TOWNLINE CONNECT
Volume 9 - Winter 2011

A Rose By Any Other Name

The Gardens will be a brand new community with West Coast Contemporary homes, a signature restaurant, grocery store and other amenities as well as a 12-acre botanical garden. Here are a few tidbits about The Gardens.

Residential

The initial release of homes at The Gardens will range from onebedroom to well proportioned 2-bedroom apartment homes. They will be clean, modern West Coast Contemporary in style with extensive use of brick on the exterior façades. With architecture by internationally renowned Ray Letkeman Architects and interior design by I3 these are homes that will not only serve you well when they are completed, but will be a sound investment into the future.

Commercial

As we move globally towards more compact urban environments where we leave our cars parked and walk, it is important that we have the essentials of daily living close to where we live. The Gardens has been planned to accommodate this economical, intelligent way of living and will feature a signature restaurant, a large grocery store and many other street level services to meet your daily needs. It’s too early to say who the anchor businesses will be, but they will benefit life at The Gardens.

Botanical Gardens

Of the original area that was Fantasy Garden World, 12 acres have been committed to be a natural botanical garden. It will be operated by The City of Richmond and will be open to the public. In the gardens you will find a range of interesting areas from a formal area that can be booked for functions such as weddings to a demonstration agricultural area. And, a section is allocated to be community gardens where locals can come and grow their own produce if they wish.

There will be paths throughout the gardens to allow you to take a break from the city and escape into the verdant surroundings. It will be a welcome addition. Richmond is, after all, known as the Garden City.

Why Is It Called The Gardens?

If you know anything about the history of the site, you know that it was once known as Fantasy Gardens or Fantasy Garden World. It was a privately operated botanical garden and it stood there for many years. After that commercial venture closed, the site was used for a period by Art Knapp Garden Centres.

Given the site’s rich botanical history, and the fact that there will still be a 12-acre garden adjacent to the new homes, it seemed only fitting that a site at the gateway to the Garden City retain the name The Gardens. We just removed the “fantasy” to make it a reality.

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