Northern Exposure
Whistler, Canmore and Mont Tremblant attract buyers from below.
Print
Email
Bookmark
ShareOctober 1, 2007
CanmoreEven people who know and love the Colorado Rockies and the soaring Tetons of Wyoming will be awestruck the first time they encounter the Canadian version. Just an hour’s drive from Calgary (itself only a three-hour flight from Los Angeles) is the town of Canmore. The area in Alberta is known for a cluster of vast national and provincial parks of which Banff National Park (2,564 square miles) is perhaps the most recognized, but also includes Jasper National Park (4,200 square miles) to the north; Yoho National Park (507 square miles), which crosses into Vancouver, to the west; and Kananaskis County (1,600 square miles), the area made famous as the better-looking stand-in for Wyoming’s Big Horn Mountains in Brokeback Mountain. The 143-mile stretch of highway between Lake Louise (north of Banff) and Jasper counts as one of the world’s greatest drives, which passes through the glaciers of Icefields Parkway. While no homes can be built within any of the parks, building is permitted in the town of Canmore.
; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
The Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta
and Quebec boast some of North America’s best skiing and mountainside real
estate. Left: At the base of the Three Sisters mountain range in the Canadian
Rockies is Canmore’s Three Sisters Moun-tain Village. (Click image to enlarge)The area’s winter attractions are manifest, and include both alpine and cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, ice skating, ice climbing and dog sledding. Summer brings golf, biking, hiking, camping and river rafting. Five ski resorts are in easy reach: Banff Mount Norquay, Sunshine Village, Lake Louise Ski Area, Nakiska and Kicking Horse Mountain. Canmore is also home to the Canmore Nordic Center, 40 miles of groomed cross-country trails. And it is all set within a major wildlife corridor, home to bighorn sheep, mountain goats and grizzly bears. Slowdowns within the parks are common as people stop to photograph elk pausing beside—or right in the middle of—the highway.
Canmore itself, meanwhile, has been expanding services to meet
the influx of new development. The town boasts nine art galleries with busy
event schedules, two supermarkets, four pharmacies and over a half-dozen
sporting goods stores. Two movie theaters are in the planning stages. And those
concerned about skiing mishaps can rest assured that Canmore has its own
hospital.; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
Solara’s CAD$4
million spa incorporates rich stone and natural wood. (Click image to enlarge)
Three of the area’s developments are attracting buyers from the
U.S., U.K. and nearby Calgary, where locals have profited from the recent oil
and gas boom. In September 2006, the 10-year-old Silvertip (named for a type of
grizzly bear) began offering 20 luxury condos ranging in price from CAD$700,000
to CAD$2.2 million ($655,000 to $2.1 million). Phase I of the development
will be designed by Italian architect Pier Carlo Bontempi and will look like a
classic Italian alpine village. The development has an 18-hole golf course and
ample banquet and tournament facilities. Silvertip’s ambitious plan for the
future is for a mixed-use community that includes a five-star, 100-room hotel,
300,000 to 500,000 square feet of office space integrated throughout the village
and 1,200 additional apartment and condo units. The dearth of office space in
Calgary may turn Canmore into a viable exurb—a place to both live and work.
The Three Sisters Mountain Village, located in the Bow River
Valley, occupies 2,000 acres. It has been under development since 1999, with
build out of its various villages anticipated by 2015. Current offerings include
the 22 townhomes under construction at Paintbrush Village, which are priced from
CAD$950,000 to CAD$1.18 million ($890,000 to $1.1 million). Also underway are
three enclaves at Stewart Creek Village: Wilderness Ridge, Timberline Lodges and
Serenity Ridge. A total of 207 units will be offered, with prices ranging from
CAD$550,000 to CAD$1.8 million ($515,000 to $1.7 million).; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
Solara Canmore, which consists of three lodge
buildings, is slated for
completion in summer 2008. (Click image to enlarge)
Following the new residential offerings, the community’s
Sanctuary Resort Center will comprise Three Sisters’ next stage of development.
The center will feature two five-star hotels, a spa and wellness center,
additional residential offerings and 150,000 square feet of retail space,
including a large outdoor adventure retailer, a local brew pub and a food market
with organic and locally grown produce.
A green development, Three Sisters uses ecologically sensitive building practices such as the use of nontoxic construction materials, fuel-efficient gas fireplaces, geothermal heating, solar energy, recycled materials and water-efficient fixtures.
A much more limited development, Solara Canmore is slated for
completion next summer. Three lodge buildings on the border of Kananaskis County
will contain 214 one-, two- and three-bedroom upscale vacation units ranging in
size from 750 to 1,800 square feet. Both full and fractional ownerships are
available, with quarter shares (12 weeks of usage) ranging from CAD$190,000 to
CAD$305,000 ($180,000 to $290,000); whole-ownership residences start at
CAD$444,000 ($422,000). Thirty-five- hundred square feet of amenity space will
include a restaurant with a cooking school, a 100-seat theater, a CAD$4 million
spa and a children’s entertainment area. Owners can trade blocks of time in the
Resort to Resort exchange network, an Intrawest company. --Drew Limsky
