Sechelt Development - The Watermark at Sechelt

[Skook]

July 13, 2013 Update:

Awesome new construction pics for June and July were recently added to the Watermark website and it’s great to get an idea of how the buildings are progressing. Particularly appreciated are two aerial shots included in the July update. Watermark should be applauded for offering this perspective of how dramatically the waterfront has changed in the heart of the town and how their development contributes to the change. If a ‘better Sechelt’ is measured by square metres of poured concrete, then those behind the ‘FABS’ (For a Better Sechelt) movement formed during the last municipal election should be thrilled.

At the top of the picture on the left, you can see the Trail Bay Mall owned by the Clayton family and in the right hand pic to the left of Phase 2 you can see where the trees were cut down by the municipality to create the parking lot for Watermark’s construction crew. I mentioned in an earlier post that Sechelt photographer and all-round ‘bon vivant’ Duane Burnett was speculating in this post on his blog that the parking lot may be the future home of an Esso gas station and Tim Horton’s once construction is complete. Well, from events that I have been reading about lately via the Vancouver Sun, I think that would be a terrible waste of potential revenue producing land and I hope to pen a post offering my opinion on what may be (it could be in the works already) or should be placed there if Sechelt hopes to drag itself out of the mess it now finds itself in.

I know for many the pictures above will be shock. However, in all honesty, I believe Watermark deserves some slack here. You need to approach this as you would a ‘clear cut’; yes, those buildings look like a matching pair of carbuncles but once phase 2 is complete and the garden is planted on top of the semi-underground concrete parking bunker between the buildings, and since the architect did choose a “material palette…inspired by the Sechelt beach” in ten years when it all has had time to green up and flesh out you likely won’t even know those buildings are there. Yep, I predict they’ll both just blend right in with that pebble beach.

When I was looking at earlier construction pics that showed the beach front view of Phase 1 as it was taking shape, I had the nagging feeling I was looking at something familiar - something I had seen before, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it. However, with these latest construction pics that showed the glass windows in and the concrete painted white, the light bulb came on…

The architect says, “The overall form gives a subtle nod to ubiquitous west coast post and beam construction…” That may be so, but there is also nothing more ubiquitous than a BC Ferry plying the waters off the west coast. Perhaps the image of that ferry bow seeped into the architect’s subconscious only to take form in Watermark’s architectural drawings - either that or it was a cruise ship; both, of course, would be most appropriate for two buildings on a pebble beach looking out to sea.

The cruise ship influence might be a more apropos since in June’s construction pics we actually get to go inside the unit chosen for the Watermark 'Display Suite' - enabling us to see in reality what a floorplan only hints at. Along with those aerial shots, I am grateful for these pics, too, because it made me realize I am not very good at visualizing floorplans as I tend to interpret the units as more ‘spacious’ than they actually are.

The unit Watermark chose for its Display Suite is a Type D floorplan and it’s on the left above. Now, from the view out the livingroom window, I figure it is on the second level of Phase 1, 5665 Teredo Street, and it’s Unit 206 because a) it is unsold and b) you can see a hydro pole in the distance through the window. If you go back to the aerial shot on the right above, there is no hydro pole on the right side of building (Inlet Ave) but you can see one on Teredo St in the distance near the corner towards the mall. The view surprised me because it meant that the building’s angle is greater than what I imagined. This definitely reinforces the thought that an oceanview from those units facing the inner plaza is impossible except if you stand or sit by the balcony door or actually go out on the balcony.

So, this is what a livingroom plan that is 12’6” at its widest point gives you to work with in terms of space and it will be a bit narrower by the window as the wall angles in. Except in the master bedroom, that livingroom corner is the sole source of natural light for the rest of the unit - the 9’ x 9’ kitchen and 2nd bedroom via the opaque panel above the kitchen cupboards. I wondered about those marks on the wall separating the kitchen and second bedroom in the floorplan and thought they might be three small dormer windows to let in some light but it’s a long milky coloured panel and I wonder how this appears in the bedroom. That second bedroom is at 9’2” x 8’7” and the den at 9’6” x 9’9” and I thought you could switch around the 2nd bedroom and den for more bedroom space but then you would lose that little bit of natural light coming in via the panel.

I for one am all for the move to smaller living spaces and I am in good company given the rising popularity of laneway houses in Vancouver. Why anyone would want a bathroom big enough to service a sports team all at once or a bedroom that would double as a ballroom is beyond me. When I was on the SC, two of us lived quite comfortably in a home smaller than this unit’s 1126 sf. Mind you, the house was more of an open-plan square and we had two 6’ x 4' picture windows and balcony sliding doors all facing that cherished southern exposure that is especially welcomed in winter.

And, our smaller home didn’t carry a $439,900 price tag like Unit 206 at 5665 Teredo St, Sechelt and I believe the laneway houses in Vancouver are cheaper, too. But, as Watermark’s own website points out there are just so many pluses included in that price that we didn’t get living in our wee house up in Pender; such as: being close to the SC’s new source of organic caviar, being close to a newly expanded St. Mary’s hospital, being next to a pebble beach in the heart of Sechelt within walking distance of all the shops (but there may be a lot less soon if all the ones listed for sale don’t find buyers - and there is a bundle - or are they all moving over to Watermark?); and, there is so much less to worry about with a unit at Watermark such as “exterior caulking and painting”, “survey cost due to lot line dispute”, and “snow removal, salting & sanding” (actually, Watermark, if you wait it usually rains the next day and you won’t have to worry about it either - but, it’s good to know). You can finish reading all the advantages to Watermark condo ownership vs home/cottage ownership in their .pdf doc.

I must confess I do like the exterior brick cladding (definitely beachy) and the wide inlaid sidewalks (should be a hit with longboarders, too), but another stop light along the highway route sure is disappointing to see. So, the soon-to-be-finished development doesn’t quite have the serene, tranquil, medical office complex appearance of the artist rendering and, in fact, is beginning to look like something you would find along West Broadway in Vancouver; but, doesn’t this mean Sechelt has come of age and for many now calling the coast home that is absolutely, unequivocally, stupendously, fabs-ulous!!

You hang in there Watermark for your supporters and prove all the naysayers wrong. You’ve said it, yourself, that “The project sets a new standard for Sechelt and the Sunshine Coast…” Here’s hoping that June write-up in the Vancouver Sun, ‘Watermark Offers Concrete Value in Sechelt’ (great pun) that I just quoted you from spurs those summer sales.

******************************

Spreadsheet update:

#501 - 5725 Teredo St (Phase 2) sold for asking $949,900
#403 - 5725 Teredo St (Phase 2) removed from MLS listing

Correction:
#305 - 5725 Teredo St (Phase 2) was listed on 05/06/13 and not in 2010.