‘GATHERING PLACE’
Lakeside living in Kelowna
West Harbour is a community that draws on a broad demographic, ranging from young professionals starting families to empty nesters creating a place for their family to visit them. What links them all is a love of the outdoors.
Sometimes the difference between success and failure in building a community comes down to a developer putting aside his or her ego and going for what feels right, says the developer of one of Kelowna’s most successful lakeside communities.
Renee Wasylyk says her company, Troika Management Corp., was on the verge of going with a 1,500-home development, including a 19-storey concrete highrise on Okanagan Lake, when she got what she called a “Spidey tingle,” a reference to the foreboding sense that superhero Spider-Man made famous.
“After our launch in 2008, we had enough pre-sales to move forward,” said the CEO, “but I didn’t have the level of comfort I wanted to have.”
Her anxiety was not unfounded. As 2009 rolled in, the global financial meltdown hit the Okanagan hard and she said she “put aside my ego” and went back to the drawing board with the landowner, Westbank First Nation, and redesigned West Harbour, transforming it from a 1,500-home mega project to a 250-home low-rise village development.
Today, West Harbour boasts the same 500-foot sandy beach as a common community space, circumscribed by a 225-slip marina that offers most residents moorage as part of their new home package. While some other developments struggled during Kelowna’s climb out of the recession, West Harbour enjoyed continually rising sales during 2010 and 2011, selling about 10 to 20 in each of those years. “We have continued to outpace the market since then,” Wasylyk said.
The new lower density development plan also allowed Troika and Westbank to adhere to the vision of Chief Roxanne Lindley and her family for the location to be a “gathering place,” as it was for their ancestors, and a place for creating a modern community, Wasylyk said.
This establishes West Harbour as a community that draws on a broad demographic, ranging from young professionals starting families to empty nesters creating a place for their family to visit them. “We really don’t have just one demographic,” said Wasylyk, adding that what links them all is a love of the outdoors, both on the water and on the many trails leading from the community.
One couple even decided to get married on the beach to mark the start of their new life in West Harbour, she said with a laugh. Meanwhile, those who have already moved in have begun developing their own sense of community that includes everything from staging “appies and wine” on Fridays to collectively figuring out what to do with the driftwood that has washed up on West Harbour’s beach during the last few months.
A number of other features have become magnets for buyers, who are roughly divided with half from the local area and half from Metro Vancouver, Alberta and Saskatchewan. West Harbour is just seven minutes drive from downtown Kelowna via the Bennett bridge. Homeowners can also go by their boat to downtown Kelowna, where slips have been reserved for them.
But prime among the attractions is West Harbour’s relationship with the Westbank First Nation through the federal government. Like a similar development on aboriginal land in Penticton to the south, West Harbour homes are leasehold rather than freehold. Homeowners purchase a 99-year prepaid lease through the federal government from Westbank First Nation. That means no GST or provincial property transfer taxes.
Also giving a sense of comfort is Troika’s creation and contribution of a legacy fund, an investment fund managed on behalf of the residents, anticipating the term of the 99-year lease. Wasylyk said that fund ultimately will be worth more than current value of the multi-million-dollar development and could be used to extend the lease again at the end of the term.
Buyers were also impressed that Troika “put its money where its mouth is” by first building the marina, the swimming pool and hot tub with its first homes, Wasylyk said. This spring, Troika also broke ground on Harbour Club, a 3,500-square-foot clubhouse with lake views that houses fitness facilities, meeting rooms and other amenities.
Homebuyers have two choices. They can either buy one of the
pre- built or spec homes constructed by Troika — about 16 duplexes are being built in the current phase — or choose from three home models that have a Mediterranean style. For instance, its Rosé model home is a bungalow offering 2,350 square feet on two levels, with a master bedroom with ensuite, kitchen, living and dining room, and powder room on the main level, and two more bedrooms, a bathroom and a rec room on the lower level.
The two-storey model Amarone offers 3,114 square feet on three levels, with the master bedroom and a liberally sized sitting room with a deck on the second storey, kitchen and living facilities and a possible bedroom or den on the main level with two more bedrooms and a rec room on the lower level.
An even larger model — the Moscato — offers more than 3,800 square feet of space on three levels.
Buyers can select the style of interior design — features such as engineered flooring, tile work, maple cabinetry and quartz countertops — from several colour palettes. They are offered builder rates on appliances through Coast Wholesale Appliances.
The sense of community was a factor that sold Myrna and Rick Seed, who had spent two years looking for a vacation home in the Okanagan to travel to from their home in suburban Edmonton. They have decided since living at West Harbour for three months to make it their permanent home.
“It had everything that we were looking for,” said Myrna. “It’s just not a retirement community. There are a lot of young people living here.”
“We already have met lots of people,” Rick chimed in, adding that in some places you don’t even get to know your neighbours three doors away.
The Seeds also look forward to their two adult kids and their grandchild travelling from Edmonton — which has 13 flights a day to Kelowna — coming to stay with them.