John Thomson

Thomson report

John Thomson - Jul 27, 2010 / 5:00 am | Story: 55954

This is an interview I have wanted to do for some time and I was finally able to get into the lady’s busy schedule and spend some time talking about her new project that she is very excited about. Renee Wasylyk, CEO of Troika Developments is the busy lady who got started in the development business in Kelowna in 1998. Her new project is West Harbour on the west side of the lake with views you won’t believe are still available on Okanagan Lake.

When your company was started you had some specific goals?

We decided when we started this company that we would build to satisfy the needs of our customers first and foremost. Give them a place they would want to live in, in the Okanagan. We have been very successful at that.

What is the build out expected to be at West Harbour?

We believe three to four years. We have already started with the clearing of the land ready to start building housing this fall.

What else can we tell people about this property because the view looks spectacular.

It goes all the way down to the water up to where that forty five-acre piece is. It is large and that gives us an advantage of master planning the community. The roadways, the different view sections and that will give 90 per cent of home the views they have always wanted. Every single home comes with a boat slip and there is no additional charge for that. We are building all the houses which really means we control of the architectural design, beauty of the land and ascetics. We are really making sure that the first homeowners in have a beautiful place to live. So the amenity area has a pool. A barbecue, a community area, some sitting areas, a hot tub, and a huge lawn. It is almost the size of a football field. Plus we have an indoor recreation centre with gym, clubhouse, tennis court and then the waterfront, which we’ll be redoing with the beach and sand, cabanas, locker rooms and all of that.

Were there people living along there somewhere?

There was not. It was previously owned by a family. They had two homes, one with the parents and one with the kids and that was it. It is one of the jewels. When I started in this development business twelve years ago for other developers I was sent after that property. It is truly a remarkable piece in the Okanagan. Five minutes from downtown, literally 500 meters from the Westside Road interchange and commercial area. The rapid transit hub is right outside of our door on Westside Road. It’s this real enclave right in the center or the heart of the Okanagan. There just isn’t a lot like that.

Is the project on sale yet?

Yes, our sales centre is open at Ellis and Lawrence so people can go there and check it out. We have very good response from the market so far. Better than even what I thought it would be.

Troika Developments is the developer on this project, we are partnered with Quadra Homes from the lower mainland. Quadra is out of the Fraser Valley.
It is John Reddicopp’s company. They joined us in the first iteration of the project actually and have been with us since the beginning. Great partners.

How is it out there with all the changes we have seen in the marketplace?

We have had to make some adjustments, turn the ship around if you will. I think we are stronger for it, I think were better for it. We definitely have the pick of good employees with a lot of development personnel out there and for us that has been a great asset. We made some amazing changes and I am thoroughly encouraged. Development is a roller coaster and if you don’t like that you don’t get into this. We are fairly diversified with construction, doing government and institutional jobs, and we have manufacturing which we scaled back and are using different distribution channels. We have partnered with Home Hardware in the Interior and that has given us some strength.

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