Mill District 82 homes in two 6-storey wood frame buildings at 2555 Ware Street Abbotsford by Heinrichs Developments
Heinrichs Developments? Mill District to take its place in Abbotsford
Michael Bernard
The Vancouver Sun
Project: Mill District
Project location: 2555 Ware St., Abbotsford
Project size/scope: A total of 82 homes, 41 units in each of two six-storey-high wood-frame buildings in the city’s Mill Lake neighbourhood. Walking distance to the 100-store Sevenoaks Shopping Centre and other amenities, including pedestrian pathways around Mill Lake
Prices: From the mid-$200,000s
Developer: Heinrichs Developments
Architect: David Tyrell Architecture
Interior Designer: i3 Design
Sales centre: 33323 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford
Hours: noon —5 p.m., Sat — Thurs
Telephone: 604-621-5888
Website: http://www.MillDistrict.ca
Occupancy: Summer 2018
If sales figures are any indication, Mill District, a multifamily project in the Fraser Valley community of Abbotsford, is tapping into an appetite for something new and somewhat different.
In the first week of sales, condo marketing firm MLA wrote up 20 deals for homes in the 82-unit complex, which is designed with bold green and yellow panels. Many of those deals involved downsizing seniors looking for an alternative to traditionally designed condo complexes, developer Gerald Heinrichs said.
“It’s fairly bold for Abbotsford, which is a traditional market,” he said. “We’ve had so much feedback from our purchasers and people who are attracted to it because it brings some excitement to living there. It’s not your plain vinyl siding and beige-and-white kind of project.”
In addition to the brightly coloured green panels and yellow soffits, the development, split into two six-storey buildings with 41 units each, features vertical corrugated panels and brick work for a decidedly more industrial take.
Heinrichs credits the Mission Group, a Kelowna-based development company in which he remains a partner while building his boutique Abbotsford-based development firm, for the outside-the-box look. Mission Group has attracted much attention over the last few years for its U1 and U2 student housing projects adjacent to the UBC Okanagan campus and its ambitious Central Green development on the old school property of the same name in Kelowna.
“The Mission Group is a forward-thinking company and a lot of that rubbed off on me,” he said.
Mill District was an easy choice for Mike Farina and his wife Beverley, who have lived in homes big and small in Abbotsford for more than 36 years.
“We had our name into every new place that went up over the last two or three years,” said Farina, a steel company sales executive. “Then we saw this and I said, ‘Hey, this looks different.’”
“I like the more modern type look to it, compared to a lot of buildings that look like they were built 20 years ago. It’s nice and fresh. Once we saw the show suite, my wife said: “’You know I could do this.’”
This past winter, when they were glad their adult son was around to shovel the significant snowfalls, they were persuaded that it was time to downsize from their 2,700-square-foot home on nearby Eagle Mountain. They purchased an 1,100-square-foot two-bedroom unit at Mill District.
Heinrichs said Mill District fills an unmet housing need in Abbotsford: townhouses and condos of a larger scale sought by downsizers and retirees selling their homes in Vancouver, Burnaby and Surrey and moving east.
“You can sell your single-family home in Vancouver and probably buy an entire floor in this building,” he said. “I think you are going to see people pushing out of the west and moving to the east to retire and for affordability.”
Heinrichs says his architect and long-time friend David Tyrell is responsible for the building’s striking design, and that Abbotsford city council featured the building in one of its brochures.
Tyrell, who also designs for Mission Group, said he favours a design with “structural and functional honesty”, one that is simple and minimalist, rather than decorative.
“The challenge of the site was one of proportion,” he said. “It is relatively narrow and deep and that caused us difficulty in how to create a project that would be neighbourly in one sense and was something that would be enjoyable to live in from the point of view of the residents.
“The original concept was a long narrow building that was centred on the site. But that resulted in a long double-loaded corridor that was anonymous and unfriendly with 12 to 14 doors on each side.
“So what we decided to do — and it’s a credit to the developer and the city planning department — is to break it into two more square buildings with a large gap in between. That afforded us the opportunity to create a ‘cluster’ feeling in which you were more likely to get to know your neighbours. The new design also reduced the shadow cast on adjacent buildings and protected some of their view corridors.’
Inside the homes, expansive windows and nine-foot ceilings create a sense of openness and allow in plenty of light while liberally sized covered balconies with gas barbecue fittings provide views of Mill Lake and the mountains beyond.
Main living areas feature wood-grain laminate flooring or an optional upgrade to brushed oak wide-plank engineered hardwood. Bedrooms are plush nylon carpeting.
Depending on the layout, suites come with a side-by-side Whirlpool front-loading washer and dryer.
Kitchens have premium KitchenAid stainless steel appliances with 30-inch full-depth refrigerators, 30-inch gas ranges, dishwashers with top controls and microwaves with hood fan. An upgrade to a Fisher and Paykel stainless steel package is also available.
Cabinetry is shaker style with soft-close doors and drawers and contemporary brushed nickel hardware. Countertops are made of polished quartz, complemented by an intricate hexagon-detailed matte tile backsplash. An island provides room for food prep and guest seating.
Bathroom floors are done in large-format 12-by-24 inch matte porcelain tile and countertops are durable laminate. Undermount sinks are available as an upgrade. Deep soaker bathtubs and frameless glass showers complete the offerings.
All homes come with air conditioning, while the secured underground parking area has spacious storage lockers.
Heinrichs Developments provides buyers with after-sales customer service and a one-year comprehensive warranty, while all homes are covered by a Travelers Insurance 2-5-10 warranty including two years for materials, five years for the building envelope and 10 years for structural elements.
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