CITY COUPLE JUMPS INTO CONDO LIVING
Pinnacle townhomes feature plenty of square footage and rustic charm
Even after 26 years of marriage, Shawna Burke-Martin and her husband Darren Martin really enjoy spending time together. They carve out time every day to walk together along the city ’s trails, they enjoy hiking and travelling, and they even work together.
“We were married quite young and always lived in apartments before we bought our first home. We really enjoyed that lifestyle and always knew that we would return to it. It just allowed us so much more freedom and time to do things together,” says Shawna.
For a few years, the couple has been toying with the idea of leaping into condominium ownership, browsing flyers, reading newspapers and touring a variety of offerings with Darren’s father who was in the process of downsizing, but nothing jumped out. And with a teenage daughter at home, they knew the timing wasn’t quite there yet.
And yet, sometimes serendipity comes knocking.
They came upon a condominium development in Calgary ’s new north that offered all of the tenets of urban living, walkability, close to all of the major connector routes and a spacious — at almost 1,520 square feet — three-bedroom floor plan with three outdoor terraces totalling more than 700 square feet of outdoor living space. And without a second thought, they jumped out of single-family living and into the simplicity of condo ownership.
“We moved probably a good two to four years earlier than expected,” Darren says.
“It just checked off too many boxes for us. It was the area that we wanted to be in. It was a reasonably large floor plan, which isn’t easy to find, and it had a lot of outdoor space — and we really like our outdoor space.”
The couple purchased the Redwood, one of two penthouse units on the fourth floor of the second phase of the Pinnacle in Kincora. It’s a three-building project by the award-winning developer Cove Properties.
“We always tell people that it’s the one that looks like it should be in Canmore. It just has this rustic mountain look to it,” Darren says.
Doug Mazurek, president of Cove Properties in southern Alberta, says the vision was to achieve a Rocky Mountain Craftsman architectural feel.
“We grounded the look with slate and used all of these great elements — rough sawn timber, acrylic stucco and black metal clad windows to really add to the visual appeal.”
Known for its upscale, boutique-style developments, Cove Properties has projects on the go in several city quadrants, including Apollo in Greenwich, the new southwest community modelled after Greenwich Village in NYC. Its Armory project at Currie Barracks was named Best Multi-Family Community at the 2017 Building Industry Land Development-Calgary Region Awards.
The Pinnacle features all the top-of-the-line standards from in-floor heating to quartz countertops. Buyers can choose from five colour palettes and upgrade features a la carte.
“It’s a really great feature — so you can upgrade just the kitchen sink or just the faucets. We really wanted to create some customization for buyers,” Mazurek says.
That’s something that appealed to Shawna and Darren. The Redwood floor plan includes an open concept with lots of windows, and three bedrooms — two double master bedrooms, along with another spacious secondary bedroom.
“We were able to mix and match with the selection packages and upgrade to a composite hardwood flooring that works with in-floor heating. It’s brand new technology and our flooring is the first thing that people comment on when they come in. It’s beautiful,” Shawna says.
In the project’s latest and final phase (a collection of 41 homes spread over four floors) buyers can also customize floor plans to create greater square footage.
“We have three plans that are between 1,600 and 1,800 square feet right now,” Mazurek says.
The project is for adults ages 18 years and older, a designation that will hold for the next 15 years.
As property tax specialists, the couple travels quite a bit for work and commutes to an office in the Beltline. So the weekends are set aside for down time.
One of the big draws for the couple was being able to park the car on the weekends and just walk everywhere.
Walkability in this community is exceptional — the upscale Loblaws’ City Market grocery store
is only 400 metres from the Pinnacle’s front door, along with a collection of restaurants, coffee shops and a Walmart Superstore. Shawna is also enjoying exploring the community’s abundant nature-filled walking paths.
The couple and their 18-year-old daughter moved in on Aug. 20.
“Even though we have only been living here for just over a month, we’ve already had so many ‘a-ha’ moments. Walking home from the grocery store with just a couple of bags saying: Yes, this is it; this is what we were looking for,” Shawna says.