A PRIME POSITION
Onni’s Brookmere to rise next to shops, services and green space
Residents of Onni’s Brookmere will have easy access to urban amenities, transit and park space
Those who purchase a home in Brookmere, Onni’s first residential development in West Coquitlam, will have the best of both worlds: the urban convenience of being located in the growing Lougheed Town Centre area, along with easy access to the green space of a nearby suburban park.
At the same time, residents will also be able to try their hands at a little vegetable gardening, thanks to a terrace dedicated to garden plots.
It’s what Nic Jensen, Onni’s vice- president of sales, calls “urban balance.”
“It’s a balance of urban on one side and parks on the other, so you can enjoy the parks and the greenery and the quiet,” he said. “To our west we have Lougheed Mall, which is going to be very urban with multi-towers, restaurants, gyms, cafes, shops, and then right to our east, we have Brookmere Park, where you can enjoy the greenery and the quiet.”
The 28-storey 219-unit concrete tower is on a high point in the area, providing excellent views of the surrounding territory.
It is also a continuation of a successful strategy Onni has pursued in more than the dozen residential developments it has built over the last two years: on what Jensen calls a “transit- oriented development site.” Brookmere has the advantage of being located next to not one, but two transit lines: the existing Millenium SkyTrain line and the Evergreen Line, which is now under construction.
“They (the sites) are certainly difficult to come by, but you can see the success of them,” Jensen said. “You look at Vancouver’s Cambie Corridor and how successful developments have been there, including our own Northwest at Cambie and (Southwest) Marine.”
While Brookmere and Northwest are similar in many ways, they are attracting different demographic groups to some degree. Northwest has had a strong investor interest — as Jensen expects Brookmere will — but Brookmere is also drawing from a varied mix of other types of buyers.
“Brookmere is certainly attracting end users who are seeking to downsize from larger, single-family homes in (suburban) Coquitlam. They have realized a greater capital appreciation in the last few years, so they are taking some equity and buying a condo.”
It is also attracting first-time buyers, he said. “We are affordable. We have one-bedroom homes from $270,000.”
Brookmere has features that end users are more likely than investors to focus on, features that Onni emphasizes in its marketing: “oversized patios” for instance, and appliances that are full-sized, rather than “apartment-sized.”
Kitchens feature islands that also serve as dining tables. All Brookmere homes feature a stainless steel appliance package from KitchenAid with a five-burner gas cooktop. Refrigerators are 30 inch or 36 inch with ice makers, water dispensers and bottom-mounted freezers. All one-bedroom and some two- bedroom homes have a combination microwave hood fan mounted above the cooktop, while selected two- and threebedroom homes have slide-out fans and separate microwave units.
Some two- and three-bedroom homes are equipped with a 1.5inch composite stone countertop with a breakfast bar overhang, while select homes come with nook space that can be used as a functional desk or computer area.
Homes are outfitted with contemporary wide- plank commercial-grade laminate flooring throughout the living, dining, den and kitchen areas, while the bedrooms and walk-in closets have premium wool blend carpeting. Master bedrooms have built-in millwork closet organizers.
Bathrooms feature NuHeat heated floors beneath 12-by24-inch marble tile flooring, composite countertops with an eight-inch-high backsplash, soaker tubs with a marble apron and shower walls with convenient tile niches for soap and toiletries. An optional upgrade is a frameless glass shower enclosure with chrome pulls.
Brookmere also boasts over 14,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor amenities, including a large professionally equipped gym with yoga space. “We take great pride in our gyms,” said Jensen, adding that a games, lounge and media room are part of the amenities package.
There are two large outdoor courtyards: one is a second- floor terrace with a barbecue, and the other is a third-floor terrace where residents will be able to plant their own vegetable gardens in designated plots. Onni has also included a feature that has proven popular with other buildings: a guest suite that residents can book for friends and relatives. Parking is included with all homes, as is a car-sharing service.