Thursday, January 19, 2012 Snow, while making driving difficult, is greeted favourably by many youngsters.
Page A5 • LOCAL NEWS, SPORTS, WEATHER AND ENTERTAINMENT • mrtimes.com • 604-463-2281 • 36 PAGES
Housing
Roy Ulm/ Special to The TIMES
Apartment boom hitting Ridge
In advance of this week’s snowfall, the west side of Maple Ridge was looking very green, as offered by pictures taken by crane operator Roy Ulm, from his perch 100 feet above the Urban Green II development at the corner of Lougheed Highway and 223rd Street in Maple Ridge. From his tiny work space, he’s offered a spectacular aerial view of the community.
by Roxanne Hooper
rhooper@mrtimes.com
www.mrtimes.com
More Photos Online
Statistics show change in type of homes being built locally.
Sylver McLaren/TIMES
When Gerald Chiang first moved to Maple Ridge in 1998, large lots were selling for $110,000 and almost all the housing construction was singlefamily homes – like the new one he bought in Albion. Today, he’s heading up construction of a new 43-unit apartment project – the first six-storey wood construction tower ever in downtown Maple Ridge. And the developer says Urban Green II is indicative of a change in local construction trends. With smaller lots now starting at $280,000 locally, more and more people are being forced to buy multifamily housing, including townhouses and apartments. The younger generation has to start somewhere, and apartments – like the conventional units he’s building at the corner of 223rd Street and Lougheed Highway – are expected to meet that changing demand.
The demand for apartments is really just beginning to be realized in Maple Ridge, Chiang said, noting that trend was apparent in Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam about 10 years ago, and just recently seemed to spread east to Maple Ridge. When he first bought the long-time vacant downtown Maple Ridge site in September 2010, he was expecting to build a mixed use building, offering retail space on the ground floor, and a few apartments above. When he learned he could go to six storeys, he called it an early Christmas present and a mixed blessing, all in one. He could build a higher density project in the city centre, which invariably would be good news. But it would also cost more – upfront – to develop. He’s already fielding a lot of inquiries about the new development, noting the display suite
should be finished in March, and the sales launch set to begin in April. Completion, he hopes will be by year’s end, with occupancy one year from now. “It’s time” for a project like this, Chiang said, noting he’s not the only developer to think so. According to Vancouver Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, construction of multi-family (which includes semidetached, townhouse, and apartments) boomed in 2011 in both Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. In 2010, there were no multi-family units created in Pitt Meadows, compared to 71 last year. The bigger difference was noted in Maple Ridge, where 159 units were built in 2010, compared to 249. In contrast, the number of single-family homes constructed dropped, from 284 in 2010 to 225 last year.
• More about housing at www.mrtimes.com
Don’t miss important information from the City of Pitt Meadows on page A4 and A11
NO NO INTEREST INTEREST ØØ INTEREST INTEREST ZIP INTEREST
ZIP INTEREST
HURRY HURRY IN! IN!
Online, all the time...
Your BEST Mortgage is One Call Away
604-466-1976
Donna Telep
www.mrtimes.com
www.sevillemortgage.ca 22718 Lougheed Hwy. Maple Ridge Fax: 604-466-5348 • Email: donna@sevillemortgage.ca