Easy living within Reach
Lock-it-and-leave lifestyle part of River Reach project in Cochrane
When Debby Stuart and husband Kevan drove down the hill into Cochrane’s new RiverReach project, “there it was, our dream come true.”
The day after the Jayman MasterBuilt project recently opened for sales, the Stuarts bought a villa on the spot.
The retired nurse and her city employee husband were looking for a lock-it-and-leave lifestyle that would make travel to their other home in Arizona worry-free.
That is what they found in RiverReach, a 41-unit complex of bungalow villas and two-storey manors to be located along the Bow River.
“For many years, we have been looking around — and then we found it that day, really by accident, driving down the road,” says Debby.
The project is in the Riviera phase of the RiverSong neighbourhood by Tamani Communities. Thirteen of the units will back onto environmental reserve; the other 28 will back onto the river.
You will not find this kind of location, at this kind of price, in the city. This is a once-in-alifetime opportunity to live on the river.
WARREN SAUNDERS, JAYMAN MASTERBUILT
The builder is already seeing some specific buyers for the project, says Warren Saunders, sales manager for Jayman MasterBuilt.
The retired or semi-retired are looking at the bungalows; while other interest is coming from parents transitioning to a different lifestyle as their universityage kids leave home, but they still want some room for when their children come back, he says.
Potential buyers have been split evenly between Cochranearea residents and those from Calgary looking for the condo lifestyle in a premium location, says Saunders.
“You will not find this kind of location, at this kind of price, in the city,” he says. “This is a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity to live on the river.”
Buyers can also be confident they won’t see flooding like what was recently experienced in Calgary.
The water on the Bow River at its highest level during the flood was well below the luxury RiverReach location, says Corilee Keryluk, area sales manager for the development.
“The (surrounding) community of Riviera is well above the floodway and was designed, engineered and constructed to withstand the 100-year flood,” says Keryluk.
As part of the 10-building project, units available in the first phase of three buildings include the 2,020-square-foot, two-storey Westwynd Manor backing onto the natural reserve at $490,300; the Westwynd, with a walkout onto the Bow River at $552,700; or the 1,502-square-foot Edgewater Villa bungalow, with a walkout onto the Bow River for $566,000. All prices include GST.
The first-phase bungalows on the nature reserve have already been sold. There will be four more available in the other phases.
When completed, there will be 28 units with walkout options split between bungalows and two-storey units.
There will be two types of basement development: entertainment style, with a bar, two bedrooms and large, open leisure area and a bathroom; or a basement that includes a bedroom and a fitness room, along with a bathroom and storage area.
The whole Riviera community is to be built to BuiltGreen Gold standards under a program that promotes the construction of energy-efficient and environmentally-responsible homes.
In the playground adjacent to the RiverReach project, there are windmills that supply power to the pathways that are part of the four kilometres of walking/ cycling paths in nearby RiverSong. There are 40.5 hectares of natural reserve in the overall neighbourhood.
From Riviera, there will be an easily accessed pedestrian bridge that crosses into downtown Cochrane.
For the Stuarts, the move is timely, with their adult son moving out into his own home and the couple looking for a more lock-it-and-leave condo lifestyle.
They will move from the bungalow they have lived in for 17 years in northwest Calgary.
“We’re part of those baby boomers who want to retire and have someone else do the (landscaping and shovelling) work so we can travel,” says Debby.
RiverReach will also offer the “city-folk” couple their dream of living the quiet country lifestyle while being close to the city, she says.
“It is not easy to find a com- munity where you will be able to look out your living room and see forest, and then turn your chair around and look out the front door to the river,” says Debby. “That’s what we are going to have.”
The first building of four residential units in RiverReach will be completed by the end of October. Show homes will open in the first building.
Condo fees will be $205 per month and will include exteriors, windows and doors. The project is fully landscaped and include sprinklers and 20- to 22foot rear yards that are maintenance-free. The units come with decks and there will be stamped concrete patios on the walkouts.
The building exteriors will consist of Hardy board siding and come in three different architectural styles — Arts and Crafts, Shingle, and Rocky Mountain.
Jayman MasterBuilt has constructed more homes in Co- chrane than any other builder — it has 30 per cent of the market — and it is committed to the community, says Saunders.
Its condo arm, Jayman modus, is building in Sunset Ridge and Jayman MasterBuilt also has show homes and lots in the single-family section of Riviera.
Saunders says there has already been great interest in the new location, — and “that will only grow as we get more fully developed and the show homes open.”
For the Stuarts, who expect to move at the end of this year or early 2014, their new home will give them the quiet, nature setting they have been seeking.
“And maybe Kevan will actually get to use that fly-fishing rod that’s still in the box. He will just have to walk across the street,” says Debby.