Tuesday July 27, 2021 | LANGFORD, BC [Updated 8:35 am & 12 noon, July 28, 2021]
Article & Event Photos by Mary P Brooke, Editor | Island Social Trends
Every event at the MyBelmont condominium development in Langford has rolled out under sunny skies. Starting with the initial ground breaking in March 2018 through to the third-phase groundbreaking celebration last week on July 22, the best of luck seems to have shone on the project brought to town by the Ledcor Property Investments team from Vancouver.
Project lead Marcela Corzo has brought an upbeat modern flair to the marketing and overall planned-community approach. The Fifth Avenue Real Estate Marketing Ltd sales team including Scott Brown, Peter Gaby, Nickole Goeujon and Paul Lin has been there throughout. And the City of Langford has backed the momentum of the project from day one, with Mayor Stew Young saying a few official words at each public event.
Aptly named as the Reunion at Belmont — the project announcement event after the long pandemic of March 2020 through June 2021 with all the social and physical distancing which strained business interactions in all sectors of the economy — the very name of the next building and phase rang true that day.
The small crowd of developer leads, real estate sales team, and some city staff last week at the sales centre on Reunion Avenue was a quiet launch for the next 80 units. But it there was a feeling of hope injected into the last lap for this development when the entire community has been challenged and worn. The sunny day gave dramatic effect to the cautious sense of relief that things in business and society are moving forward.
One small clue about how this project and its team seek the best way forward, is how the sales centre building won’t be demolished at the end of the project (as was first the plan in 2018), but will be morphing into a permanent office-space feature. People who found and enjoyed the benefits of working from home during the pandemic will have the opportunity to use the sales centre office spaces as areas to work on their computers and perhaps meet clients outside of their individual condo home space.
Given the slow and careful emergence of everyone from the realities of doing business remotely and apart during the 16-month pandemic in BC, this was a modest gathering. Outdoors most didn’t wear masks, but when touring the updated presentation centre and modern show suite indoors several did. Refreshments outdoors were single-serving. Seating on the front patio courtyard was ample so that physical distancing could be maintained.
Sense of movement, near completion:
“It always shines on Langford,” said Scott Brown as he opened the official speeches — all of them short and upbeat. The energy of the one-hour event was a mixture of relief to be back out of COVID isolation together with the calm satisfaction of being at the final leg of the journey now three-and-a-half years into the creation of a new community (which doesn’t even include the many years of land-planning ahead of that, starting at least around 2013).
Together with the integrated Belmont Market (retail shops and services), the MyBelmont buildings (Belmont West, Belmont Residences East, the two Crossing at Belmont buildings, and now the upcoming Reunion at Belmont), this development has emerged as an urban lifestyle feature of southwest Langford that has been built from the ground up. All of it stands on the land formerly owned by the Sooke School District 62 (where Belmont Secondary School once stood, before that institution was rebuilt as ‘Belmont 2.0’ over in the Westhills area where it opened in 2015).
The Reunion at Belmont — with a variety of floorplans in 1-bedroom (four styles) and 2-bedroom (six styles) layouts — benefits from all the learning curves of the earlier buildings and is adapted for new realities.
Inspired by the beauty of the Pacific Northwest aesthetics, and the awe-inspiring wonder of the Northern Lights, the high-style interiors of Reunion at #MyBelmont embraces warm and inviting colours, premium finishes, and the touch of champagne gold or brushed nickel. Seamlessly designed spaces create a relaxing and storage-optimized environment.
Previews start mid-summer:
Previews being mid-summer 2021 and sales will take off starting later this summer. Anyone interested in an early viewing appointment can register for priority access on the Reunion at MyBelmont website.
Indoor amenities include a grand lobby, private lounge on the upper mezzanine level, fitness club, pet club, and co-work space. The co-work space enables a flavour of working from home, something that many people came to like and appreciate during the physical-distancing phase of the pandemic.
Large parcel delivery is enabled in the mail room, with contact-less building access to couriers with no pin code required (using an app). And there’s the Belmont Club 4,000 sq ft amenity with a selection of unique spaces such as a large community room, music room, craft room, kids room, and more.
Outdoor amenities include a landscaped courtyard, greenspace, views of the Galloping Goose Trail, two outdoor firepits, quiet seating areas, and elevated pedestrian path with natural conservation area boardwalk.
A reflective real estate moment:
“We’ve been through a story,” said Scott Brown of Fifth Avenue Real Estate Marketing Ltd, at the podium last Thursday. He talked about the “pent up demand for socialization” as one of the reasons to call the Reunion event group together.
“In a story there’s always something next,” said Brown. And in the MyBelmont story that’s the unique evolution of the presentation centre. Not only does it now have a large-screen display in the lobby but after the final 80 units are sold the presentation centre will become the co-work space that is already capturing the imagination of potential buyers.
Also at the podium, Langford Mayor Stew Young said that the MyBelmont planned community is taking the “kind of direction that Langford wants to see”. He notes that the city of which he’s been mayor for almost 30 years now will surpass a population of 50,000 in a few years. Businesses flock here to be part of the action. In recent months, Mayor Young has taken several opportunities to pitch for the next level of growth. “Now that we’re more of a city, buildings will be maybe a little taller,” Young says, specifically referencing 20-storey towers for the downtown core. “It’s one of the ways we can grow Langford,” he told the outdoor crowd in the Reunion outdoor square.
Last week local Realtors were given a first-chance to find out more about the Reunion at MyBelmont 80 condo units, and to bring along their pre-interested clients. That will continue over the next few weeks.
Ribbon cutting:
With a modest amount of fanfare, the official ribbon cutting was conducted outdoors in front of the presentation centre by Ian Asselstine, Vice-President, Development of Ledcor Property Investments and Langford Mayor Stew Young.
