New real estate project Foster Martin is setting records in the White Rock community, having sold multiple homes priced at over $3 million. The three towers were designed with the sea in mind, favouring scenery-heavy architecture, luxury amenities and both traditional and modern interior design options.
The Landmark Premiere Properties development and Fifth Avenue Real Estate Marketing endeavour is at the forefront of the downsizing trend in White Rock, targeting affluent families and retirees set on living well on the west coast.
New market trends
"Like a movie producer, we bring in the architect, the interior designer, the finance people and the developer," said Scott Brown, president and CEO of Fifth Avenue Real Estate Marketing. "We all work together to create a vision for the community."
Downsizing has become a large trend in the real estate industry. Multi-family products like Foster Martin needed to be small to appeal to first time buyers and investors.
"We read the downsizer trend early on," said Brown. "People wanted to move into multi-family units—older buyers, baby boomers, retirees—but weren't doing it because no one was offering them a product bigger than 1,000 square-feet."
White Rock apartments and condominiums had traditionally been lower quality, and Fifth Avenue foresaw that an affluent market would be willing to pay premium for seaside views.
"No one was giving them the Rolls Royce, Jaguar, Aston Martin-type product they wanted," said Brown.
White Rock's changing community
Brown has been a White Rock resident for about 17 years and has witnessed massive cultural change in his community.
"Originally, White Rock was quite a sleepy little retirement community," said Brown. "When I look at my son's photos from 14 years ago when he was in grade two, and I look at his grade 12 photos, I see that White Rock has become extremely multi-cultural."
The local market is filled with successful people with flexible schedules that are interested in living year-round or six months a year in White Rock. Sixty-five per cent of Foster Martin buyers lived within 15 to 20 minutes of the three tower structures.
"Over the last five years the single-family market has been dominated by people moving out of Vancouver and Richmond to White Rock for lifestyle and schools," said Brown.
Fifth Avenue's strategies
Prior to the creation of Foster Martin, Fifth Avenue conducted about a year and a half's worth of research, and continue to do so every month and quarter in partnership with the Urban Analytics firm. They also poll their relators.
"Foster Martin's success is an organization priority for our company," said Brown. "These kinds of projects are challenging to market, so they make you better at everything you do."
The towers provide indoor and outdoor pools, a large common area and a Jaguar and Mercedes shuttle bus to commute buyers between the community's pier and beach area and the towers.
Inside Foster Martin
Over 100 homes have been sold so far, amounting to between $100 and $110 million. An option to combine homes at Foster Martin was intentionally designed within the architecture. The project also allows a maximum of six neighbours on each floor, making the living situation more intimate.
Every one of Foster Martin's homes—even the north-facing ones—have been designed to capture the famous White Rock ocean view. Extra-large terraces and patios allow buyers to live holistically both inside and outside.
The Lower Mainland will most likely see a rapid increase in the multi-family market within the next three years, especially within B.C.'s dynamic and adapting real estate industry.
