THE ART OF LIVING
‘I have never felt so at home in a community’ homeowner says of Southpoint in Airdrie
Now in his late 60s, G. Michael Novak is kind of retired and kind of not. He still manages a training company, dabbles in art and ghost writing, and accepts the occasional acting gig, which has been a side hustle for more than 40 years.
His wife, Nicola Mount, is a corporate trainer who, by Novak’s count, was on a plane to international assignments at least 176 times last year.
In 2019, they considered relocating from the expensive Lower Mainland in British Columbia to a more affordable existence in Novak’s home province of Alberta. Proximity to an airport and a home with space for an office was all they wanted and exactly what they found in Southpoint, a master-planned community by Vesta Properties in Airdrie.
The neighbourhood is located south of 40th Avenue between the Hillcrest community and the Queen Elizabeth 2 Highway.
“We moved in October last year and it’s just getting better,” says Novak, who has settled into the city north of Calgary so well that he was recently elected president of the Airdrie Regional Arts Society.
They purchased a move-in ready unit in Southpoint Square, a traditional townhome complex also built by Vesta. Novak had shortlisted the project while researching new homes online prior to driving out to have a look.
“It was the first one we looked at here. We went on to look at single-family and semi-detached properties, too, because my wife has an unreasonable and unfounded prejudice against condominium fees,” Novak says. “But after having viewed this property, everything else was compared, and not favourably, back to this one.”
Novak and Mount purchased the three-storey Berkley floor plan, a 1,949-square-foot end unit with a double garage, three bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms and a large flex room at ground level — ideal for their home office.
The couple uses the second bedroom as a theatre room and the third has been taken over as a closet.
The unit was finished when they bought it, but Vesta was still able to tweak a few things for them, like swapping out cupboards for drawers and adding a barn door to the master walk-in closet and ensuite.
Mount, who was born in Ireland and grew up in Montreal, says this is her first experience living in Alberta.
“I have never felt so at home in a community, and this is the nicest home I’ve ever lived in. Michael’s an artist, so we have beautiful stuff on our walls.
“It feels good — the most wellbuilt, comfortable home I’ve ever lived in. I can’t wait until this (coronavirus) thing is over so I can show it off to everybody,” she says.
There are 14 of 56 units available, with 1,306 square feet to 1,986 square feet of space. There are some two-bedroom units, but most are three with either 2.5 or 3.5 bathrooms and a tandem or double garage.
Prices run from the mid-$200,000s to low $300,000s.
Vesta is also building three- and four-bedroom single-family laned
homes in Southpoint, priced from $339,900.
The neighbourhood is around the corner from major shopping areas in Airdrie and next door to Hillcrest where a new K-7 school, Northcott Prairie, will open this fall says Vesta sales manager A.J. van der Linden.
“Southpoint has great access to Highway 2 and is within walking distance to the South Transit Terminal with bus service to downtown Calgary and Cross Iron Mills,” he says.
Vesta also built the 4.9-hectare (12-acre) Southpoint Park amenity for its residents, with pathways, green space, a playground, basketball and tennis courts and outdoor structure for picnics and barbecues.
“It’s one of the only areas with an off-leash dog park inside the community,” van der Linden says.
It feels good — the most well-built, comfortable home I’ve ever lived in. I can’t wait until this (coronavirus) thing is over so I can show it off.