Ikonik Homes launches townhome development in South Surrey
Sun, space, price key for Berkeley Village townhome buyers
It’s no secret that south of the Fraser River — places like Richmond, Langley, Surrey and Delta — tend to get more sunshine than North Vancouver, Squamish and Whistler. Berkeley Village, a new residential development in South Surrey by Ikonik Homes, takes full advantage of this fact with townhomes that have full-size rooftop patios.
Charmane Learning has bought a two-bedroom, two-and-a-halfbathroom townhome at Berkeley Village. She said the sunshine played a big part in her decision.
“I had been a homeowner in Squamish for 10 years and then I sold that place and have been renting in South Surrey since February,” Learning said.
“I like the area. There’s more sunshine here, and one of the main things that attracted me to this development was the rooftop patio.
“I don’t need a ton of space, which is why I bought one of the smaller homes. But I do a lot of outdoor activities, including riding a motorbike, so having a double-car garage will be great for storing all of that stuff.”
Berkeley Village is a development of 183 two- and three-bedroom townhomes ranging from 1,202 to 1,579 square feet. Prices start in the low $600,000 range.
With an address of 16433 19 Avenue, the development is near Pacific Heights Elementary School, Earl Marriott Secondary and Southridge School. It’s also only a short distance from Morgan Crossing and Grandview Corners shopping centres, as well as being close to major commuter and transit routes, including Highway 99 and the U.S. border.
Dorris Li is a sales associate at Frontline Real Estate Services, which is handling the sales and marketing of Berkeley Village on behalf of Ikonik Homes.
“We’ve had a good mix of buyers,” Li said. “Definitely a lot of young professionals who are looking to move out of condos into bigger homes.
“Affordability plays a part for these buyers as well, for sure. It’s not realistic for many people to get a townhouse in Vancouver and Burnaby for more than $1 million, whereas here you can get into one for somewhere above $600,000.
“But the bottom line is that it’s a great neighbourhood, the homes are beautifully laid out and our finishes are impeccable.”
The homes at Berkeley Village include open-concept spaces, nine-foot ceilings on the main floors, oversized windows and durable laminate wood floors throughout main levels.
“There are contemporary flat-stock baseboards and door casings, plentiful closet spaces finished with white-wire singleshelves and hanging racks, and smoke detectors on each floor.
“All homes are pre-wired for security systems.
The finishes at Berkeley Village are the work of Lisa Hansen at Area 3 Design, who met with the marketing team and the developer at an early stage in the project to figure out the timelines involved, the price points and the demographics of the buyers being targeted.
“The area around Berkeley Village is for the most part known for the number of young families that live there — buyers who want a bigger place than a condo,” Hansen said. “Practicality, warmth and a good sense of homeyness is important in the finishes we chose. People don’t want it to feel too cold or slick.”
This doesn’t mean there’s any shortage of modern luxury, of course. Kitchens feature stainless-steel appliances including five-burner gas ranges and convection ovens, french-door refrigerators with bottom-mounted freezers, dishwashers with adjustable racks and concealed controls, and slide-out range hood fans. There are flat-panel cabinets with soft-close doors and drawers and polished quartz countertops with white tile backsplashes.
Bathrooms have wood grain, more flat-panel cabinets with soft-close doors, polished quartz countertops with under-mounted sinks, and tile on the floors and surrounding the baths and showers.
“Given the rising prices in the region, we were finding people who would have liked to have lived in Vancouver but were being priced out,” Hansen said.
“As a result, we geared things a little bit more urban than is normal for this area. So, we have slab kitchen cabinet doors, white tile backsplashes and wool-blend carpet, which has a very tight construction so it’s very durable for dogs and kids and toys.
“We also pushed the boundaries a bit by offering black plumbing fixtures and accessories in one of our two colour schemes, which is a little more edgy and young. We tried to appeal to modern families, a slightly more urban and younger type of buyer demographic.”
The Berkeley Village sales centre at 2485 168 St. is open from noon to 5 p.m., except Fridays. Completion is expected in the second half of 2019.
“It’s an awesome new neighbourhood in an up-and-coming
area,” Li said. “We have some very attractive prices, throughout all the projects we’ve worked on we’ve continuously learned more about what buyers really want, and with Berkeley Village there are those rooftop patios, which are definitely very appealing. Everybody loves them.”