FIRST NOTES OF HARMONY RING TRUE
Community will include two connected lakes, a golf course and village core
When Andy and Heather Row decided it was time to find a larger home, they each had specific wants for the community they’d move to next.
Andy wanted to shorten the commute to his job at the Springbank Airport, Heather had her heart set on a community with a lake, and they both welcomed the chance to be closer to the Rocky Mountains.
This all came together at Har- mony. While the community west of Calgary limits now has multiple built and occupied homes, the Rows were the first to move in.
“It’s pretty neat,” says Andy, on being there for Harmony’s earliest days. “We’re always going to be able to look back and remember when it was just us and not a lot of (houses) out there.”
Harmony is planned for about 3,500 homes, including both single-family and multi-family development, by a group comprised of Augusta Fine Homes, Baywest Homes, Broadview Homes, Homes by Avi, Sterling Homes, and NuVista Homes. All builders have show homes open in the community. NuVista Homes will open show homes for its villas this spring.
Master-planned community by Qualico Communities and Bordeaux Properties, Harmony will include two connected lakes, a golf course, a 14.5-hectare village core with retail amenities and more than 25 kilometres in pathways.
Upwards of 30 per cent of the 208 hectare community is earmarked for open space, green space, lake, and wetland.
The Rows moved from an established community in southeast Calgary. Andy, who has worked at the Springbank airport for the past 12 years, is already enjoying spending less time behind the wheel.
“I have a four-minute commute to work now,” he says. “That’s a lot better than the 45-minute commute to work each way before.”
“Being closer to the mountains is awesome,” adds Andy. “We’ve gone out to Canmore now, just because we can.”
They’re also about a sevenminute drive from Elbow Valley Elementary School, which was an important consideration for their two daughters, aged five and three years old.
That convenience checked one of the family’s boxes and inspired them to give plans for Harmony a closer look.
The community’s lakes and wetland will total about 57 hectares (140 acres).
The first phase has been built and is expected to be ready for swimming and non-motorized watercraft later in 2017.
“What we hear is that it is a big draw,” says Garett Wohlberg, director of planning and communications at Qualico, about the lakes. “We’ve surveyed our current purchasers, so far, and that was a big component in their wanting to be a resident at Harmony. As well as just the overall vision and community that we’re envisioning being able to build out and deliver the residents.”
Complementing the water access will be a beach club and wellness centre, with a beach volleyball court, picnic tables, playground equipment, water park, lockers, showers and a place to rent water sport equipment.
The Rows will be there.
“We’re definitely excited about that opportunity,” says Andy. His family looks forward to relaxing on the beach, and will likely use the water for stand-up paddle boarding and kayaking.
Another feature garnering attention at Harmony is the Mickelson National Golf Club, which is under construction. The more than 97 hectare (240 acre) course is expected to open its first nine of 18 holes in 2018.
Andy and Heather bought the Lalo floor plan through Baywest Homes. The move sees them upgrade to a floor plan that’s around 2,600 square feet plus a developed basement from a 1,800-square-foot home. There are four bedrooms on the top floor and a fifth in the developed basement.
“We wanted a bigger kitchen for having people over,” Andy says. “This house is big enough where we can comfortably seat a few more people. That was our main thing. We’d have aunts and uncles at our old house where it was standing room only.”
The home has a rear attached two-car garage and a sizable front porch. “We like that look,” says Andy.
This is part of Harmony’s Aspen Collection, which are homes on 44to 50-foot wide lots that start from the $690,000s. The Tamarack Collection, with manor-style estate homes with triple-car garages on 60- to 70-foot wide lots, start from $1 million.
People in the market for a bungalow-style villa can find them in the Willow Collection. These are on 44-foot wide lots and start from $699,000.
The conveniences planned for Harmony extend to commercial development slated for the south side of both community lakes. A planned nearby development dubbed Bingham Crossing is expected to provide quick access to shopping and dining amenities, as well.
“It will include multi- family opportunities, commercial, and a main street to draw people into the lake area and the plaza,” says Wohlberg, of the Harmony’s commercial plans, calling it a “centre point of the community and a focus of our future development.”