Everglade Development, a Richmond, B.C.-based real estate developer, is “scaling up” from its founders’ backgrounds in single-family homes to develop multifamily housing in the Greater Vancouver area.

Everglade has completed and sold-out two projects in Richmond, has one currently being sold, and three under development in the Burquitlam neighbourhood. It is focused on a market of young professionals and families seeking townhome-type residences in livable communities.

Sam Chen, a marketing manager at Everglade, spoke to RENX Homes about its multi-phase project in Burquitlam, the projects it has already sold, and where the market is trending.

Though the housing market offers high demand for one-bedroom affordable housing in the $500,000 to $600,000 range, Everglade wants to also build for the families of the future.

“That is the most attractive product type right now (one-bedroom units), but as developers we are very cognizant of the community’s needs. If you’re just building one bedrooms all over the place, where are families going to go?”

Everglade's founders, and its history

Everglade was founded in June of 2016 by managing directors Allen Zu and Jack Ma, who both have backgrounds in single-family homes development.

Zu was previously a site superintendent for Vancor Development Ltd. and a project manager at Canada Phoenix Education Group Corp. Ma has over a decade of development experience prior to his role at Everglade, from residential subdivisions to master planned communities.

But after years of combined experience in that sector, Chen said they asked themselves, “Why not scale up?” Thus, a new focus is emerging on the multifamily townhome market.

Its two sold-out Richmond townhome projects, which were both completed in 2021, are Manoir and Greene & Hall.

Manoir, located at 10495 No. 2 Rd., consists of 12 duplex and triplex townhomes with three or four bedrooms in West Richmond's Woodwards neighbourhood. The homes, ranging from 1,400 to 2,100 square feet, feature a distinctly French and European-inspired aesthetic, according to Chen.

Greene & Hall, at 5660 Williams Rd., is comprised of 12 duplexes with three-bedroom units plus a den, or four-bedroom units in each two-storey half. The units are between 1,700 to 1,800 square feet.

Oakhaus, a development in the Vancouver neighbourhood of Oakridge at 133 West 41st Ave., consists of 20 two- or three-bedroom townhomes ranging from 1,065 to 1,740 square feet. It is currently being sold, with two-bedroom units starting at about $1.5 million.

“It infuses the area of Oakridge with the German Bauhaus school of design,” Chen said.

Under-construction projects in Burquitlam

Burquitlam is an “up-and-coming, ascending market of more affordable (homes)," Chen noted. "It is a haven for young professionals trying to get into the market.

"Our core value is to create a very competitive package, but make housing accessible to people that are in the area.”

Everglade is building a multi-phased project – 80 units in Phase 1 and 70 additional units in Phase 2 – slated for completion in 2024.

Phase 1 will be approximately 60 per cent three-bedroom units and the remainder one-bedroom layouts, Chen said. The buildable space for Phase 1 is 86,613 square feet, with Phase 2 adding an additional 85,503 square feet.

Everglade expects pricing for its Burquitlam developments to range from the high $500,000s to the $600,000s for one-bedroom units.

The homes will be close to Burquitlam City Centre, Skytrain Station and accessible to Simon Fraser University via transit.

The phased project is a townhome product “that we very much pride ourselves in delivering,” Chen said, emphasizing a good cost-to-product ratio to homeowners.

Everglade is also preparing for a 34-unit project on Miller Avenue that will have 43,068 square feet of buildable space.

Everglade’s thoughts on the market

Chen said Everglade has been seeing a slowdown in the housing market, largely due to high interest rates and bearish sentiment, that is likely to persist until next year.

“It’s a bit rare to have the bid wars that we’ve seen (in the past),” with decreases in the volume of interest in the luxury market, Chen said.

But there is activity from buyers and sellers in the affordable housing market, which Everglade expects to continue to early next year, depending on where interest rates go.

One-bedroom housing that working professionals can afford is “going strong” and will likely not be affected by rising interest rates. Affordable housing for one- to three-bedrooms units for families in Burquitlam is doing well, and Everglade is also exploring building future low-rise projects.