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Golf
communities on the rise
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The drive to build
golf course communities has arrived in the GTA.
While they
don't make up a big portion of the new housing developments, Clayton
Research -- a firm of urban and real estate economists -- recently
reported golf communities were growing in number across Canada.
Intrawest is one of the GTA's major players in the golf
course community game, and is unveiling its latest golf course
community of townhomes this weekend.
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It's called Rivergrass, and its
20 townhomes will be built on the 18th hole at the Monterra Golf
Course. It's located within the $500-million master-planned
community of the Village at Blue Mountain, near Collingwood. The
units go on sale in July.
This community will be "a chip
shot away from the village," according to the company's slogan.
Rivergrass' two- and three-bedroom townhomes will start from
about $300,000 and offer up to 1,500 sq. ft.
"Some people
love open space, and the golf course is a tranquil setting," said
Debbie Lafave, director of sales and marketing manager for Intrawest
at Blue Mountain. "Plus, you can walk in ski boots from Rivergrass
to Blue Mountain Village."
Lafave is very familiar with
luxuries at a golf course community.
She
moved into a single-detached home at Intrawest's previous golf
course community called Historic Snowbridge -- also on Monterra --
only two weeks ago.
Lafave said there are many reasons she
loves the golf course setting, including "the smell of the grass."
"It's the feeling you're in a resort setting. There's
competition in golf course communities, and today's golf courses are
breathtaking. This is lakefront for someone who loves the manicured
fairways and the white sand."
And then there's the almighty
dollar value. Lafave said the purchase of the lot and the
construction of her home cost about $350,000, and she expects it
would fetch more if she put it on the market tomorrow. But for now,
Lafave, husband Bryan McNicholl and their daughters Tara, 11, and
Kelly, 8, are happy with their proximity to the amenity centre and
views of the fairway on the 16th hole, Georgian Bay and the Niagara
Escarpment.
The community theme for Historic Snowbridge
homes is old Ontario architecture including such features as
gingerbread trimming and steeped pitched roofs. Owners have to
submit their plans before they're allowed to build their dream homes
on land that wraps around the third, fourth, 15th, 16th and 17th
holes at Monterra.
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