Tuesday April 30, 2024 | LANGFORD, BC [Updated 7:30 pm]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
On a bright brisk Monday afternoon, the Westhills ownership and operational community celebrated the sale of the 1,000th home in the popular master-planned housing development.
With speeches by Westhills Land Corp Manager Ryan McKenzie, Langford Mayor Scott Goodmanson, and a happy resident named Sam, the gathering proved to be a photo-opportunity in the lead-up to a broader neighbourhood-wide celebration on June 1, 2024.
Goodmanson called the day “an exciting milestone in our growing and vibrant community”. He said that building one thousand homes is “no easy feat”. The mayor acknowledged McKenzie, the Stewart family, and the “hundreds if not thousands of individuals and the Westhills team member and contractors and talented tradespeople who have been part of this vision and implementation of what’s been created in our community over the last two decades”.
“What you’ve built here is more than just houses,” said Mayor Goodmanson. “You’ve built homes. Each new home represents a new beginning for a Langford family, a place to create long-lasting memories, a place to make new friends and build connections with neighbours and so much more.”
“It is evident by looking around that these memories are already being created by residents to make the Westhills neighbourhood unique and special,” said the Mayor who took office less than two years ago but has lived and worked in the region in years past.
He acknowledged the Westhills contribution to parkland and recreational amenities to the community including Westhills Park and Playground, the lands within the Gravity Zone and Jordie Lunn Bike Park, and the new docks at Langford Lake.
Restoration of the western painted turtle nesting habitat areas at Langford Lake was highlighted by the mayor. “The care and detail undertaken for this restoration work needs to be recognized. We are all stewards of this land,” said Langford Mayor Goodmanson.
The manager of SSL-Sustainable Services Ltd Kyle Taylor was emcee for the one-hour event that included coffee and donuts. He’s been with the Westhills journey since 2007 when it was “just plans on paper{, said Taylor. He added that “17 years later talking about 1,000 homes is really a bit surreal”.
Also attending from the City of Langford were Councillors Lillian Szpak and Mary Wagner, as well as Darren Kiedyk, CAO and Donna Petrie, Senior Manager of Communications & Economic Development.
Local media attended from the Times-Colonist (Darron Kloster journalist and Darren Stone photographer), CHEK-TV (camera) and Island Social Trends (Mary P Brooke editor and photographer) to document the event for general readership.
Distinctive master-planned community:
The Westhills area of Langford is well known for its sculpted streetscapes and distinct forested backdrops and access to lakes within an urban vibe that has over the last 15 years developed a distinct feeling of upscale but affordable — certainly desirable but also relatively attainable.
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 by some as ‘old Westhills’.
The first 500 homes in the 517-acre Westhills community are served by geothermal heat-exchange.
“Completing the construction of our 1,000th home is a tremendous accomplishment for Westhills,” said McKenzie. “This number represents thousands of individuals and families who now call Westhills home,” says McKenzie. Approximately one out of every 15 Langford residents lives in Westhills.
“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.
Much of the momentum for Westhills happened during the time of robust city development guided by former 30-year mayor Mayor Stew Young and his council(s).
Next 1,000 homes:
As the next 1,000 homes are built there is more work on steep grades. Two years ago two hilltop water tanks were brought into the water-supply system that is managed by SSL.
The new range of homes will include smaller more affordable housing types including townhomes, condos, and rental apartments, said McKenzie. There will still be secondary suites in many of the single-family homes but there won’t be any more carriage homes built in newer areas of the development (those were popular in the first phase during 2008-2013 but are not considered an affordable housing type now, according to McKenzie).
New homes available in the Westhills area will support new residents to the west shore who come to Langford and the surrounding area for business and work. The office building that will house the office of Plexxis (an Ontario-based data firm) as announced in September 2021 will now welcome employees as new residents.
Close by are the new elementary and middle schools, and the new 130-unit Solaris condo development which is accepting new residents this week.
Suitably hillside:
The April 29 ribbon-cutting event was held out front of the 1,000th home on an upgrade at 2863 Constellation Avenue.
Much of Westhills is built on rock and varying grades. It makes for interesting angles for driveways and yards.
The engineering input to design of houses on such challenging terrain does ultimately add to the cost of housing in the area.
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.