The owners of West Valley Village have taken a chance on Estevan during the tough economic times in the city. The bare land condominium development is located in the southwest corner of the city. Dave Highberg, who is one of the owners of the development, said they have 73 sites in the village. Twenty-six currently have homes in place, and six more sites just need the finishing touches before they can accommodate homes. The remaining sites have some work that’s needed before they can accommodate homes. Then it will be a matter of selling those lots. “It depends how fast the market moves,” Highberg said with a laugh. “As they sell, we’ll keep building.” But people who are living in the village are happy to be there, he said. Estevan city council gave the green light for the project to proceed as a bare land condominium development last year. The land where the development is located has also been annexed into the city. As a bare land concept, it differs from a traditional modular home park. Not only will people purchase the home at West Valley Village, but they purchase the lot where the home is
located. In a conventional modular home park, residents purchase the modular home and rent the land. Highberg said the West Valley Village approach gives more stability for residents. “Instead of paying rent, you’re buying your lot,” said Highberg. “Whatever your mortgage cost is today is fixed. It’s not going to keep going up like rent does in a mobile home park.” “If you buy the lot today, and you have it amortized over 15 years, in 15 years you own it,” he added later. “What’s rent going to be in 15 years? Fifty per cent higher? One hundred per cent higher? It depends on the market.” West Valley Village purchased the land five years ago. At the time, they saw the opportunity that existed in Estevan during the oil boom. At the time, there were a number of old houses that had to be removed and replaced with homes. An old commercial shop was dismantled so that the land could handle more homes. They brought modular homes onto the property, and made the decision a couple of years ago to move towards a bare land condominium concept. It took a year-and-ahalf to get to the point where they were ready to start
moving homes onto the property. “Based on the way the economy is, I’d say the response has been quite good,” said Highberg. Homes vary in size. The show suite, which includes a double garage, is about 1,520 square feet, which is about average for one of their units, and is priced at $289,000. Highberg noted the homes generally sell for under $300,000. “All of the new lots that we’ve developed are a minimum of 54 feet wide,” said Highberg. “Every lot
you should be able to put a double garage on your home.” Some of the lots are considerably bigger. “We plan on keeping two or three homes ready for somebody who needs a home right away, and you can pick your own plan and we’ll tailor it to your wants,” said Highberg. Operations manager
Justin Bourget said it’s not just modular homes that they can accommodate. They can also have readyto-move homes, and they have been approved for spec homes and custombuilt homes. Highberg said they’re looking to make improvements on the property. Each year they want to add more trees to enhance the appear
ance. They want to have streets within the development paved by the end of August. They do not want to see West Valley Village become a junkyard. “We want a nice subdivision down here, with trees and paved streets and homes that look nice and that people look after,” he said.
