Urbandale launches luxe condos in Riverside South
They’re not actually Italian villas, but Urbandale Construction has turned to that country in marketing its new, low-rise condo project in the master-planned community of Riverside South.
Allora, launching to the public Oct. 22, comprises 64 corner suites spread over four buildings on a well-treed ravine lot. Three of the four buildings are being released now under the monikers of Uno, Duo and Quattro. The units, which start at $339,900 for 1,116 square feet, have names like Napoli and Roma, while the project’s tag line is La Dolce Vita in Riverside South.
“We were playing around with different languages and words, and we came across the word ‘allora’ and really liked it,” says Urbandale’s marketing communications manager Melissa Boudreau. “We decided we could run with this Italian theme because we wanted this development to have a very elegant feel to it (with) high-end finishes. It’s the kind of lifestyle we want people to envision themselves having there.”
The project will appeal particularly to downsizers, says Urbandale’s general manager Peter Weiss. He says Allora has generated a lot of interest among boomers wanting to be close to their families who are already living in Riverside South or surrounding areas.
As well, these are larger units, closer in size to the family homes buyers have been living in. Buyers “are not feeling they are condos in the downtown core, where you have a few hundred square feet to live.”
The low-maintenance aspect of condo living is also appealing to folks who have spent decades cutting grass and shovelling snow. As well, Allora’s high-end finishes should resonate with boomers who, over the past few years, may have upgraded their family homes and want their next residence to be likewise stylish and efficient.
Because all the suites are corner units, they boast plenty of glazing. They have large balconies, 10-foot ceilings, standard quartz countertops in kitchens and bathrooms, hardwood floors, and higher-end appliances. There’s a tray ceiling in each suite’s entry (“They make a statement,” says Weiss) and oversized bulkheads in the kitchens (“very elegant,” he notes).
Each suite also has two storage areas, one in the garage and one in a common area on the same floor as the suite. The extra storage is a plus for downsizing buyers who haven’t yet shed all their excess possessions.
The buildings have contemporary, street-friendly elevations, underground parking that includes bicycle storage and dog-washing stations, and elevators.
The project is also ambitiously green, in keeping with Urbandale’s long-standing emphasis on sustainability. Urbandale designed the buildings using Enbridge’s Savings by Design program, a third-party verification system that yields buildings that are 25 per cent more energy efficient than Ontario Building Code requirements. Environmentally minded features in Allora include windows rated for a Zone 3 climate, which includes the Arctic. Weiss explains that Urbandale chose that rating because windows are traditionally a source of energy loss, so top-performing windows make sense.
Other green ingredients include an electric-vehicle charging station in the outdoor visitor parking area. Allora is also targeting LEED certification.
The development is launching in a condo market that’s still sluggish due to an oversupply of units. Weiss is not concerned about that. He sees a growing demand for this kind of product, thanks to those folks wanting to downsize in the south end. “As the south really develops, we see more and more communities like this coming on line.”
Allora is a new design for Urbandale, although Weiss says it is rooted in the three-storey Jazz condos that the company has been selling for years. He says Urbandale once considered townhomes for the site but decided on condos for the peninsula-shaped property because, “the overall footprint, we thought, was the best usage of the space.”