December 5, 2011
Calgary Herald Article, "Estate lifestyle makes its 'mark in Bearspaw", written by Marty Hope
This past Saturday Watermark at Bearspaw was featured in the New Homes Section of the Calgary Herald. Calgary’s top homes and communities writer Marty Hope talks one-on-one with executive vice-president, Ron Lanthier, and associate vice-president of sales and marketing, Matthew Jones.
The article brings to life the latest excitement at Watermark at Bearspaw and outlines the transition from the farmers field to exclusive estate community.
To read the whole article in the Calgary Herald please Click Here.
“Estate lifestyle makes its ’mark in Bearspaw”, written by Marty Hope
Standing at the picture window of the stylish sales and presentation centre, Ron Lanthier looks down the hillside at the progress that has been made on what will be an exclusive country residential development.
“The site has certainly come a long way over the past eight months,” says the executive vice-president of Macdonald Development Corp. — which is creating the 116-hectare Watermark at Bearspaw community on the west side of 12 Mile Coulee Road in Rocky View County.
“We’re very much under construction. This thing is really happening.”
In the spring, at a tent party celebrating the kickoff of the exclusive community, there wasn’t much to see.
“It still resembled a farmer’s field with piles of dirt being pushed around,” says Lanthier. “Today, we have sidewalks and paved roads.”
As well, ponds and cascading waterfalls are being sculpted out of what was pastureland.
In all, there will be 17 ponds linked by streams — and all water will be recirculated through an impressive pumping system.
In just the last five months, Macdonald has spent more than $20 million on servicing and landscaping the first phase of 108 lots. Sixty of the 108 lots have already been spoken for, says Matthew Jones, associate vice-president of sales and marketing.
“It looked like a war zone out there for a time, but people were impressed enough that they bought their lots based on a rendering, this tabletop model, and trust in us,” he says. “Now they can actually go and stand on their lots.”
Show homes by Astoria Homes, Homes by Us, Knightsbridge Homes, Trickle Creek Custom Homes and Wolf Custom Homes could be underway before the end of this year.
As for the buyers itching to get going with their new homes, Lanthier expects plenty of activity in the spring. “That’s when things will really start to take shape,” he says.
In all, Watermark at Bearspaw will have 459 detached single-family estate homes. Another 101 luxury villas will be built on the hillside near the sales and information centre.
No builder has been named for that portion of the development.
The estate homes will be built on fully serviced, estate-sized lots priced from $329,000 and measuring from 0.11 hectares to 0.46 hectares, with frontages ranging from 82 to 200 feet.
“You really have to stand on the homesites to understand how large they are compared to other projects on the market today,” says Lanthier.
“Each is staked out, so it’s easy to visualize the amount of living space and wide spacing between homes.”
All of this, plus impressive community amenities. Watermark will have almost 20 hectares of parkland and green space that will provide a backdrop for the pond and stream system.
A major amenity will be a water-based central plaza consisting of a large pavilion with outdoor kitchen, fire pit, barbecues, NBA-sized sports court and grass sports field.
The community, itself, will have three playgrounds, and five kilometres of interconnected paved trails that will link to the Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park.
Watermark at Bearspaw will come together in five phases averaging about 90 lots per phase, with the build-out timing subject to market conditions.
“We know there are people in and around Calgary who are looking for a great place to build custom homes, and I think Watermark will provide what they are looking for,” says Jones.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Project: Watermark at Bearspaw. Covering 116 hectares, Watermark at Bearspaw will have 459 estate homes and 101 luxury villas.
There will be 17 ponds and streams across the property, nearly 20 hectares of parks and green space, and five kilometres of paved trails.
Lots, some more than six times larger than lots in the city, measure from 0.11 hectares to 0.46 hectares, with frontages ranging from 82 to 200 feet.
Developer: Macdonald Development Corp. of Vancouver.
Area: On 12 Mile Coulee Road just outside the northwest city limits of Calgary, in Rocky View County.
Price: Fully serviced lots are priced from $329,000.
Directions: From Highway 1A turn south on 12 Mile Coulee Road, just before the Lynx Ridge golf course.
Hours: The sales and presentation centre is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Fridays, weekends, and holidays from noon to 5 p.m.
NAMED AFTER CHIEF
Watermark at Bearspaw is located within the historic area of Bearspaw, formerly a dairy farming region at the northwest border of Calgary.
The region is named for an early railway stop to honour Chief Masgwaahsid or Bear’s Paw, who signed Treaty 7 at Blackfoot Crossing in 1877.
Records for the Bearspaw region go back to 1858, but it wasn’t until 1881 that attempts were made to settle the area through 21-year grazing leases offered by the federal government.
While the homestead rush didn’t materialize, it did attract the Rawlinson brothers of England, who established a large horse ranch.
These days, Bearspaw has about 4,500 residents in a mix of farms, ranches and acreages.
‘HUGE POTENTIAL’
Talk about being in the right place at the right time.
Ron Lanthier, executive vice-president of Macdonald Development Corp. of Vancouver, was in Calgary developing Swift Creek Estates in Lower Springbank when he heard about a 116-hectare property that was for sale in the northwest.
That was about six years ago; Lanthier, who has been involved in many projects in and around Calgary, decided to take a look.
“I saw a huge potential and an exciting challenge while I stood looking at the views of the Canadian Rockies from a location so close to downtown Calgary,” he says.
It took more than four years of hard work, community consultation and negotiations with both Rocky View County and the City of Calgary to get all the required approvals for what is now Watermark at Bearspaw, he says.
Visit www.WatermarkAtBearspaw.com
DID YOU KNOW?
Macdonald Development Corp. is a private, family-owned Western Canadian company that has been developing, investing in, and managing real estate since 1982. The company is one of the most active land development groups in Western Canada with well over $4 billion in acquisition and development experience. It also holds more than 4,000 hectares of land in inventory for future development.
Among Macdonald’s high-profile developments are: Swift Creek Estates in Springbank, Highpointe in Kelowna, The Bluffs at Eagle Crest in Qualicum Beach, and The Outback in Vernon.
For information, visit www.macdevcorp.com
CHECK IT OUT
Visit Talk about being in the right place at the right time.
Ron Lanthier, executive vice-president of Macdonald Development Corp. of Vancouver, was in Calgary developing Swift Creek Estates in Lower Springbank when he heard about a 116-hectare property that was for sale in the northwest.
That was about six years ago; Lanthier, who has been involved in many projects in and around Calgary, decided to take a look.
“I saw a huge potential and an exciting challenge while I stood looking at the views of the Canadian Rockies from a location so close to downtown Calgary,” he says.
It took more than four years of hard work, community consultation and negotiations with both Rocky View County and the City of Calgary to get all the required approvals for what is now Watermark at Bearspaw, he says.
Visit www.WatermarkAtBearspaw.com, or e-mail to info@WatermarkAtBearspaw.com
mhope@calgaryherald.com
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