Sales for a three-building Peterson Group condo development in Vancouver remain steady in a slow market because of the project's boutique features, its vice-president of residential projects Barrett Sprowson suggests.

The Ashleigh Oakridge, an infill community of 124 one- to three-bedroom units in the West Side area, is planned as one five-storey and two four-storey buildings. Prices range from $800,000 to $2.8 million.

Unlike most low-rise condo projects, it will pack in amenities more often seen in highrises, including an entertaining room with a kitchen, a co-working space and community garden plots, Sprowson told RENX Homes.

At a time when sales statistics remain very low - October condo sales in Vancouver plunged by 23.1 per cent compared to last year - the expanded package of amenities has made Ashleigh Oakridge a standout to end-user buyers, Sprowson said. It has been enough of a pre-sale success for Peterson to forge ahead with the project.

“The fact that we’re going ahead is probably the success story,” Sprowson said.

The perks are meant to appeal to a “discerning West Side buyer who wants something specific,” he said, describing an end-user who is both “resilient price-wise” and “more interested in getting the right thing, than anything.”

A Vancouver-based residential and commercial property developer that operates in British Columbia and Ontario, some of Peterson’s notable projects include Orca Place and 700 West 8th in Vancouver, and the Shangri-La hotels in Vancouver and Toronto.

Alma and Berkley

The first phase of the project, which was put on the market first, are the two four-storey buildings with a total of 69 units. Named Alma and Berkley, the buildings will have 35 and 34 units, respectively.

The 21 one-bedroom unit offerings will be 538 to 700 square feet; prices will start from $856,000.

The eight two-bedroom units will be 807 to 1,001 square feet; prices will start from just under $1.3 million.

For the 40 three-bedroom units, floor spaces will range from 1,087 to 1,410 square feet; prices will start from $1.86 million.

The first kind of buyer Peterson expects for Ashleigh Oakridge is a person who grew up on Vancouver’s West Side and moved away, but plans to return with a young family in tow. The second is an older downsizer in search of a lock-and-leave home who wants to be close to family and the area's hospitals and medical infrastructure.

For these homebuyers, features such as concrete construction, ample living space, functionality, and high-quality finishes and fixtures were found to be a high priority.

Amenities will include hot and cold plunge tubs, a steam room, a fitness centre and a play area for children. The amenities will be located in the Berkley building and open to residents in all three buildings.

Ashleigh Oakridge will be just off the Cambie Street corridor, an arterial road that links to downtown Vancouver. The Oakridge-41st Avenue SkyTrain station will be nearby as well.

Holding sales for Phase II

Peterson has pre-sold almost 40 per cent of the units for Alma and Berkley, “just enough to get going with construction,” Sprowson said.

Phase II of Ashleigh Oakridge will be the five-storey building with 55 units. Details such as the size of the units, prices, its name or when sales will launch have yet to be disclosed.

Before the company launches sales for Phase II, it wants to sell out units at Alma and Berkley. Peterson is holding sales for Phase II because of the glut of inventory on the Vancouver market, Sprowson said. Thus, the developer plans to launch sales when competition will be less fierce.

“Because we’re not in a rut, we have the ability to control when we bring that inventory on, and we prefer to do it when there’s less competition,” he said.

Peterson anticipates construction and move-ins for all three buildings to be ready by the winter of 2027.

Hyper-focus on end-users

To other condo developers in Vancouver, Sprowson urges a “hyper-focus” on the end-user. “Whether that is a renter eventually living in there, or if a condo buyer is the eventual resident,” he said, “you ought to think very carefully and very specifically about what that human cares about.”

Sprowson predicts the Vancouver market will “bump along for the next 12 months.” Before pre-sales see an uptick, the resale market will need to recover and churn through the backlog of supply, he said.

As for upcoming Peterson projects, the developer plans to finish its Frame project in East Vancouver in Q1 2026. A community of over 200 one- to three-bedroom units, between 65 to 70 per cent of the units have been sold.

The first construction work on Peterson’s master-planned community that will be built on a former Saputo plant in Burnaby has started. It is planned as a five-phase project with almost 6,000 homes and up to 14 million square feet of development. The first phase of that community will not be on the market for at least one to two years, Sprowson said.