North Vancouver’s Moodyville neighbourhood is about to become a lot more densely populated, as 256 detached homes will be replaced with approximately 1,890 ground-oriented wood-frame housing units.

Rendering of the Evolv townhomes planned for Vancouver’s Moodyville neighbourhood densification and redevelopment.

“Most of those homes will be either torn down, moved or potentially retained on-site if they have heritage value,” said rareEarth Project Marketing president James Askew, who’s marketing a new townhome development called Evolv in Moodyville. “The owners of each home that gets redeveloped are in control of negotiating a purchase price with any potential buyer.”

North Vancouver mayor Darrell Mussatto said he expects the innovative development starting in Moodyville — situated blocks away from the city’s bustling Lower Lonsdale area — will set a new standard for other areas of the Lower Mainland struggling with similar issues of density and affordability.

“Moodyville has several developments just underway or going through the development approvals process,” said Askew.

“There will be a good mix of low-rise condo developments along with townhome communities. All are medium-density and mostly ground-oriented, making for a very positive transitional residential community.”

Moodyville developments in the pipeline

Green on Queensbury is a condominium and townhouse development by Qualex-Landmark that will have 164 one-, two- and three-bedroom units. It’s in pre-construction on Queensbury Avenue.

Seacliff Properties is in the pre-construction phase for a development that will feature more than 300 units — including two- and four-storey townhouses and three-storey row houses — east of St. Davids Avenue between Second Street and Spirit Trail.

East 3rd Street is a 38-unit condo development by Anthem Properties that’s in pre-construction at 519 3rd St. E. in anticipation of a summer 2019 completion. Its four buildings are designed to the LEED Gold standard and will include underground parking.

The Morrison Townhomes is a development by Creo Developments and The Haebler Group that’s in pre-construction at 649 3rd St. E. It will have 31 two-, three- and four-bedroom units and is scheduled for completion in the fall or winter of 2018.

EightOnThird is an eight-unit townhouse development by InHaus Development Ltd. that’s in pre-construction at 748 3rd St. E. It’s scheduled for completion in the fall or winter of 2018 and will be built to the Passive House standard.

The City of North Vancouver has offered to provide a small density incentive for Passive House design.

The benefits of Passive House design include: substantial reductions in energy use and related operating costs; year-round stable air temperature and quality; and a simple to use, quiet and comfortable system that assists in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Construction and finishing costs are about 10 per cent higher than average, as walls, windows and energy systems need to be of a higher quality.  

Evolv offering innovations

Evolv’s 46 townhomes, being developed by Guildford Brook Estates, will also incorporate Passive House design. Half will have rooftop patios while others will have solar panels to generate electricity that can be sold back to BC Hydro. All will feature three or four bedrooms and encompass more than 1,700 square feet.

What makes Evolv’s townhouses unique is they’ll be the first in North Vancouver to include lock-off suites to aid with both sustainability and affordability.

“The lock-off suites are essentially a legal and purpose-designed version of the classic basement suite mortgage helper,” said Askew. “Most of the townhomes have a fully separated and self-contained studio, or one-bedroom suite, located at the ground level of the townhome. 

“Each lock-off suite will have its own high-quality kitchen and other finishings of comparable, if not the same, quality as those in the main townhome. 

“They can easily be converted to a fourth bedroom and family room for the main townhome without feeling like a separated unit. The overall design of the townhomes is meant to give a seamless transitional opportunity of functionality whereby the homeowner can use the home in a variety of ways depending on their life phase.” 

Evolv sales begin this month

Sales for Evolv’s first 10 townhomes begin this month. Prices will begin at just under $1 million, while those with lock-off suites will start in the low to mid-$1 million range. Construction is expected to start this fall, with completion anticipated a year later. 

Sales for Evolv’s next round of townhouses will commence in September. Construction will start in the spring of 2018 and completion is expected a year later.

“Vancouver is a perfect location and market for developers to look for innovative ways to meet market needs,” said Askew.

“Continuing to push the boundaries of sustainable building methods, offering flexibility for owners so they can remain in one home for most of their life versus selling and buying every five years, and creating more inter-connectivity within each development and within the local community as a whole are some important areas developers can look at.”