OUT OF TOWN PROPERTIES: SUMMERHILL
Summerhill townhome design by GableCraft ‘not a typical development’ in Nanaimo
Summerhill by GableCraft
Project size: 65 townhomes Address: 1720 Dufferin Crescent, Nanaimo Residence size: 1,014 — 1,343 sq. ft Price range: $214,900 — $299,900 Developer: GableCraft Homes Interior design: Navo Design Studio Sales centre address: 201 — 1720 Dufferin Crescent Hours: 12:30 p.m. — 4 p.m., Tues, Thurs, Sat and Sun (Closed Mon, Wed and Fri; available by appointment) Telephone: (250) 714-2147 Website: summerhill.gablecrafthomes.ca Warranty: Travelers 2-5-10 New Home Warranty Occupancy: Now — 2016
With the hoopla over Vancouver housing prices reaching a boiling point, some buyers are turning their attention to another British Columbia city on the sea: Nanaimo.
“The community as a whole is one that’s just really getting discovered on the international scene,” says realtor Tom Munro of 460 Realty. “Vancouver has been a destination for international buyers for many, many years. What has been attracting people to Vancouver is really what’s starting to attract people to Nanaimo, but we’re on a much more affordable level.”
Among the city’s offerings for buyers of all stripes is Summerhill by GableCraft, a 65-unit townhome development in the heart of the city. Munro says the two- and three-bedroom units in the development, now in its second phase, are in a central location close to schools and the hospital and are enticing for families looking to relocate from more expensive locales.
“When you can pick up real estate in a community on the ocean for $200,000 or $300,000 when they’re coming from locations where it’s extremely difficult to find real estate for under $1 million in some cases, we’re attractive because we offer safety and security for them and their family. We’re giving them a new lifestyle that perhaps they haven’t been able to achieve in their previous locations.”
But that’s not to say Summerhill is shaping up to be an investment-only community. Young families, singles and first-time buyers have also been attracted to Summerhill by its pricing and spacious design.
“It’s not a typical development in the sense of the style,” Munro says. “You’ll generally find in Nanaimo that your townhome developments are usually a stacked, fourplex townhome product. What Gablecraft has done here with their development is a side-by-side townhome. So you don’t have anyone living above you or below you.”
Add to that the yards, more than 1,000 square feet of interior space and the option for an attached garage, and Summerhill strikes a balance between denser projects and ones that leave residents with room in which to breathe. “It can feel more like a single-family home again,” Munro says.
With three colour palettes to choose from, wooden shakerstyle cabinets, laminate flooring, a six-appliance suite and window-covering package built in, Summerhill has been an attractive option for those who want to move in right away without any unexpected costs. The development’s proximity to Vancouver Island University and Nanaimo Regional General Hospital makes it a perfect location for students or hospital workers.
“Because it’s a turnkey package, for a first-time homebuyer or an investor, it’s been very appealing knowing that they don’t have to put a lot of extra money into the house; they can just simply move in and know their costs.”
Nine-foot-high ceilings and large windows let in plenty of light, while nearby community amenities — coffee shops, grocery stores and parks — lend themselves to a walkable community. There’s also a central courtyard for resident use.
For first- time buyer Aaron Denninger, 28, the Summerhill offered the right option of affordability, quality and location.
“We’d seen a lot of fixer-uppers in Nanaimo, a lot of older properties, some that had been rebuilt on the insides, but were missing essentials like the roofs or windows,” he says. “And the esthetics weren’t there.”
Summerhill’s craftsmanship style and GableCraft’s good community reputation lured Denninger and his wife in to have a closer look. “I’d been looking for properties for a while now, and I noticed an earlier development that GableCraft is doing, I liked the workmanship, I liked the design of it.”
Denninger says the pair had been contemplating buying a single-family home with a basement suite as a mortgage helper. But when he thought about the headache of finding tenants and becoming a landlord, he balked. “I just didn’t want to deal with that.”
The couple’s two-bedroom, two- and- a- half bath unit at Summerhill offered a low-maintenance lifestyle they could support on a single income and still leave some extra cash for travel and leisure while they’re young.
“We want to be able to pay into our house and pay it off sooner than later,” Denninger says. And with a completion date on their unit in early August, the couple is ready to get started on this new phase of life.
For families further down the road, Munro adds Summerhill has been a great investment property for university- aged children to live in while they complete their studies. Meanwhile, that international interest is adding diversity to the area.
“It’s a project, quite frankly, for everybody.”