MULTI-FAMILY DEVELOPMENTS
Buyers can expect new wave of ideas
On the heels of a comeback year for new construction of multifamily development in the Calgary area, potential condo and townhome buyers can expect a new wave of innovative ideas in amenity-stocked locations in 2018.
One of these locations is a scenic, new mixed-use community by Melcor Developments. Perched on land just east of Stoney Trail and north of Canada Olympic Park, Greenwich will formally launch two townhome developments and one in the apartment-style condo segment this spring.
“Greenwich will be an instant destination in Calgary’s northwest for residents and shoppers alike,” says Catharina Mendonca, marketing manager at Melcor Developments, the same company that is developing communities such as King’s Heights in Airdrie and Sunset Ridge in Cochrane.
Shovels turned for the start of construction on infrastructure for Greenwich in mid-2016.
“For residents of this neighbourhood, the Rocky Mountains are on their west doorstep offering all the benefits of a mountain lifestyle, and Calgary’s vibrant downtown core is just 15 minutes to the east,” Mendonca says.
“For Calgarians living in neighbouring northwest communities and visitors arriving and departing on Calgary’s west end, Greenwich will offer a wide range of boutique retail and restaurants.
“The Bow River will invite residents and visitors north of the community while Calgary’s sporting community plays just across the road at Winsport. Greenwich is surrounded by diverse lifestyle opportunities on all corners and promises to see this beautiful quadrant of Calgary take on new life.”
The community will include about six hectares (15 acres) of open space, containing protected naturalized areas and parks.
Its retail segment will span around 150,000 square feet and there will be about another 150,000 square feet for office space.
Greenwich will build out to about 900 homes, with a formal launch of its first residential phase, featuring developments by Madison Avenue Group, Cove Properties, and Landmark Homes, expected for March 2018.
Cove’s condo development, called the Apollo, features a building that mixes traditional elements and materials with a contemporary design. It has 128 condos across three phases, starting with 48 in the opening phase. The development has heated underground parking and floor plans ranging from 555 to 1,253 square feet. Prices start from the $170,000s.
Cove’s Armory at Currie development was crowned Multi-Family Community of the Year at the Calgary Region SAM (Sales and Marketing) Awards announced in early 2017.
From Landmark, Greenwich will get a townhome development called Artis that will consist of 76 townhomes ranging from 1,000 to 1,900 square feet. They come with a single or double car attached garage. At this development, townhome prices start from the low-$300,000s.
Madison Avenue’s development will be comprised of 82 townhomes in five floor plans ranging from 1,225 square feet to 1,740 square feet. Each has either a tandem or double car garage. The starting price on these townhomes will be in the $375,000s.
Another significant addition to the multi-family landscape in Calgary this year will come from Truman Homes. It’s expected to bring the first development in its new master-planned West District community on stream in the first quarter of 2018. West District will have some single-family homes, but its residential component is slated to be predominantly mixeduse multi-family in concrete construction, starting with the aptlynamed Gateway.
Across two eight-storey buildings, Gateway will boast 182 condos, eight sky towns — which are innovative multi-level apartments — 10 penthouses, and 16 brownstones at grade level. Then there will be about 21,000 square feet of commercial on the main floor. Prices on the homes range from about $299,000 to 1.6 million.
To give potential buyers a sense of what’s coming to the community, Truman repurposed its EngageHub centre — which was used for the public to ask questions and offer feedback on the earlier proposal for the neighbourhood — as a discovery centre with a show suite.
“It’s our legacy community,” says Oliver Trutina, vice-president at Truman Homes, of the West District plan. “I couldn’t be prouder by how it turned out.
“We really get to showcase what Truman is all about.”
Included in West District’s sophisticated plan is a $15 million central park that Trutina calls the community’s “crown jewel.”
Among its features are a clubhouse, large pond, boardwalks, tiered seating made out of landscaping that faces an amphitheatre, a skate park, spray park, community garden, orchards, and retail.
Existing new communities in the Calgary area are shaping up to have a busy year of new additions to the multi-family market, as well. Here’s a look at only a few of the condo and townhome developments that are expected to open sales in 2018. In all cases, builders can be contacted directly for more information.
