Features » Rural Retreats
Rural Retreats
As available lots dwindle in Winnipeg, land developers plan innovative communities in bedroom towns and villages
Winnipeg's hot housing sector is spilling over to the city's bedroom communities. From Headingley in the west to Dugald in the east, developers are turning raw land into new housing developments at unprecedented rates.
Drive through the towns and cities of the capital region and you'll find earth moving equipment laying down the sewer and water services necessary for new subdivisions and show homes springing up by the hundreds.
The bedroom communities are on the move, and home buyers stand to be the beneficiaries.
One of the larger developers in the rural communities is Ventura Land Co., the land division for Winnipeg-based Ventura Custom Homes. In LaSalle, the company is involved in two developments, Prairieview Park and the new Kingswood South.
In Prairieview Park in the community of LaSalle, the company has opened up phases one, two and three – 49 lots in total.
"The roads are in, sewer and water are in, and four permits have been issued for show homes this fall," says Tom Scoular, land development manager for Ventura. "Out of those 49 lots, I only have six left," he said in early August.
Phases four, five and six will be opened up over the next couple of years, adding 90 more lots to the inventory before Prairieview is completed.
In Kingswood South, Ventura created large lots backing onto either the Kingswood Golf Course or the LaSalle River for a spectacular setting. But the lots were being snapped up even before the servicing was finished.
"We opened up phase one and only have four lots left out of 24," Mr. Scoular said.
Phase two consists of 11 lots and is expected to open next year, but the developer had sold all but six in August. Dynasty Homes with eight lots is just one of the designated builders for the community. Buyers can purchase a lot directly from Ventura and hire their own builder or buy their lot from one of the designated builders for the area.
'It's a relatively new concept, not your traditional landscaping.'
In Dugald, Ventura was getting ready to open up phases one and two of Wheatland Park for 41 lots in total.
"Hopefully, it should go for sale in the spring," Mr. Scoular said.
Qualico, one of the province's largest builders and land developers, was busy staking a claim in Assiniboine Landing in Headingley, two kilometres past the perimeter highway off Roblin Boulevard. The development is 52 acres in total or 62 lots, but the company had sold more than half of them by this summer.
"It's a relatively new concept, not your traditional landscaping," says Eric Vogan, manager of land development for Qualico Communities, the company's land division.
A creative low-maintenance, ecologicallyfriendly concept enlivens the historic tract. Land has not been bulldozed flat and natural prairie grasses and riverbank ecology have been preserved.
Indeed, the area is a perfect place to live at one with birds and other wildlife and is consistent with today's personal approach to environmental sustainability, Mr. Vogan says.
Another new development by Qualico, Pritchard Farm Southlands, is an extension of the highly successful Pritchard Farm Properties in East St. Paul. The new area will be developed as an "intergenerational community" with both single family homes and a 55+ condominium community.
For the condos, lots will be a minimum of 57 feet by 145 feet, with homes ranging from 1,600 to 2,300 square feet. Realtor Wayne Penner says all will be detached bungalow homes.
A notable design strategy is to integrate water features such as ponds, water gardens and brooks into the condos, landscaping for their aesthetic benefits.
"All sites will have water vistas," Mr. Penner says. "They'll either be on a lake with walk-out capabilities, or they'll be backing onto a water garden."
Over the next eight years, there could be 400 units. Work has already started on the development and Mr. Penner predicts that building permits for the sites will be available in September of this year.
Designated builders are Maric Homes, Irwin Homes, K. Streu Homes and A&S Homes.
Smaller companies such as River Stone Developments Ltd., meanwhile, are also capitalizing on today's active residential market. Private developers Lonny and JoAnn Kubas are putting up Creekside Properties at Selkirk, which it expects will draw some buyers from Winnipeg. It is another innovative community thanks to the requirement that all builders put up Power Smart homes.
Mr. Kubas says the first 29 of 72 lots have been sold and show homes should be open in September.
"We have three show homes going up by the respective builders, we have one show home that's being built right now and have another one that should be going up in a couple of weeks," he said in early August.
Selkirk's mayor, David Bell, says the city is negotiating with a major land developer to create another 1,100-lot subdivision in the area.
Headingley, meantime, is home to the growing Monterey Park subdivision, which is nearing completion with the addition of the Monterey Park Condominiums of Headingley. Dynasty Homes realtor Dan Thiessen says the 36 units are detached bungalow condominium homes for the 55+ age group.
