With the turning of some dirt on Tuesday, the TRU Community Trust embarked on a 40- to 50-year plan to develop 90 acres of land at Thompson Rivers University, starting with Cape Group’s Creston House.
The symbolic sod-turning this week marked the beginning of construction at Creston House, a four-storey 56-unit condo building that will rise next to TRU’s Old Main building as part of the campus’ master planned community, The Reach.
It mimics university villages that exist at UBC and SFU, but TRU is the first university in the Interior with a property trust that will guide the long-term residential development of TRU lands.
Creston House is slated for completion in fall of 2019 and is now 40% pre-sold.
The development is a mix of one-bedroom and two-bedroom units, along with three-bedroom penthouse units. Square footage ranges from 629 up to 2,300. A showroom is open to the public at Brendan Shaw’s downtown real estate office.
TRU Community Trust CEO Finlay Sinclair said the sod-turning for Creston House is a huge step forward for The Reach, bringing to life and setting the stage for the university village envisioned in the 2013 Campus Master Plan.
“The significant thing about Creston House is that it takes the plan from being just that, a plan or an idea, and it makes it real,” Sinclair said.
“What it does is it proves that the development community, the market is actually in alignment with the plan. There is always risk that the market won't agree with you, the market sees things differently but, clearly with Cape's investment, it proves that the campus master plan was correct.”
President of Cape Group Reisa Schwarzman said the three-generation family company is no stranger to firsts, which made coming on board as The Reach’s first development partner an easy decision.
While the Vancouver-based Cape Group is new to Kamloops, it has managed to set a price 10% higher per square foot than other local developments, at $380.
“Not only are they doing a fantastic development, but they are making the reach the premiere residential project in the city,” said TRU Community Trust board chair Frank Quinn.
“And $380 per square foot is not ‘this is what we want,’ they have 24 deals. So, it really is a spectacular result.”
Schwarzman said there is sticker shock that comes with selling high-end condos, especially in a housing market where people are not used to paying more for a condo than they would for a house. And with the first development at The Reach being that kind of product, it’s clear the targeted buyer is not a student.
But in creating a university village, Sinclair said the goal of the TRU Community Trust is not to build student housing, it’s building a neighbourhood.
“We weren't asked to provide low-end housing, we were asked to provide beautiful homes and so a beautiful home is not going to be the most economical product in the community but it will be the most beautiful product,” Schwarzman said.
“I can tell you we haven't sold a unit for more than the asking or less than the asking price, so the community obviously understands that and are paying for the list price.”
With The Reach, Sinclair said the Trust is creating a community adjacent to the university that will elevate the campus lifestyle for both residents who work and study at TRU, and those who will simply live in the university neighbourhood and enjoy the amenities.
The first person to make a down payment at Creston House was a TRU faculty member, but the Trust envisions a multi-generational community that will include everyone from student renters and TRU staff, to empty nesters looking to downsize. Sinclair said up to 50% of people who live at SFU’s UniverCity have no connection to the academic ongoings at the school.
“In order to build a complete community you have to have a diversified population and a diversified housing stock,” Sinclair said.
“For the first time ever there will be people who have a home at TRU and, when you have people living and calling a place home, it dramatically changes what the campus looks like and how it feels. People are committed to what goes on here.”
Over 90 acres of land, there will eventually be 3,500 residential units. Plans also include 42,600 square feet of retail space and 40,000 square feet of office space, mostly concentrated around the east gate entrance on McGill Road and Summit Drive.
Phase 1, featuring Creston House, is concentrated on the south side of University Drive next to Old Main and will include market rentals and condos. The build-out of the first phase is expected to take between 12 to 15 years, Sinclair said.
By developing leased parcels of land, the TRU Community Trust is creating a source of dedicated funding that will support students through scholarships and bursaries and fund research at the university.
Moving forward with Cape Group and Creston House, Quinn said the Trust has been able to drive a price for TRU property at at least $30 per square foot.
“We have three billion square feet of developable property here in the Trust and you can do the math,” he said at Tuesday’s sod-turning ceremony.
“In real dollars over the next two decades that will flow into this university from development for the students and the faculty — bursaries, scholarships and research — that's really what the Trust is all about.”
On the heels of Creston House, Kelson Group will be the second partner to develop at The Reach. The local real estate company has plans to build a 56,000-square-foot four-storey rental on the North Side of Old Main. Construction is slated to begin in spring of 2018 and completed in September 2019.
“This is going to revitalize and vitalize our campus 24/7,” said TRU president Alan Shaver at the ground-breaking ceremony of Creston House on Tuesday.
“The more people that live on the campus, the more people that are moving around on it, the more services there are and retail services, all this is going to make this a much more interesting and vital place to be.”
