SOHO HOMES IN KELOWNA
Affordable luxury in the Okanagan
While Kelowna’s downtown real estate market has been experiencing double digit price increases over the last two years, first-time buyers can still get decently priced homes while enjoying the Okanagan city’s resort-like amenities if they go outside the city’s core.
One such affordable development is SoHo, an 88-unit five-storey complex located in southeast Kelowna, about a 10-minute drive from the city centre.
Now in presales, its prices start at $159,900 for a studio unit and starting from $475,000 for the largest three-bedroom homes, says Don Warkentin, whose Fortune Marketing is selling the homes.
Suite sizes at SoHo range from 424 square feet to 1,218 square feet, at prices as low as half the going rate for similar spaces downtown.
The prices obviously have been attractive, given that about 25 per cent of the homes have sold in the first month, said Warkentin.
“We are finding a lot of people, particularly young people, moving to Kelowna from the Lower Mainland, partly because of affordability of homes,” he said.
“For someone 30 years old, buying their first home is extremely difficult in Vancouver, whereas here it is still affordable.”
First-time home buyer Marko Bosnjak was one of the first purchasers, although he has lived most of his life in the Okanagan.
“I’ve been looking for a while for a place,” said Bosnjak, who currently rents an old house closer to downtown with two buddies for $2,000 a month.
What makes Bosnjak unusual is that by the time he had reached his 21st birthday last January, he had managed to save $45,000.
That allowed him to put down a deposit on a $234,900 two-bedroom unit without going to his parents for financial help.
Warkentin said SoHo has a lot to offer young people like Bosnjak, but the project has also attracted move-up buyers and downsizers who want to escape the drudgery of single-family home ownership.
“By 65, they don’t want to be cutting lawns and shovelling snow anymore.”
SoHo, a name derived from nearby South Hollywood Road, rates a high walk score of 92 out of a possible 100 for being located just steps from Willow Park shopping centre, which is home to an IGA food market and a Shoppers Drug Mart, as well as smaller merchant shops. It’s also on a public transit line, and is two kilometres from a Costco warehouse outlet and a Walmart store, and 10 kilometres from Kelowna International Airport and UBC’s Okanagan campus.
The homes boast a long list of features comparable to higher priced units, including nine to 11-foot ceilings. All units come with Whirlpool stainless steel appliance packages with a french door fridge with builtin ice maker and a bottom freezer compartment, a free-standing electric range with ceramic top, and an ultraquiet dishwasher.
Buyers can choose an upgrade package that includes a convection oven and temperature sensor, and a steam microwave unit with sensor cooking.
Countertops are scratch and stain-resistant quartz, and the cabinetry is a contemporary combination of white square-edge upper cabinets paired with satin finish horizontal grain melamine base cabinets and drawers.
The cabinets have halogen underlighting and kitchens come equipped with islands with cabinet storage and ample room for bar seating in select homes.
Flooring is engineered luxury vinyl planking. Blinds are standard with all windows.
In the bathroom, there is an American Standard high-efficiency toilet, an acrylic and bathtub combo, while ensuites feature a frameless glass shower with brushed steel handles.
All homes are equipped with fullsized washer and dryer units, upgradeable to premium Whirlpool appliances.
Other upgrades include a master bedroom closet organizer.