Arbour Lake West

[Chester]

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And K-9, and (was) full day kindergarten. That's a good school, I have friends that have kids go there, plus one of my neighbours used to teach there.


Only Hopewell and the estate knows that. There's interesting backstory as to how this land actually ended up with Hopewell. First, some history of the land:

https://www.pressreader.com/canada/c...82084862795792

The Hawkwood family made Arbour Lake their home, and donated a ton of money to the community to build Lake amenities such as the community centre, with funds to support it for a few decades. This is why we have such low community fees in Arbour Lake. Aurica Hawkwood passed away in 2015. The farmland was supposed to be converted into an open park for community residents as stated in her will, but the city refused to rezone it as such. Estate had no choice but to sell off the land, which went to Hopewel, and rezoned as residential as it sits now. This is the reason why there was so much NIMBY involved in this plot of land, there was very little communications to the community and people were pissed that the land wasn't available for the community anymore.

Anyways, I'm not against it at all, would've been nice to have that land accessible for the community, but it would've cost a fortune to maintain. Just hoping the lake doesn't get insanely busy with a 20% spike in population.

edit - this is the story that I've been told by people involved in the community and residents association as to how it was sold to Hopewell. People in the community that knew about the Hawkwood family had thought that it was turning into community space, and was surprised when Hopewell came along. Here's an article on the NIMBY. Should've gotten a better Greta Thunberg wannabe haha.

https://www.pressreader.com/canada/s...81608125366785

edit2 - Hopewell got fined earlier this year (or maybe last year) when they started work and killed off one of the wetlands before any permit was given. They were supposed to preserve them I think? DGAF haha.

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And K-9, and (was) full day kindergarten. That's a good school, I have friends that have kids go there, plus one of my neighbours used to teach there.


Only Hopewell and the estate knows that. There's interesting backstory as to how this land actually ended up with Hopewell. First, some history of the land:

https://www.pressreader.com/canada/c...82084862795792

The Hawkwood family made Arbour Lake their home, and donated a ton of money to the community to build Lake amenities such as the community centre, with funds to support it for a few decades. This is why we have such low community fees in Arbour Lake. Aurica Hawkwood passed away in 2015. The farmland was supposed to be converted into an open park for community residents as stated in her will, but the city refused to rezone it as such. Estate had no choice but to sell off the land, which went to Hopewel, and rezoned as residential as it sits now. This is the reason why there was so much NIMBY involved in this plot of land, there was very little communications to the community and people were pissed that the land wasn't available for the community anymore.

Anyways, I'm not against it at all, would've been nice to have that land accessible for the community, but it would've cost a fortune to maintain. Just hoping the lake doesn't get insanely busy with a 20% spike in population.

edit - this is the story that I've been told by people involved in the community and residents association as to how it was sold to Hopewell. People in the community that knew about the Hawkwood family had thought that it was turning into community space, and was surprised when Hopewell came along. Here's an article on the NIMBY. Should've gotten a better Greta Thunberg wannabe haha.

https://www.pressreader.com/canada/s...81608125366785

edit2 - Hopewell got fined earlier this year (or maybe last year) when they started work and killed off one of the wetlands before any permit was given. They were supposed to preserve them I think? DGAF haha.

Interesting! Thanks for that, was always curious about the story behind that land.

[Manhattan]

Looked at the introductory prices on their website and wasn’t too impressed. I think the attached homes start at 600K. Similarly sized homes within blocks are going for the mid 400s to 500s. Will be kinda sad to see that piece of land get developed into cookie cutter homes and condos.

[ZeroGravity]

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There's a reason why my commute, as well as co-workers in Tuscany and Scenic Acres are so damn quick regardless of time.

shhhh...

[rage2]

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Looked at the introductory prices on their website and wasn’t too impressed. I think the attached homes start at 600K. Similarly sized homes within blocks are going for the mid 400s to 500s. Will be kinda sad to see that piece of land get developed into cookie cutter homes and condos.

You're comparing 30 year old homes to new homes with modern furnishings. That area was the original Arbour Lake build, entry level homes. Not to mention most of those houses don't even have garages, really entry level.

As a comparison, the last new development of 20 lots in Arbour Butte, 2500sqft average size, those homes sold for $1m +/- 100k.

[dezmarez]

I'll let you guys know actual pricing ranges when I meet with them.

Rage, I agree with a lot of what you are saying.
How often can you get a brand new build, on the CTrain line, in an established community, (one with Lake access). Checks a lot of the boxes.

Plus we have a 3rd kid on the way, so it would be a great place to lay down those long term roots.

We shall see!

[rage2]

Congrats on the 3rd. Good luck? Haha.

[dezmarez]

Pulled out of the deal:
-Hopewell would not work with us to adjust any of their floor plans. The floor plans they had in place were set in stone, and they wouldn't entertain the idea of adjusting room dimensions, removing walls, adding walls etc. .
-We had met with Truman Homes earlier in the year, and they were amazing when it came to those kind of items and were willing to adjust plans and work with us. Unfortunately, they don't build in a community we want to be in.
-Wanted 10% deposit on the lot to move forward with a solid contract, however, didn't have the the detailed lot plans available to view (total size of house coverage, back yard dimensions etc.), yet wanted to proceed with the 10% deposit.
-The floor plan we did like, they did not have any "elevation" renderings, and could not provide us with what the house was going to look like.
-Only allow 4 scheduled site visits throughout construction, can not go at any other point during construction. This was the opposite experience when I built my first house with Broadview Homes. They allowed us to come by anytime, and we just had to register that we were going.

All these little items were before we even began the building process. Just was not the right fit for us.

[ExtraSlow]

Doesn't sound like a good company to deal with. If they are a hassle now, just imagine how bad it would be once they have your money and signature?

[rage2]

That's crazy. It's not like these houses are dirt cheap, starting at 650k. You'd think they're open to customizations and not fully cookie cutter at that price. Sorry to hear.

[muse017]

That's pretty rough..at the end, Hopewell knows that their homes will likely be sold out pretty quick no matter what

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

I had a coworker go and get their deposit back, because they wouldn't allow modifications to the floor plan. From what I understand, it was just adding a small wall near the entry, to make it more feng shui, and that's all. They went all the way up the chain and back down, before getting their deposit back.

[dezmarez]

^^^ yea exactly, I didn’t get the sense they really gave a damn about what I wanted because they already had deposits put down on 50 of the 70 lots (or something close to those numbers).

They mentioned they likely wouldn’t even bother with showhomes because the interest is so high already.