After years of planning and months of site preparation, construction of the first new market homes in Port Moody’s Portwood development will officially begin on Friday, May 10.
That’s when representatives from the project’s developer, Vancouver-based Edgar Development, will be joined by Mayor Meghan Lahti to break ground for the Umbra, a six-storey, U-shaped building comprised of 219 one- and two-bedroom condos along with three-bedroom ground-level townhomes.
Pre-sales of the units began last year and is now 70 per cent sold out, according to the company.
“This is a great example of a well-thought out, amenity-rich, family-friendly neighbourhood within a neighbourhood,” said Edgar’s president, Matthew McCleneghan, in a news release.
Construction of the project’s first phase, which includes 328 non-market rental apartments in three buildings along with a 12,300 sq. ft. childcare facility, grocery store, café and neighbourhood park, began last year.
The affordable rental apartments — backed by $140 million in funding from BC Housing — will first be made available to residents displaced from the neighbourhood’s former collection of 1960s-era low-rise rental buildings which are being demolished in stages so families won’t have to leave outright during construction.
Both projects are expected to be ready for occupancy in 2027.
When completed in about 15 years, the redevelopment of the old 23-acre Woodland Park area along Cecile Drive in Port Moody’s western end will be comprised of more than 2,000 new homes in buildings ranging from six to 19 storeys.
The third of five phases will include 132 market rental homes, while the fourth and fifth phases will be strata condos in a mix of low-rise buildings and high-rises that cascade down the hillside.
The various components of the new neighbourhood will be linked by nearly two kilometres of active trails as well as expansive, semi-public green spaces.
The developer has also committed to restore and protect three creeks that run through the site and install a new signalized intersection at Clarke Street and the Barnet Highway.
As well, a parcel of property on Highview Place is being gifted to the city for possible construction of a new fire hall.
Lahti said the project brings a diversity of much-needed housing to the city.
“It will also bring green space and amenities that will benefit the neighbourhood and the community as a whole.”
Port Moody council green-lit the project in December 2021 after protracted discussions that included consideration of a third SkyTrain station nearby and the use of mass-timber construction for the high-rises.
