Hundreds of new market condos are coming onto the market this summer at Burnaby’s City of Lougheed development as the fourth and final tower of Shape Properties’ Neighbourhood One comes online.
And rather than selling through pre-sales, the developer is offering the 262 new units as “move-in ready homes for sale” upon the tower’s completion in July.
“This is quite a rarity in the industry,” said Brenda Parris, vice-president of residential marketing at Shape.
She said it was the developer’s plan from the start to bring a full tower of units available for purchase.
According to Parris, for those who have wanted to purchase a new condo in a tower in the past, one with amenities and close to the SkyTrain, buyers would have to commit to a purchase three to six years before they could move into the home.
“I think for some people, that’s a great option, and for other people, it does not work at all,” Parris told the NOW, and added, “(There’s) a whole audience of people who are saying, ‘I have more immediate needs, I want a home that I can see, touch, feel, walk into – and understand what I’m getting.’”
“And so, I think for the first time ever we’re presenting the buyer with this unprecedented amount of choice.”
Parris noted buying the move-in ready units can feel “a lot more guaranteed,” as buyers will pay the current market price.
“You’re not hoping that it’s going to be worth a certain amount down the road … Whereas there’s an element of that when you buy pre-sale; there’s no crystal ball if you’re buying five years out. You don’t know that the price that you commit to today is going to be higher or lower than in five years.”
Tower Three at the City of Lougheed includes condos between one- and three-bedrooms, and all units include air conditioning, concierge services, parcel storage lockers, EV charging stations and plenty of amenities like a fitness facility, lounges, meeting spaces and children’s play areas, according to a press release. Parris also added the new homes are fully backed by the mandated 2-5-10 home warranty.
Towers One and Two sold out in the pre-sale period, and Tower Four is a “luxury” rental building.
The prices for the Tower Three units will not be released until they go to market in July.
Parris noted selling the units as move-in ready is unusual, particularly because it comes with risk for the developer.
“It’s just some thing you don’t see often because there’s an element of risk with it. There’s a calculated risk that comes with waiting for a building to be completely built.”
She said banks often want to see a certain number of units sold before proceeding with construction.
“We were able to do it because we had the confidence of the sell-out of Towers One and Two, and we have the confidence of the partnership with TD Asset Management, who’s invested in this long-term future.”
And the third reason Shape wanted to go this route, Parris said, was to be innovative.
“There’s an element of, how do we bring something that isn’t already offered on the market? … How do we innovate in a way that is palatable for the market, that they can be excited about and say ‘Hey, this is a new way to experience homebuying, that we don’t see other people doing’?”
For more information on the Tower Three release dates for home tours, see the City of Lougheed website.
