A MAPLE RIDGE TRANSFORMATION
First homes in ERA master-planned community introduced to buyers
An enormous master-planned community called ERA is poised to transform downtown Maple Ridge, eventually becoming an amenity-rich neighbourhood with some 1,000 homes.
When complete, the project being established by Johnston Meier and Swissreal Developments will also include parks, amenities like an amphitheatre and retail and commercial units. The first phase includes 143 market condos and townhomes and 49 rental units.
Peter Hildebrand, principal at Iredale Architecture, says the city’s designation of the southeast corner of the site on the corner of Dewdney Trunk Road and 224 Street as the new civic centre of Maple Ridge is the impetus behind the seven-phase ERA development.
Hildebrand notes that Maple Ridge’s location between the dense urban environment in Vancouver and communities like Chilliwack and Hope in the Fraser Valley influenced the master plan and the architecture.
“We wanted to have a sensitive approach that touched down gently. The result is a less dense site, and that has allowed us to be more flexible in the outdoor space, introduce more space between the buildings themselves and create meeting areas in the landscaping to foster neighbourliness and create a truly livable community,” he says.
There are condos in the six-storey north and five-storey south buildings, with 30 townhomes — the developers call them ‘city homes’ — in the centre of the first phase bounded by Plaza Street, Brown Avenue and Dewdney Trunk Road. The south building, on Dewdney Trunk Road and Plaza Street, will include retail units to provide residents with local amenities like shops and services.
The architecture in the first phase speaks to the area’s agrarian past when buildings like barns would have been plentiful and this influence has softened the lines of the design, says Hildebrand.