modification came from much discussion with our visitors and purchases about maximization of the functions of the home,” Sangster reports.
Westcoast Homes editor Mike Sasges and his wife, Marise, reside in a Metroliving home from Townline.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007
