Friday April 26, 2024 | LANGFORD, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
The Westhills area of Langford is well known for its sculpted streetscapes and distinct forested backdrops and access to lakes within an urban vibe.
Westhills Land Corp has set a leading-edge reputation for itself since ideas for the master-planned community got rolling around 2006. After some pause imposed by the Great Recession in 2008, the first houses were being built as early as 2010 in what is now known locally as ‘old Westhills’.
The 517-acre community has grown over the past 15 years to now reach the construction of its 1,000th home.
Event to celebrate:
To celebrate that major milestone, Westhills and the City of Langford will host a ribbon-cutting event on Monday April 29, 2024. The time was first announced as 11 am but now has shifted to 1 pm. Location is at one of the show homes at 2863 Constellation Ave.
Local media, City of Langford representatives and Westhills staff will hear speeches by Langford Mayor Scott Goodmanson, Westhills leadership, and a Westhills resident.
“Completing the construction of our 1,000th home is a tremendous accomplishment for Westhills,” says Westhills Manager Ryan McKenzie.
“This number represents thousands of individuals and families who now call Westhills home,” says McKenzie.
“We are incredibly grateful to our employees, residents, the City of Langford, the builders, and the partners who have helped us achieve this feat,” said McKenzie in a statement this week.
With this milestone, we are celebrating the development of Westhills and the many people who have helped build our community,” said McKenzie.
Much of the momentum for Westhills happened during the time of robust city development guided by former Mayor Stew Young.
Home to 3,000 Langford folks:
The event will be an opportunity to celebrate the development’s impact in building a thriving community, home to approximately 3,300 residents.
Approximately one out of every 15 Langford residents lives in Westhills.
Amenities in the area include:
- Westhills YMCA/YWCA
- Greater Victoria Public Library
- Victoria Conservatory of Music
- Elementary, middle and secondary schools (SD62), including the new Pexsisen Elementary, Centre Mountain Lellum Middle School, and Belmont Secondary School
- Provincial government ShareSpace
- Westhills Park, Parkdale Hill, and part of the Langford Gravity Zone & Nature Trails
- 4,000 sq ft swimming dock at Lakepoint Park
- Jordie Lunn Bike Park
- Langford Gravity Zone and Nature Trails
- Lakepoint Place office building
- Innovative community energy system
- Over 7 km of trails
Construction and landscaping:
Every new home has been Built GreenTM Certified, spanning a diverse range of housing types including 683 single-family homes, 203 townhomes and 114 condos.
Most yards are fairly small. The frontages along Westhills streets are kept relatively uniform, with urban tree plantings and grassy boulevards.
Many of the homes have laneway access and secondary suites.
The community is quite walkable. Families with dogs abound.
More home construction to come:
The completion of the 1,000th home is just the beginning for Westhills. The development has plans in place to provide thousands of additional homes, along with retailers, offices, parks and recreational sites.
“Looking to the future, Westhills is focused on building a strong, diverse community while addressing the critical need for additional housing in the region,” says McKenzie.
Langford is one of the few cities in urban BC that has not yet received a defined housing target from the provincial government, largely because of the robust housing development that has already been taking place.
The latest condominium project, Solaris, will welcome its first residents in May, adding 130 new housing units. In June, Westhills will host a block party for residents to celebrate the development’s 1,000th home milestone and thank the community for making it possible.
Partners & employees:
Westhills notes as its partners in achieving their current milestone:
- The City of Langford
- Lakewood Estates Ltd.
- On Point Project Engineers Ltd.
- Sustainable Services Ltd.
- Verity Construction
More than 100 people are employed full-time by Westhills and its group of companies. An additional 150 employees of third-party contractors work at Westhills every day. That includes SSL-Sustainable Services Ltd which is a utility service provider of renewable energy and water.
Westhills has provided approximately $1,000,000 towards community and charitable organizations to date.
===== ABOUT THE WRITER:
Island Social Trends Editor Mary P Brooke has lived in Langford since 2017. Her series of news publications that started in 2008 has included a focus on following community growth and development in the west shore region.
Island Social Trends was launched online at IslandSocialTrends.ca in 2020, having morphed from the previous publication West Shore Voice News (weekly print/PDF 2014-2020) and Sooke Voice News (weekly print 2011-2013) before that. In 2008-2010 it was the colour quarterly MapleLine Magazine that rolled off Mary’s pen.
Since the daily coverage of COVID news in 2020-2002, Ms Brooke has reported along with the BC Legislative Press Gallery with a more provincial angle on the news, always with a socioeconomic lens and a view to analyzing the impacts of political decisions.
In 2022 Ms Brooke ran for school trustee in the west shore (SD62). In 2023 she was nominated for a Jack Webster Foundation journalism award that recognizes professional women journalists for their contribution to community through journalism. In 2024 Ms Brooke has launched Urban Food Resilience Initiatives Society to guide urban decision-makers in the creation of food-growing spaces in urban communities.