Kelowna-based Operation Building 300-Plus Units, Emphasizes Lifestyle
Traine Construction and Development and Mainline Living’s Chad Davidson at their Sterling Square ground breaking
COLWOOD – Traine Construction and Development and sister company Mainline Living are taking the term “building communities” to a whole new level.
Chad Davidson, Executive Vice President of Operations for the companies, notes that while Traine develops, builds and owns the multi-family rental developments, Mainline Living manages and operates the buildings with a service that includes creating activities and events for residents to enjoy in those buildings.
Colwood is the next destination for the company, based in Kelowna, which has what they call “operating communities” in West Kelowna, Kamloops, Chilliwack and Brantford, Ontario. Their arrival in the Greater Victoria market will be at the corner of Wilfert and Wale Road in Colwood, where they’re building between 310-320 one and two-bedroom units.
“This is a lot of new rental suites for Colwood,” says Davidson, noting that the community currently has less than 400 purpose-built condominiums. “This project will almost double that.”
An overhead view of Traine Construction and Development projects and one under construction
The company has been operating for two decades across the country, including in Alberta.
“We’ve always developed and built outside of Kelowna. A lot of our buildings are in Alberta, so we started looking at the map of Canada,” Davidson observes. “We can work anywhere, so we started looking at the best markets in the nation. Southwest Ontario just jumps out, and as high as the demand is in Victoria, it’s even higher in that area.”
Currently the company is building between 800 to 1,000 units per year.
“We’ve been on a steep growth trajectory for the past two to three years, and we’re ramping up for a really big next year, with 500 in Kitchener, Ontario, 200 in Kelowna and over 300 in Colwood,” he adds.
Adding the lifestyle focus was the dream of owner Matt Butler, who founded the company in 2000.
Kitchens like these are typical in the company’s buildings
“Matt and his family experienced a cruise and were wowed, thinking that if people in our Communities were treated like this, you’d think they’d be happier, stay longer and it would work well for us as well,” he says. “He really does care for people, and genuinely feels called to do this. Really, our product line is for the end user, for the people that move in and call our rental suites home.
“We really emphasize amenities. We offer lots of resident experiences, as we’re making a place where people want to stay and get to know their neighbors.”
Adding social coordinating is an innovative plan that is working very well.
“Lots of people will talk about wanting to ‘build community’, but those catch-phrases are kind of over-used,” Davidson states. “So we thought, ‘why don’t’ we try to do it?’ It means a little more cost and work, but the interest we have is more than balance-sheet performance, and responses on Google have been over the top.
“It’s about helping people enjoy living in our Communities. We strive to ensure people are happy and looked after, and we get to know their names and the names of their pets. We also coordinate one or two events per month.”
