In
December 2016, ENM co-founders
Daniel Greenhalgh and Colin Lacey took a bold
step in their business when they took on the development of Willoughby Walk, a
191-unit purpose-built rental property in Langley. As mentioned in a previous
post (
The Cost to Develop in a New Area), one of the major factors in the unsustainable crisis of housing
costs is the extreme and unacceptable shortage of new purpose-built rental properties
in the Lower Mainland. In taking on this project, Dan and Colin not only want
to help alleviate this need through what they feel will be a very successful
project – they want to establish ENM as a trendsetter for Lower Mainland
developers in finding profitable, meaningful ways to address the affordable
housing crisis through purpose-built rental developments.
ENM is on schedule to complete Willoughby
Walk by late summer, with the first move-ins scheduled for early September. The
crane came down on April 16th, and within the next month the crew
plans to begin landscaping on the property.
Building
A currently has drywall on all walls, while rough-ins are currently going in on
Building B for both plumbing and electrical. On Building C, the crew is working
on the roof and the exterior.
Applications
for rental contracts will be taken starting in July. Like its neighbor at
Boulevard Townhome, Dan and Colin expect that the units will be snapped up
within 24 hours of opening.
Willoughby Walk is
designed with the working professional couples and families in mind. The
six-story building is wood-frame construction with a two-story parkade and
individual storage lockers.
Located in Willoughby
Town Centre, it is on a transit commuter route and less than a block away from
two elementary schools. 70% of the units are two bedroom and 30% are a mix of 1
and 3 bedroom layouts.
Willoughby Walk will
be a professionally owned and operated, fully-managed rental apartment building
with a full-time, on-site manager to handle the day-to-day details and
maintenance.
Dan and his team are
developing a website and Facebook page for the project which will both go live
by the end of May.
For
more information on this and other ENM projects, please subscribe to our
newsletter.