Epix Developments' Brownstones at Kingcrest Park adds to townhome stock in Vancouver

Anyone looking for a townhome in Vancouver will no doubt find there’s not an abundance of them on offer.

“Vancouver, like most municipalities, is in very short supply of townhomes,” says Greg Lowe, director of sales for rareEarth Project Marketing, which is handling the new Brownstones at Kingcrest townhome project. “The fact that we have 16 more coming to the market is significant.”

Those 16 townhomes are situated just south of the corner of Kingsway and Knight Street, a stone’s throw from the grassy knolls of the 2.5-hectare Kingcrest Park.

“A mom with a couple of toddlers will be able to go out the back, down a little bit of lane, and then half a block down and they’re in the park,” Lowe said. “It’s like part of the backyard. I think that will be a huge factor for families.”

The homes, the work of Epix Developments, range in size from 1,150 to 1,252 square feet, and have either two or three bedrooms.

Fourteen of the homes are row-style townhomes. Eight are in one building, with six in another, while next door are two duplex-style homes. Previously, three homes had occupied the site, with one designated a “pre-1940 character building.” The builder was required to keep the home on the site, with modifications. The two new homes will have heritage detailing that includes a freestanding heritage-era gas fireplaces, reclaimed hardwood flooring, corniced ceilings, exposed beams and a cast-iron pot belly heater.

Traffic noise in these homes will be buffered by double-paned windows and also the exterior, which features brick cladding.

“The developer wanted to have a beautiful stone exterior, rather than just slap concrete on a building, and make it look like all the other ones around,” Lowe says.

The brick is not only sound-buffering, but durable and low maintenance, Lowe says. “It’s stone, so it’s quite an advantage for the homeowners for the future.”

The other eight townhomes are in a separate building, with front entrances facing a lane. These homes feature the larger floor plans, with the two homes on either end the largest. These homes have a third bathroom and wider bedrooms.

Each home has its own garage, with a private drive-aisle between the two main buildings to access the Knight Street homes’ garage entrances.

The garages are wide enough to accommodate a motorcycle or scooter, or to use as additional storage space.

“The garage is a big factor,” Lowe says.

“The townhomes are row-style, so you have a private entrance on the front. They’re not stacked, there’s no one above or below you, there’s not a common underground parking garage, but a true private garage connected to the home that you can drive into and store your stuff in. This is a more premium product, to have the private attached garage.”

A package for the garage is an option. “People like to have their dream garage set up with some nice commercial-grade storage and cabinets,” he said.

The garage is on the first level, along with a bedroom or den. In the larger homes, there is also a third bathroom on this floor.

The main floor features overheight nine-foot-high ceilings and oversized windows in an open-concept living and dining area and kitchen. The kitchen has an island with a quartz countertop and an undermount sink, a Blomberg side-by-side double refrigerator, a built-in Panasonic microwave, and a KitchenAid appliance package that includes a gas range (with a Braun slide-out slimline fan) and dishwasher, and shaker-style cabinetry. Flooring is engineered hardwood. All homes have small balconies off the main floor.

Master and second bedrooms are on the top level. The master bedrooms have vaulted ceilings and ensuites have what Lowe calls “a nice big shower. For this sub-million dollar level, it’s got some quite nice finishings”.

Second bedrooms have a bay window, and second bedrooms have a tub.

“That seems to be what the market wants for the ensuite — a shower,” he said. “As long as there’s one bathtub, mainly for kids, maybe for mom once in a while.”

All but two of the homes have a skylight above the stairwell, in the hall on the top level.

The show home opens for preview and sales on April 22-23, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
As of late last week, 600 people had registered to keep up to date with happenings at Brownstones. “Now that we’ve announced our opening, our phones have been ringing pretty crazily.”

Besides Kingcrest Park, the project is near other parks, restaurants and cafés, schools and other amenities.

“I was speaking with a family last night that are interested,” Lowe says. “The wife is working out at UBC, and they’ve been living in a condo in Coquitlam. The affordability issue in Vancouver is tough, but the reality is to move away, and then you’re having commuting and transportation issues, and you’re spending time away from the family when you’re in the car. So they’re moving back to Vancouver and they’re very interested for the proximity to UBC and downtown.”

Brownstones at Kingcrest Park
Project Address: 4348 Knight Street
Project Size: 16 townhomes; 1,150 — 1,252 square feet
Bedrooms: two and three bedrooms
Price: $869,900 — $1,129,900
Developer: Epix Developments Inc.
Architect: Stuart Howard Architects
Interior designer: Cynthia Florano Design
Contact name: Jenny Wun
Sales phone: 604-620-6616
Sales centre: 4348 Knight Street
Previews now by appointment only. Public open April 22 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Website: 16brownstones.ca
Completion date: late spring