BY ALISON APPELBE
JUNE 24, 2011 5:01 PM
View listings and more info Vantage West Realty Featured Listings at Watermark Beach Resort
The resort’s patio wine bar is a favourite gathering place.
Project size/scope: On the west shore of Lake Osoyoos and at the foot of Main Street in the town centre. A full-ownership and strata-titled luxury resort, with one-, two- and three-bedroom view apartments in the main building, and two-storey and single-storey (top-floor) town houses along the lakefront. Buyers have the option of participating in income-generating rental by the full-service resort-hotel.
Prices: Pre-season pricing on one-bedrooms starting at $199,900; two-bedrooms at $389,900 and town houses at $569,900.
Developer: Osoyoos Shoreline Development Ltd.
Architect: Burrowes Huggins Architects, Vancouver
Interiors: Co-ordinated Hotel Interiors Ltd.
Sales Contact: Judith Hart
Tel: 1-866-453-9797, 604-723-5620
Website: www.ownwatermark.com
When Vancouverites Alan and Pam Skinner were raising their two sons, they made an annual trek to the South Okanagan — and specifically to Haynes Point Provincial Park, a campground that extends into Lake Osoyoos like a long finger.
“The kids loved it — and so did we,” says Alan Skinner of their summer stays at the popular campsite known for its exotic setting on a toasty lake, and rare (and threatened) creatures such as the Western small-footed bat, Spadefoot toad and Painted turtle.
The Skinners, whose sons are grown, were considering purchasing recreational property, so returned to Osoyoos and booked a few nights at the luxury Watermark Beach Resort, located on the lake at the foot of the main street of the town.
The full-ownership and strata-titled Watermark, opened in 2009, features a four-storey building facing the lake, with wings extending towards the water. A generous courtyard includes an L-shaped swimming pool, hot tubs and patio wine bar. A series of town houses extends along the lakefront. The complex looks east towards sage-covered hills and Anarchist Mountain.
If they choose, property owners can take part in a suite and town house rental program, maintained to resort-hotel standards, and earn some income.
The Skinners looked at the townhouses — both the ground-level two-storey units and the bungalow-style homes on the third level. But Skinner recalls that when they turned their attention to one of the penthouses, positioned directly above the lake and with views (and decks) on three sides: “We looked at each other and said, ‘we want this one.’ ”
Since making the purchase last June, they’ve made seven or eight visits. On one trip, they hosted three other couples for a few days of golf (and rented a one-bedroom suite at the resort for the added space).
The Skinners are happy with their purchase, in large part because it fits their needs. The couple wanted to avoid buying into a property on leased land (Skinner is a realtor). And while they favoured a site both on the lake and in town — “It’s more of a hotel than a ‘cottage at the lake’,” Skinner points out — he concedes that, from a real estate perspective, it has a niche appeal.
They also studied the rental aspect, and while Skinner admits that “it’s not the return we’d get from a good quality stock portfolio,” they were satisfied that, weighed against less tangible benefits, it would deliver a satisfactory return for a property they’d likely use only one-tenth of the year.
The Watermark complex, with commercial frontage facing Main Street, includes a small conference centre, a full-service spa, fitness facility and yoga studio. A gelato shop is open and a restaurant is planned; meanwhile, meals are served at the resort’s wine bar.
The more than 300-metre lakefront, above a beach, features a public pedestrian boardwalk. The resort’s pool and patio area includes a waterslide, hot pools for adults and children, communal barbecue facilities, and a “kids’ zone” and day camp.
Of the 153 units, 37 fully furnished suites and town houses, with various floor plans, remain available. One-bedrooms units, from 600 square feet, start at $199,900; and two bedroom units, from 836 square feet, at $389,900.
The two-storey townhouses and one top-floor “bungalow,” all with two bedrooms and between 1,208 and 1,230 square feet, start at $569,900.
Resort realtor Judith Hart reports that one of the town houses sold in 2007 for $750,000, illustrating the impact that the 2008-09 recession had on the Okanagan recreational real estate market.
At the same time, Hart and resort manager Ingrid Jarrett, who also chairs the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA), says that the Watermark Beach Resort has weathered two years of sluggish sales better than comparable regional properties.
“At this juncture, we’re doing very well,” Hart says. “We’re very secure in our financing, and from a real estate perspective, we’re very solid.”
The South Okanagan, with its ever-expanding wine culture and dry summer heat in what is said to be Canada’s only true desert, “is poised for success,” Hart claims.
