Transportation links and good schools are supporting growth in Coquitlam, where Morningstar Homes is launching the 66-home Avondale subdivision on Burke Mountain.
Morningstar, which had its strongest February in the company’s 25-year history, is offering four-bedroom homes of between 3,750 and 3,900 square feet to the market at prices from the $700,000s and up.
The homes feature custom stylings based on feedback to previous projects.
“If 50% of our purchasers are requesting an item, it should become standard,” said Deborah Calahan, Morningstar’s vice-president of sales and marketing.
The stylings are more contemporary, but at a lower price than custom homes because the number of homes allows volume purchasing.
Materials alone, however, aren’t what’s driving the project.
Calahan said improved transportation networks in Metro Vancouver’s northeast corner have eased traffic congestion and improved the area’s integration within the region.
“The access through Coast Meridian now goes all the way through – that makes it even more accessible for everyone. It’s not the congestion anymore,” she said. “It’s near everything – it’s near the business sector, it’s near hiking trails. It still feels like you’re away from it all, but you’ve very close to it all.”
Good schools, a draw for many families, are attractive to Chinese buyers. A recent research note from MPC Intelligence indicates that Chinese buyers are drawn to concrete multi-family product in Coquitlam, but Calahan has also seen Chinese interest at Burke Mountain. She said Coquitlam’s greater ethnic diversity relative to Richmond and other areas is attractive.
“We see that trend toward that, but I also see a trend toward families wanting to leave areas that were highly ethnic, like in Richmond, [to] where they actually want to live a Canadian lifestyle away from that kind of community,” she said. “[Coquitlam] is not going to be just a Chinese community, but a mix of cultures.”
Carvolth Business Park, a 327-acre commercial district Langley Township has set aside adjacent to the Trans-Canada at 200 Street, is also attracting development.
In recent months several new buildings have taken shape in the high-profile location, which municipal planners have tagged for high-density development. The township embarked on a public discussion process last year that seeks to update the Carvolth area plan to create “a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use gateway to Langley and beyond” by 2041.
“It will be a livable, sustainable urban place with great access to amenities and with high-quality green space integrated into the community fabric,” according to the draft vision statement developed for the township by the consulting firm HB Lanarc.
Langley’s designation three years ago of the area north of Highway 1 for high-density projects was expected to delay some development plans until the opening of the Golden Ears Bridge. Today, Carvolth has 42 acres developed or partially developed.
A further 189 acres are available for development. The commercial and residential development planned for the park, located at the north end of the Willoughby neighbourhood, will include high-density, mixed-use development concentrated along 200 Street.
Transit connections are integral to the development vision, with a major transit hub planned that promises connections between Langley Township and the rest of Metro Vancouver.
This year is touted as one for greater hotel investment. One proof is the $13 million investment being made in the former Plaza 500 hotel at the corner of West 12th and Cambie Street in Vancouver.Owner KBK No. 85 Ventures Ltd. is transforming the 153-room property into Hotel Indigo Vancouver, an upscale boutique-style property. Renovations to the property began in 2009, and the latest phase will see the property reopen under the Indigo banner in late summer 2011. The existing FigMint Restaurant and Lounge is also being made over, and will reopen with a new concept and new name to match.