The Valleycliffe neighbourhood is getting a little bigger.
On Tuesday (Nov. 5), the proponent of the area's largest residential development announced that Crumpit Woods's Phase 2 is set to break ground early next year.
Michael Hutchison, president of Squamish-based development company Bethel Lands Corp., launched the first phase of the 109-building-lot development on the northwest of the Westway Avenue and Plateau Drive intersection in June 2012. As of this week, the 44 properties completed in the first half of the project were sold, he told The Chief.
Reservations on the 65 lots slated for the second portion of the development are to be accepted beginning next month. The lots will hit the market in March 2014, Hutchison said.
We believe that there is sufficient interest that we can start that right then, he said.
More than 80 per cent of the buyers are Squamish residents looking to upsize, Hutchison said.
The pre-2010 Winter Olympic rush added smaller townhouses and condos to Squamish's market. As families grow people are searching for larger places, Hutchison noted. Crumpit Woods consists of 9,500-square-foot lots.
Squamish's real estate market seems to be on the upswing, said Lisa Bjornson, managing broker for Black Tusk Realty. There's confidence in the area's property value and the community itself, she noted, adding that the sold signs at Crumpit Woods reaffirm that.
We haven't had something quite this big going on in a long time, Bjornson said.
Real estate goes beyond houses. Twenty-two building permits have been submitted for Crumpit Woods, she said, adding that activity in the market provides jobs for builders, mortgage brokers and a slew of other professions involved in the process.
I don't know if the public at the end of the day realizes how much of an economic driver this is, she said, noting $10,000 worth of additional economic activity can be added onto a single sale.
Bjornson expects the second phase of Crumpit Woods to draw 50 per cent of its market from the Lower Mainland. With final housing prices landing between $700,000 to $900,000, it's cheaper than Vancouver's prices, she noted.
The more product Squamish has to offer, the more people it will attract to the community, Bjornson said.
Competition can be very healthy, she said.
