Oct 16, 2017

Westmark Construction Overcomes Challenges With Innovative Solutions for Award-Winning Real Estate Development

Back in May of this year, the Pacific Station real estate development was featured in the Business Examiner. Our owner Chris Lundy and Andrea Ironside were interviewed for the article, which covered our involvement as the project manager and developer, and the various award wins for the build. Devin Jahelka of Jahelka Real Estate Group at Royal LePage Nanaimo Realty, the realtor for the community, was also interviewed.

The property was acquired back in 2012 and presented us with some difficulties. As with every custom home build and commercial building project, we approached these obstacles as opportunities.

The Challenges

  1. The property was originally zoned by the City of Nanaimo for single-family homes. The property needed to be rezoned, and we needed to balance the City’s expectations with our vision.
  2. We wanted a distinctive style for the buildings that would be consistent throughout the community, and create unity between the commercial and residential buildings.
  3. The vision for the build was to construct a synergistic mixed-use development and offer presale for both residential suites and commercial real estate. It would be the first mixed-use development in Nanaimo, and – in the past – commercial presales had not been successful in the area.

The Results

  1. “We needed to make sure there was the right balance of residential and commercial. We changed the plans, got the zoning that was required, and are now building a community that has both commercial and residential space within the same development.” – Chris Lundy
  2. “When we sat down with the architect and engineers we wanted to create a project that was unique in form and character. The entire team working on the project have really set a standard for being diligent with quality control,” said Chris. To date, Pacific Station has also won three awards: 2014 VIREB Commercial Building Award of Merit, a 2015 Commercial Building Awards Honourable Mention, and a 2017 VIREB Award of Excellence for Townhouses.
  3. Building A of the project sold out 14 days after being put out on the market! As well, a distinctly collaborative community is unfolding in the complex. Business owners are saying they’ve experienced a great deal of success in Pacific Station.

We are proud to have been able to overcome these challenges, and introduce mixed-use developments to our region!

Want to get more insight into this project, and see some of the progress shots? Download the PDF of the full article here.