The Main 37881 Cleveland Avenue Squamish 110 condos in a 5-storey mid-rise by Gravitas Partners
With The Main, Gravitas introduces community-focused housing in Squamish
SIMON BRIAULT
The Vancouver Sun
The Main
Project location: 37881 Cleveland Ave, Squamish
Project size: 110 units, one and two bedrooms, 428 to 1,158 square feet, priced between $219,900 and $597,900
Developer: Gravitas
Architect: a|k|a architecture + design
Interior designer: LOT30 DESIGN INC
Sales centre: 1416 Winnipeg St., Squamish
Hours: noon— 5 p.m., Sat — Thurs
Telephone: 604.567-5433
Website: themainsquamish.com
Occupancy: Fall 2018
Finding affordable, quality housing within striking distance of Vancouver is not easy these days. But in Squamish, a mountain community less than an hour from the downtown core, Gravitas Partners has been developing multi-family housing with a focus on affordability and a strong local community.
Gravitas is a small development company spearheaded by Mario Gomes and Michael Henson. Their most notable project to date was Parkhouse, a building of 65 condos just outside Squamish’s downtown, which sold out within 90 minutes. Their latest effort is The Main, a multi-family residential building in the heart of town.
Henson explained how the company’s approach to Parkhouse helped ensure it would be affordable for local residents.
“The average household in Squamish is making between $80,000 to $100,000 per year and the biggest issue with housing affordability for that demographic is the down payment,” he said. “We didn’t want investors, we wanted to build community, so we created deposit programs that would make it affordable to local buyers. The idea was: you build your deposit while we build your home. The amount people were paying to build their deposit was effectively the same amount they would pay for their mortgage.”
About 65 per cent of the buyers at Parkhouse were local to the Sea to Sky area and more than half of those were from Squamish. Henson explained that the market has picked up somewhat since then and apartments at The Main are slightly more expensive as a result. Even so, 45 per cent of buyers so far have been local to the Sea to Sky area.
The Main will stand at the corner of Main Street and Cleveland Avenue, the town’s main drag. It will consist of 110 condos on top of about 10,000 square foot of commercial space.
“We’re very keen to control who goes into that commercial space initially, again because we’re really trying to create that sense of community,” Henson said. “We’ve done quite a bit of work to ensure that there’s interactivity between the street and the building. There will be multi-use seating areas, the sidewalks are much bigger than normal and the commercial spaces have those garage-style doors so that diners can sit outside in the summer, for example.”
The building is designed by a|k|a architecture + design, a local firm that is heavily invested in the community. It features a private garden retreat for all residents, a pet and bike wash zone, secure bike storage and a green roof that will increase the life of the waterproofing membrane, decrease storm water flow and increase energy efficiency and biodiversity.
Kitchens have wood-grain laminate for lower cabinets and high-gloss finish for upper cabinets with soft-close hardware. There are engineered quartz countertops with modern textured tile backsplashes and stainless steel under-mounted sinks with faucets and pull-out sprayers. The energy-efficient, stainless steel kitchen appliance packages include over-the-range microwave/ hood fan combinations, super capacity dishwashers, top-mount fridges, and self-clean ranges with built-in ovens.
Bathrooms feature engineered quartz countertops with ceramic tiling and slim-profile dual-flush toilets. Four-piece ensuites in select homes have under-mounted sinks, soaker tubs and walk-in showers.
“We’re really targeting that young, adventurous, entrepreneurial, community-oriented demographic of buyers,” said Henson. “We have fibre optic cables going to every condo because we recognize that the way people work is changing and we wanted to cater for people who run tech businesses from home. At The Main, they’ll have faster Internet speeds than you would get even in downtown Vancouver.”
This last feature was a pleasant surprise for Steve Davis, the father of a young family who has bought a two-bedroom apartment at The Main.
“That is a huge thing for us digital nomad folks,” he said. “I’m in the technology sector myself and it makes a big difference when you are going to the city one or two days per week and then doing a lot of work from home.”
“We’re living in Kitsilano, but we’re a growing family and we were looking at Squamish because it offers a very nice community feel,” Davis added. “Everybody seems to know their neighbour. For people that want to have access to the best of what the city has to offer, but also be able to really detach in the evenings and on weekends, it’s a fantastic option. I grew up in North Vancouver, I do downhill mountain biking and I’ve been skiing up at Whistler since I was four years old so it’s an ideal spot for me.”
The Davis family and the other buyers at The Main are scheduled to take possession of their new homes in the fall of 2018. They range in size from 428 to 1,158 square feet and are priced between $219,900 and $597,900.
“When I was growing up in the 1980s and 90s, Squamish just wasn’t on my radar,” Davis said. “It was just a place that you would stop in on the way to Whistler. But it’s just come together so much in the last little while – you’re seeing better restaurants opening up, more education options, all kinds of amenities and a real sense of community. It feels great to be riding that wave.”
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