AMPED UP AMENITIES A BIG DRAW
Location, lakeside lifestyle attract Regatta buyer to Auburn Bay
Not long ago, Jesse Lindbeck didn’t know much about Auburn Bay. But he’s glad that’s changed.
The 25-year-old spent his entire life in south Calgary, so when he decided to get a place of his own, this is where he looked first. Lindbeck was raised in the established neighbourhood of Erin Woods and spent the past 15 years in Somerset.
Lindbeck bought an apartmentstyle condo at Regatta, a new development by Brookfield Residential that’s now under construction in Auburn Bay. Brookfield was crowned Builder of the Year at the Calgary Region SAM (Sales and Marketing) Awards, announced earlier in April.
Regatta will contain 168 condos across three buildings and the current starting price is in the low $200,000s. A townhome component for the development will be added at a later time.
“I knew nothing about Auburn Bay whatsoever,” says Lindbeck, of the community, also by Brookfield. However, on his first drive through the master-planned community in southeast Calgary, he adds, “Everything about the location really struck me.”
Lindbeck points to Auburn Bay’s 17-hectare freshwater lake, giving him a place to be active outdoors, year-round. He plans to skate on it in the winter, and during the sunnier months, it’s where he’ll swim and relax.
“It’s perfect,” Lindbeck says. Auburn Bay will cut down Lindbeck’s commute to work. His job takes him to the Foothills Industrial area of Calgary, estimated to be about a 10-minute drive away from his new home.
“Through the summer, I’ll ride my bike. In the winter, I’ll drive,” he says.
Lindbeck also likes that there’s an off-leash dog park in Auburn Bay. While he doesn’t have a dog of his own, he’ll look at welcoming a four-legged friend sometime down the road.
Buying in Auburn Bay wasn’t just a decision for the short-term, but a move that made sense for the future, too, says Lindbeck. When it comes time for him to relocate to a larger home, he says there’s potential for a promising return on the resale market. He singles out Auburn Bay’s proximity to Seton and the South Health Campus hospital that’s a part of it.
“I was thinking about the resale value,” says Lindbeck.
At build-out, Seton will be home to 2,500 residents and around 12,000 jobs.
It will also contain up to 1.5 million square feet of office space and one million square feet of retail space.
A high school, recreation centre, and movie theatre, will be part of the development, as well.
There will also be the Green Line LRT, a direct benefit to residents of Regatta. A station for the proposed transit extension will be across the street from the new condo development. When constructed, the Green Line will reach from Seton at the south end of Calgary to Brookfield’s new community of Livingston at the north end of the city.
The LRT station will be just south of the aptly named Auburn Station, a commercial development that puts a grocery store and other amenities within walkable distance from Regatta.
Auburn Station includes a Dominos Pizza, Tim Hortons, A&W, Blackbird Pub, Salon Jolie, I Spa and Nails, Prestige Dance Academy, and a Co-op grocery store with a liquor store and gas bar.
“Auburn Bay has always been well-positioned in terms of being able to boot down to 130th Avenue, and with Seton opening a couple of years ago, there are great daily amenities for residents,” says Kelly Halliday, Brookfield’s business development manager.
“But for Regatta specifically to be across the street from Auburn Station ... it’s just phenomenal. They love that location.”
Regatta will also include on-site features such as a bocce ball court, and — inspired by the nearby dog park — a dog-wash station. And half of Regatta’s first two buildings front onto a municipal reserve.
The first building at Regatta is now 50-per-cent sold, but with development already under construction, possessions will be earlier than they normally would be.
“We are expecting our homeowners will start moving in later this year, early winter, which is great,” Halliday says.
Condos at Regatta range from 552 to 1,028 square feet. The twobedroom Kingston model, a show suite for the development, earned a residential industry honour. It won the trophy for Best Apart-
ment- Style Condo 700 square feet to 899 square feet at the Calgary Region SAM Awards.
People who enjoy hosting will like what the 894-square-foot Kingston has to offer, Halliday says. “It has a phenomenal kitchen that was designed with entertaining in mind,” she says.
“There is tons of storage space featured in the ensuite in the show suite,” Halliday adds. “We call it a spa bathroom, so we upgraded the bathroom a little bit and are really showing that apartment living is uncompromised.”
The show suite was recently relocated to the Regatta site at 285 Auburn Meadows Dr., from just down the street, so it’s temporarily closed and set to reopen May 6.
Lindbeck picked the 661-squarefoot Nelson floor plan, which has one bedroom and a den. He liked what he could get as standard at Regatta, such as granite counters and stainless steel appliances. “I fell in love with it instantly,” he says.