August 12, 2017

Developer’s reputation drives interest in The Parker

Savvy buyers of new apartments in Metro Vancouver tend to do their research on who’s building them. Good reputations take years to develop and the people at Townline are using the company’s reputation for quality in their sales pitch for The Parker, a new 47-home development in the ever-popular Cambie corridor.

Townline is a local operation that has been building homes in Vancouver since 1981. Back then, it was single-family homes, but the company has since branched out to building multi-family homes, mixed-use buildings, rental apartments and non-market developments in Metro Vancouver and on Vancouver Island.

“Buyers in today’s market are increasingly choosing developments based on the reputation of the developers,” said Chris Colbeck, Townline’s vice-president of sales and marketing. “A big part of our sales pitch at The Parker is that we’re a local developer. We’re owned by a local guy by the name of Rick Ilich and we’ve been in the business for more than 35 years.”

“We’re a fully integrated company, meaning that we have in-house construction, development, finance, sales and marketing and customer service teams,” Colbeck added. “That means you know exactly who you’re dealing with every step of the way.”

The Parker will be a low-rise apartment building at the corner of West 41st Avenue and Elizabeth Street. Residents will be within walking distance of Queen Elizabeth Park, a 130-acre horticultural jewel that includes the Bloedel Conservatory and fine dining at Seasons in the Park, as well as opportunities for lawn bowling, tennis and pitch and putt golf. Also within striking distance is the VanDusen Botanical Gardens, Langara Golf Course and Tisdall Park.

“What makes this development boutique is that it’s a smaller building with only 47 homes and what makes it so appealing is the location,” Colbeck said. “We’ve got a little bit of everything here: great schools, parks and amenities, as well as easy access to downtown and the airport. The Cambie corridor is, of course, a very popular place to be right now and we are just steps away from the Canada Line station and Oakridge Centre.”

The mall at Oakridge Centre has 574,000 square feet of retail space and features outlets such as Crate & Barrel, Apple, MaxMara, Hugo Boss, Harry Rosen, Stuart Weitzman, DKNY, LEGO, Michael Kors and Tiffany & Co. Services include the Vancouver Public Library, a children’s learning centre and a number of banking options.

The two- and three-bedroom homes at The Parker range in size from 1,008 to 1,334 square feet and are on sale now. Colbeck said there’s been no shortage of interest from buyers, both in terms of pre-registrations and at the display suite at 5844 Cambie Street.

“Most of the interest has come from people in the Metro Vancouver area and Vancouver specifically,” said Colbeck. “We’ve had a great response from buyers; nearly 2,000 registrations for 47 homes so there’s obviously a lot of demand in the Cambie corridor. The buyers are mainly second-time, move-up buyers as well as downsizers and the vast majority are going to be end users – the people who actually want to move in.”

When they do, they’ll be treated to engineered hardwood flooring, air conditioning in all homes, front-load washer and dryers and roller blinds. Kitchens include Gaggenau appliance packages, wood veneer cabinetry with brushed nickel hardware and under-cabinet LED lighting. There are square-edged quartz countertops with matching full-height backsplashes, kitchen organizer systems, pull-out recycling centres and stainless-steel sinks with chrome faucets.

Bathrooms have frameless mirrored medicine cabinets with recessed LED lighting, quartz vanity countertops, under-mounted rectangular basins with chrome faucets and full-height, large-format porcelain tiles on the walls. There are also recessed wall niches with marble mosaic accent tiles, frameless glass shower enclosures, in-floor heating systems and soaker tubs.

“More than just the location and the luxury finishes, we’ve carefully considered the suite sizes at The Parker to make them larger than you would typically find in Vancouver,” Colbeck said. “With condos in the city trending smaller in terms of square footage, we’ve made sure we’re offering homes here with a little more living space.”

Although The Parker will include some one-bedroom homes, at the time of writing the developers had only released size and pricing information for the two- and three-bedroom suites. These start in the upper $1,000,000s for two bedrooms and a den and in the mid $1,600,000s for three bedrooms and a den. The six-storey concrete building, designed by ZGF Cotter, will include secure underground parking and an amenity room with a kitchenette and a lounge area. The developers are targeting LEED Gold certification upon completion.

“Customer service is a big part of our world here and we have very strict guidelines that we implement both in the construction of our homes and in how we work with our buyers,” Colbeck added. “We have our own internal auditing process where we review every home we build.”

The Parker is set for completion in September 2019.

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