In the southeast Calgary community of Walden, things get going early. In late January, Avi Urban is expecting to launch sales on Winston at Walden, where prices will start in the $240,000s. The 190-unit condo and townhome development follows the builder’s earlier sites in Walden, dubbed Edison and Jackson.
In February, Excel Homes will join Walden with Holland Park. It will be 126 condo townhomes in two- and three-bedroom formats ranging from 1,185 to 1,500 square feet. These start from the low $300,000s.
Staying south, StreetSide Developments will follow its Hunter House development with a new multi-family site in Silverado.
In early spring of this year, the builder plans to open sales for the Villas of Silverado. This is an enclave of 50 bungalow villas that will start from the $500,000s, before GST. Three show homes are on tap to open this autumn.
The burgeoning Seton Urban District in southeast Calgary will not only offer its first single-family home sales in 2018, but add to its townhome segment, as well.
This February, Trico Homes is expected to offer the first release at its 107-unit site called Unity in Seton. Its floor plans range from 1,150 to 1,200 square feet and start from the low $300,000s, including GST.
Mattamy Homes will open sales on its new southwest Calgary community of Yorkville this May. Along with its single-family and semi-detached models, it’ll have options for townhome buyers, too.
Its townhome development will have seven plans ranging from 1,136 to 1,156 square feet,
Among the opportunities condos buyers will find on Calgary’s northwest end will be new launches in Sage Hill.
Morrison Homes Multi-Family has planned a residential development that will be located in the heart of a vibrant retail centre that is currently under construction. The Q — Condominiums in Sage Hill Quarter development, comprised of one- and two-bedroom floor plans, will offer priority holds this February and is slated for an official launch this May. Prices here will start in the low $200,000s.
Brad Remington Homes, the developer behind My Legacy Park, is also headed to Sage Hill.
The condo development dubbed Sage Hill Park will have 228 homes in the first three phases, with future phases also planned.
Prices are expected to start in the low $100,000s and sales are expected to start this spring.
The Parks of Harvest Hills — developed by Cedarglen Homes, with QuantumPlace Developments as the development manager — comes to market in 2018. This community includes both singlefamily and multi-family homes.
Here, Cedarglen Living will open sales in early February on apartment-style condos from the $190,000s and townhomes from the $300,000s. There are 258 condos across five buildings and 54 townhomes.
On the northeast end of the city, Partners Development Group continues to be busy, with a return to Redstone. The builder — with two existing developments in SkyView Ranch and another in Redstone will bring on Arrive at Redstone Way later this month. It’s comprised of 92 townhomes and prices start from $259,900 including the GST.
Also in the northeast, Shane Homes Multi-Family will be building its second apartment-style condo development. The builder will start sales on Saratoga in Skyview Ranch. The 187-unit development will start from $176,525 and is expected to launch in early January.
Smaller centres just outside of Calgary are expected to see new multi-family developments continue to come to market this year, as well.
Slokker Homes expects to open sales on two townhome developments in 2018. One will boast 30 townhomes, primarily triplexes, in the next phase of its Georgetown at Reunion development in Airdrie. The other is expected to be 80 townhomes and in a new development dubbed Rivercrest, located near the existing community of Riversong in Cochrane.
“Sales we’ve seen at our Jumping Pound Ridge (another Slokker development in Cochrane) and Georgetown developments this year have been encouraging, so we’re releasing a new development and new phase in these areas,” said Slokker’s communications and marketing manager, Paula Beauchamp, in an interview late last year.
Stepper Homes will also join the High River community of Montrose this year, with the builder’s first foray into a development that includes condo fees. With a launch expected for summer 2018, Stepper will bring townhomes and newly-designed cottage homes to the community south of Calgary city limits.
People in the market for a villa can look for Homes by Avi to introduce new options in this segment in early 2018. At a development branded the Swift Creek Villas in Elbow Valley, Homes by Avi is planning 50 villas with prices expected to start in the mid- to high$700,000s. The builder says about 70 per cent of these villas will have walkout basements.