Real estate firm Aragon Development is completing work on the Port Royal community in British Columbia, Canada.

Having constructed more than 2,400 homes since its inception in 1988 and having won a number
of awards from the Canadian Home Builders' Association, Aragon Development believes it has proven it has the expertise and capabilities to keep customers happy.

With an “unyielding commitment to maintain the highest standards of construction,” the integrated real estate development firm will have finished more than 1,000 more homes when it completes its work on the Port Royal community on the Fraser River in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

“Port Royal will be a landmark community for the area,” says David Roppel, director of planning and development. The site will have single-family homes and duplexes around the main road that runs through it. On the river side of the development, there will be four-story apartment buildings, town homes and a high rise. The site's housing features are analogous to other large redevelopments of industrial land in Vancouver.”

Port Royal's homes will feature high-end materials and amenities – such as built-in window seats, California stipple ceilings, energy efficient rain shield windows and pre-wired in-home security – while the 50-acre site will have more than 14 acres of riverfront and park space, community gardens, a picnic gazebo, playgrounds and a neighborhood store.

Construction Today spoke with Roppel about the major development and how Aragon is attracting homeowners.
Construction Today: Why is Aragon Development a good fit for a project like Port Royal?
David Roppel: We are a long-standing company that has worked in the lower mainland of Vancouver and nationally and are known for our quality. We have completed many projects and have extensive experience in various types of buildings. Our experience helps us to get all of the necessary approvals and we have the commitment to stay with the job until it's finished. We have worked on Port Royal for eight years so far, and we have another six to eight years to go.

We bought the property in 1998. Before that, it housed a warehouse and sawmill. Boats were built there because the area was part of the logging industry. We are giving the site new life as a residential community.

CT: What are some of the characteristics of the development?
DR: It is a 40-acre site and right on the river, which makes it unique. It is at the point where the river divides before it goes to the ocean. This is a very important site geographically because it's the geographic center of Vancouver's lower mainland.

This site is unique because it has 1.1 kilometers of river-front walkways – the entire riverfront has been made into a public park. Also, there will be a diverse selection of housing on the site, which will create a variety of residents. Residents will be able to move within the site as their lifestyles change. Port Royal also has 11 acres of parks, which is 25 percent of the site.

CT: What types of challenges have you encountered on this project?
DR: To start, we had to build the infrastructure to make it suitable for a residential development.
The main way we did that was to build a dyke around the site to protect it from river flooding. We built the dyke to higher standards than are required because we wanted to assure residents they would be safe from floods.

The site also is part of Lulu Island in the river, which is known to flood regularly. As a result, the soil is sandy; in addition, the area is in an earthquake zone. To improve the site, we built a densification berm, which is made of a grid of rock columns all along the perimeter of the site. This keeps the soil where it needs to be.

Additionally, part of a railroad goes through the site. We realized that if a train was stopped on the tracks, it could possibly keep vehicles out of part of the development. If there were an emergency, no emergency vehicles would be able to get it. We solved this by building a bridge over the railroad, which will provide emergency vehicle access.

CT: How are maintaining the quality of the project?
DR: We are using higher-quality materials than is typical. For example, many of the homes' floors are made from reclaimed wood – wood is a valuable commodity around here and we are reusing the material. We are doing similar things with re-claimed brick, especially in the interiors of units in the apartment buildings.

CT: What do you have left to finish?
DR: We still have many multi-family sites to build – some are in construction now, some are in design and development and some are in the permitting stage. Additionally, the high rise is a major project we still have to finish. It will be very much a landmark for the site, so we have a lot of resources dedicated to its construction.

CT: What have you learned on Port Royal that you can apply to future projects?
DR: Mostly, it has reinforced what we already know – there are no shortcuts to quality and we need to take time to do the work right. Also, offering a diversity of housing types is a good idea for a business and community perspective. We can attract different types of customers and the community benefits because there is a range of different people living in the neighborhood.