First Place Program: Larkspur Community Design Engagement

Rohit Communities is excited to announce the launch of their newest townhome condominium project, Larkspur, in Southeast Edmonton. This exciting new project from Rohit Communities is in partnership with the City of Edmonton and their First Place Program; an initiative to help first-time home buyers gain a financial advantage through deferred land payments when buying their first home.

Rohit Communities met with a number of residents that currently live in Larkspur on September 29th, 2014 to receive their input on the design of the new townhome project. Four site designs were presented to the residents of Larkspur – all designs took into consideration unit type varieties, building articulation and entrance locations. Below includes information It was generally agreed that Option 3 (central entrance and boulevard) be considered as a more acceptable design. The design engagement was led by Russell Dauk; Vice President of Rohit Land & Commercial. Dauk explained the zoning regulations (CS3) which specify a maximum density of approximately at 60-77 units per acre depending on product type.

Below includes questions/concerns raised by all participating residents at the design engagement:

Site Lines across the street, need to fit visually.
Concern on parking excess spilling onto the nearby street. Parking Volume/sight lines will be taken into consideration.
Street crossing near 3 way stop – concerns with many children crossing near the intersection, request to not have entrance near that location.
Pedestrian safety – given the volume of traffic within the neighborhood
Mailbox & Street furniture locations – prefer interior on the site not outside due to site lines for children & safety.
Height of development – concerns regarding height of homes, possible shadowing homes across the street. Overall development transition; front and back design of unit types.
Ability to walk through site for field access & safety.
Trees/Privacy – considering leaves are lost during the winter months and for privacy reasons. Save the trees if possible – adjacent to 30 Street as well as evergreens that run through the site. Given their maturity and overall look for the community, keep if at all possible.
Neighborhood Lighting – concern on amount of light within the development.
Concern on length of the building (number of units on building block) as well as gap between two buildings (separation space), include variety of types, consider a roofline variation.
South side of the site – consider whether to emphasize a south walkway or not while considering how to create a safe space while minimizing impact to the residents.
Heavy Landscaping to Parkside – trees could act as a buffer between the existing development and new site.
Possibility for a special design or special amenity for the site.
Product Mix – provide as many units with Garages to minimize appearance of garage parking across to street or adjacent residents – consider 60%.

Further work will be done to this design to address the above mentioned concerns of the community. Rohit Communities will also work towards creating a more accurate site design ensuring all requirements of the CS3 zone are met and present this to the community Liaison group at the next Design Engagement meeting on October 21st, 2014. The next meeting will also cover the building design elements, introductory landscaping discussion, as well as the items below:

Possibility of saving existing trees – Rohit’s Landscape Architect will review the existing trees and comment back on options.

Further discussion on possibility to add trees inside and outside of site boundary, however, outside the boundary requires further discussion with the City of Edmonton as they are the land owners.
Entrance – preferred a single central entrance away from the 3 way stop with more lanes and a boulevard
Request for a variety in siding color, limited beige color
Discussion on stamped concrete and the prohibitive costs to this type of application as well as potential maintenance issues. Could utilize the funds towards alternate project elements.
Question on responsibility for maintenance within the area – Through the fees required, the Condo Corporation will manage the contractor as this is a comprehensively maintained community.

First Place Program

The First Place Program was established in 2006 to build new home developments for people who have never before owned property. The goal is to transform and revitalize underdeveloped school sites with brand new condo townhomes where young families can invest in a new home, and a new future. It began as a pilot project in the communities of Greenview; however, after seeing immediate success Rohit Communities extended their partnership with the City to include 9 additional sites, including Casselman Landing in Northeast Edmonton and Tawa Landing in Southeast Edmonton. Tawa Landing has become tremendously popular sold out in less than a year!

Townhomes in Casselman Landing are starting from the incredibly low $260,000’s and feature floor plans up to 1295 sq ft with two or three bedrooms, laminate, tile, granite in the kitchen, appliances, full landscaping and upgrades available. Live maintenance free all year round! Located in an already established, mature neighbourhood close to services, shopping, entertainment and amenities. For more information about the current Townhomes available in Casselman Landing please call Lynn at 780-914-1565.

About Rohit Communities: Rohit Communities expanded into multi-family developments to bring an innovative perspective to living, with a focus on providing a true sense of community in every development we create.

Today’s product diversification of apartment condominiums, townhomes, duplexes, bungalows and single family homes, allows us the opportunity to bring various housing styles to the communities in which we build. Introducing Edmonton to the concept of multi-generational design, our communities are developed to foster roots for families and individuals both young and old.