BUILDING A BALANCE
Lakeside living in Lake Country: Beaches, boating and tree-lined trails
If you've ever dreamed of estate living at the lakeside, a new development called, fittingly, Lakeside Estates could be your dream come true — at half the price of city life.
Located roughly 15 minutes outside Kelowna in Lake Country, the project includes 44 three-storey townhomes. It is just a block from its namesake, Wood Lake, popular for fishing, boating and basking on the beach.
Lakeside's developer, Belvedere LC Property Ltd., is behind several residential projects in the region, including West Kelowna's Talus Ridge, as well as townhomes in the city's Lower Mission. With Lakeside Estates, Belvedere, in partnership with BlueGreen Architecture, envisions an esthetic blend of “contemporary-traditional.”
Exteriors are Hardie board siding, stucco, with woodand-slate rock accents to give it “a West Coast touch,” says Bob Guy, Belvedere's development manager.
“Also, we have creeks on both sides, Winfield Creek on one side and Vernon Creek on the east side, along with large trees, shrubs and tall grass. You're literally living on the side of a creek bed.
Approximately 75 per cent of the units are on green space or riparian setback, which is like living in the country.”
An entry-level terrace and two patios off the second floor, one of which features a natural gas outlet off the kitchen for barbecuing, offer plenty of outdoor living on warm days.
Each home has a double garage, wired for EV car chargers, as well as a 4.5-metre driveway for another vehicle. The six floor plans, which range from 1,500 to 1,900 square feet, offer a choice of cool or warm colour schemes, as conceived by Kelowna's Materia Interior Design.
All units have three bedrooms, a den, and two-and-ahalf bathrooms, including an ensuite.
The main bathroom features a tub and shower combo with Moen trim set, vanities with soft-close Shaker cabinets and drawers with a choice of contemporary metal pulls in matte black, chrome or aurum brushed gold.
The ensuite has Italian porcelain tile, a Moen rain shower head, and high-efficiency toilets. Fixtures are available in gold, black or chrome.
Light and airy kitchens feature durable, stain-resistant Caesarstone quartz countertops, Bricco glazed porcelain tile backsplash, pendant lights above the island, which seats four, and a chandelier in the dining room. Like in the bathrooms, soft-close Shaker cabinets are finished in Benjamin Moore Simply White with metal pulls in matte black, chrome or aurum brushed gold.
The appliance package is GE.
Don Warkentin, founder of Kelowna's Fortune Marketing, handling marketing and sales for the project, says construction is well underway, with sewer, water and electrical already installed and foundations ready for pouring this month.
“They've also poured all the sidewalks and curbing, with road paving about to begin. Once the framing starts, they'll go up fairly quickly, with the first homes, starting from the high $600,000s, ready for summer of 2023.”
Plans for an additional 130 condos, spread over three buildings, will follow about a year later.
Lakeside's proximity to the airport and UBC Okanagan campus — both 10 minutes away — as well as 15 minutes to Vernon, multiple parks, orchards and wineries, are a big draw.
Warkentin says buyers will enjoy Lake Country's outdoor recreation opportunities. There's the lake, of course, but also plenty of biking, hiking and walking trails. You can hop on your bike from your front door and follow the property's internal walkways to connect to the Woodsdale Road bike paths and onto the Okanagan Rail Trail. More than 50 kilometres of walking and cycling trails wind past forests, cliffs, ponds and up as far as expansive Kalamalka Lake.
“Since the pandemic, people have been re-evaluating their lives, where they want to live, and (they're not) so sure about living in the city anymore,” says Warkentin. “They're selling their places in the Lower Mainland or Toronto for $2 million, buying a place here for half that, putting the rest in their pocket and saying, `Now I can enjoy my life.' ”