"This development boasts large 67-foot-wide building lots with an average depth of 111 feet, which will be fully landscaped," Mr. Thiessen says, adding there will be a choice of two home plans for people to choose from and a range of options to customize their homes.
"The development is known as a bare land condo where the land that the home is situated on is on its own title and individually owned, providing home ownership," Mr. Thiessen says.
"The land surrounding each home is owned in common and the home owner pays minimal condo fees (less than $40 per month) for the lawn care maintenance," he adds.
"We hope to have a home completed and ready for the Spring Parade of Homes."
The condos, located about five kilometres west of the city, will occupy about one-quarter of the size of the entire development and will complete the development.
A little further afield, Niverville is bursting with three active subdivisions. They are Fifth Avenue Estates, the Crow Wing Golf and Residential Community and Stonecroft Developments.
Fifth Avenue Estates is a major Niverville subdivision with enough land to continue for a number of years in various phases.
Clarence Braun, a former mayor of Niverville, is a Sutton realtor who is marketing the brand new 360-acre Crow Wing project in that community. The development contains an 18-hole golf course and 176 lots for homes.
Designated builders include Southwynn Homes, Precision Homes of Niverville and Limetwig Homes of Alberta. However, individual lot buyers can contract with their own builder, Mr. Braun says.
\"We already have houses started building here. The golf course construction is about 50 per cent completed," he says, adding that he expects the first show homes in the Crow Wing development to open this fall.
In the Ste. Anne area, private developer Harry Fehr has three lots, each more than one acre, in his La Riviera Estates development. They sell for $39,900 before taxes, says Mr. Fehr, co-owner of Penn-Co Design Services 2004 Ltd., a company that designs and builds houses.
Mr. Fehr says the price and size of the lots are exceptional, especially as they are situated around a lake.
Off north Main Street between the Chief Peguis Trail and the perimeter highway is Whistler Hollow, a brand new in-fill housing development by Landstar Development Corp. The company created the lots around cul de sacs for a more attractive layout, maintained mature trees on the property for the benefit of buyers and is in the process of naming a natural creek that meanders through the grounds, says Mark Olson, Landstar's president and CEO.
Many of the lots east of Main Street will border Shooters Family Golf Centre.
"The properties near the river will either have backage or rearage onto a creek or onto a river or a golf course," Mr. Olson says. "There are going to be many homes that will have a view of the golf course.
"Some will actually be backing directly onto the golf course itself. There are no developments that I can think of that come anywhere close to what this one has to offer," he suggests.
'There are no developments that I can think of that come anywhere close to what this one has to offer.'
There will be 40 lots in phase one and 21 lots in phase two. Just some of many other developments in various stages include The Oaks – Assiniboine River West, RiverRidge and Stone Ridge Meadows.
The Oaks is located just west of the perimeter and south of Portage Avenue. Developers Longbow Capital Group is marketing the 95-acre tract of 122 lots through its own company and through designated builders.
The development is called a low impact subdivision because the developers have worked to create a development with minimal impact on the environment.
RiverRidge, meanwhile, is a development being marketed by Marcel Chartier of C.B. Richard Ellis. It falls between Chief Peguis Trail and Red River Boulevard off north Main Street. Lots were already sold by August and Mr. Chartier says the show homes should be available in the area for the Spring Parade of Homes.
"There should be about seven or eight homes there then," he says.
Also in the RM of West St. Paul sits the 56-acre development of River's Edge Estates at 4811 Main St., six kilometres north of the perimeter highway between Main Street and the Red River.
Private developers have opened up phase two and are marketing the lots through Sutton realtor Bill McGarry. Ninetysix homes are expected at completion and there are still lots left for purchase.
There are six designated builders for the community, and buyers can speak with Southwynn Homes, Arlt Homes, Maric Homes, Huntington Homes, Amberlea Homes and Gino's Homes for lots and to have their new homes built.
Another development being marketed by Mr. McGarry is Aspen Lakes in Oakbank. Another 30 lots were recently released, and buyers can contact Irwin Homes, Maric Homes, Parkhill Homes, Qualico Homes and Randall Homes for information and home building advice.
Stone Ridge Meadows is a new development by Genstar in the Town of Stonewall. Jerry Klein of Genstar says there will be about 135 lots over 50 acres, and he expects lots to be available to builders in November to begin building.
