NARAMATA MAKES A NAME FOR ITSELF
New development next door to the best of nature
Naramata may synonymous with its Okanagan wineries, but it’s increasingly becoming home to buyers looking to put down roots for the next phase of their lives.
The developers behind the Naramata Benchlands community taking shape just north of Penticton have sold 40 of the 44 lots in their previous Stonebrook phase, including a site for a PNE prize home. Now they are moving to the next phase: Outlook, which comprises 42 single-family lots and earns its name from the panoramic northwest-facing views of Okanagan Lake, just north of Penticton.
The eight-hectare Benchlands were incorporated in 2006, but the financial crisis of 2008 saw much development put on hold up and down the Okanagan Valley. A steady stream of Alberta buyers, now succeeded by Metro Vancouverites looking for vacation and retirement homes, has dramatically upped the pace of sales.
“We released Outlook lots on a limited sale on July 27,” said development partner Randy Kowalchuk, “and since then we’ve done 10 contracts in 15 days.
“Our target markets are the move-up market, the rightsizing market and the downsizing market. We’ve got young families, 40-year-old couples that started having their children a little later, and people retiring.”
Kowalchuk said Metro Vancouver’s hot real estate market has definitely changed things for the Benchlands, including where the buyers are coming from.
“When we launched Stonebrook last year, it was 60 per cent Alberta-driven and 40 per cent from elsewhere,” he said. “It is the reverse of that now.”
The lots in Stonebrook ranged up to a hectare and started at $189,000. Those in Outlook are smaller and priced from $169,000.
The developers include Jim Treliving, a panelist on the TV show Dragons’ Den, and George Melville, a partner in the Boston Pizza franchise, who used a preferred list of builders in the first phase. They now have joined with Chase Valley Homes, which offers lot buyers two essential designs for homes with modern lines and flat roofs.
One model is a walk-in with garage on the upper side of the hill and the other on the lower side of the street with a maximum of one storey above grade, Kowalchuk said. Buyers are also free to choose their own builder, who will be governed by the community’s design guidelines.
The lots are fully serviced with low-level street lighting and new entrances, all slated for completion by mid- October, Kowalchuk said. A buyer can begin building a new home when he or she wishes, but once they start, all construction must be completed within 18 months and landscaping 12 months after that.
“We are offering an opportunity to get in at the beginning with these prices,” he said. “Infrastructure construction will be finished by Thanksgiving weekend. Prices range from $169,000 to $210,000 during the pre-construction phase, and we anticipate they will rise 15 to 20 per cent after construction has been completed.”
A community of about 2,000 people, Naramata was founded in 1907 by John Moore Robinson, who is largely credited with starting the Okanagan Valley’s soft fruit industry. The town also became a cultural centre of sorts, where people throughout the valley would arrive by boat for concerts, plays, operas and regattas. A new transportation link to the rest of Canada was created in 1914 when the Kettle Valley Railway was finished on the hillside above the village. Today, the abandoned right-of-way with its numerous trestles and tunnels is a favourite among tourists and locals for cycling and hiking.
Now called the KVR Trail, it was a major attraction that persuaded Dave Wittenberg and his wife Terri to buy a lot on which they plan to build a home with a swimming pool next year.
Wittenberg, who has lived in Abbotsford all of his life, said it is also ideal for his five grandchildren who live in the Fraser Valley.
“It’s just a three-hour drive, so it will be great to have them come for vacations and stuff like that,” he said.
Like many in their late 50s, Wittenberg said his job in sales of earthmoving equipment allows him to work from anywhere.
That is one reason he is willing to sell his Abbotsford home to move to Naramata.
“Terri and I sat down and talked about it and the pros and cons (of moving to the Okanagan),” he said. “There was nothing on the con list. The pros are the lifestyle, the wineries, the ability to walk here and there. Everything is close — there’s good shopping 10 minutes around the corner in Penticton. There’s a beach. The weather is a little colder in the winter, but it’s not an extreme winter in any case.
“It has a nice calming lifestyle that is good for your health and good for your mind.”