There are 40 wineries within 30 kilometres of Osoyoos, many garnering widespread attention. Wines coming out of the Black Sage Bench to the east of the lake, and the Golden Mile Bench, on the west, are often exceptional.
Among the region’s particular success stories are the Osoyoos Indian Band’s Nk’Mip Cellars and associated Nk’Mip and Spirit Ridge resorts.
The Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre, together with the Desert Centre at Osoyoos, brings to public attention to the local “antelope brush ecosystem,” and ongoing efforts to create the South Okanagan-Lower Similkameen National Park Reserve.
The South Okanagan region boasts half a dozen golf courses, and extensive trails for walking, hiking and biking. Mount Baldy, east of Oliver, is an expanding ski resort. Osoyoos Lake, and smaller neighbouring lakes, draws anglers year-round.
However, the region may be best known for its agricultural output. Along with grapes coveted by wineries through the entire Okanagan, the south produces soft fruits such as cherries, apricots, peaches, pears and apples, and other farm produce. Osoyoos is developing a strong culinary scene.
TOTA chair Jarrett reports that European, Australian and New Zealand tourists are showing a growing interest in a South Okanagan noted for its cultural, ecological and soft adventure attractions, as well as for being “warm, clean and safe.”
And therefore eyeing double-digit tourism growth, she believes that Watermark Beach Resort rental income will increase.
Indeed, Skinner already sees an upward trend. “We didn’t buy the property to flip it. We’ll keep it for 10 years at a minimum,” he says. “And we’re pleasantly surprised with the returns we’re getting. I’m thinking that this year should be even better.”
Special to The Sun
The resort’s patio wine bar is a favourite gathering place.
Project size/scope: On the west shore of Lake Osoyoos and at the foot of Main Street in the town centre. A full-ownership and strata-titled luxury resort, with one-, two- and three-bedroom view apartments in the main building, and two-storey and single-storey (top-floor) town houses along the lakefront. Buyers have the option of participating in income-generating rental by the full-service resort-hotel.
Prices: Pre-season pricing on one-bedrooms starting at $199,900; two-bedrooms at $389,900 and town houses at $569,900.
Developer: Osoyoos Shoreline Development Ltd.
Architect: Burrowes Huggins Architects, Vancouver
Interiors: Co-ordinated Hotel Interiors Ltd.
Sales Contact: Judith Hart
Tel: 1-866-453-9797, 604-723-5620
Website: www.ownwatermark.com
When Vancouverites Alan and Pam Skinner were raising their two sons, they made an annual trek to the South Okanagan — and specifically to Haynes Point Provincial Park, a campground that extends into Lake Osoyoos like a long finger.
“The kids loved it — and so did we,” says Alan Skinner of their summer stays at the popular campsite known for its exotic setting on a toasty lake, and rare (and threatened) creatures such as the Western small-footed bat, Spadefoot toad and Painted turtle.
The Skinners, whose sons are grown, were considering purchasing recreational property, so returned to Osoyoos and booked a few nights at the luxury Watermark Beach Resort, located on the lake at the foot of the main street of the town.
The full-ownership and strata-titled Watermark, opened in 2009, features a four-storey building facing the lake, with wings extending towards the water. A generous courtyard includes an L-shaped swimming pool, hot tubs and patio wine bar. A series of town houses extends along the lakefront. The complex looks east towards sage-covered hills and Anarchist Mountain.
If they choose, property owners can take part in a suite and town house rental program, maintained to resort-hotel standards, and earn some income.
The Skinners looked at the townhouses — both the ground-level two-storey units and the bungalow-style homes on the third level. But Skinner recalls that when they turned their attention to one of the penthouses, positioned directly above the lake and with views (and decks) on three sides: “We looked at each other and said, ‘we want this one.’ ”
Since making the purchase last June, they’ve made seven or eight visits. On one trip, they hosted three other couples for a few days of golf (and rented a one-bedroom suite at the resort for the added space).
The Skinners are happy with their purchase, in large part because it fits their needs. The couple wanted to avoid buying into a property on leased land (Skinner is a realtor). And while they favoured a site both on the lake and in town — “It’s more of a hotel than a ‘cottage at the lake’,” Skinner points out — he concedes that, from a real estate perspective, it has a niche appeal.
They also studied the rental aspect, and while Skinner admits that “it’s not the return we’d get from a good quality stock portfolio,” they were satisfied that, weighed against less tangible benefits, it would deliver a satisfactory return for a property they’d likely use only one-tenth of the year.
The Watermark complex, with commercial frontage facing Main Street, includes a small conference centre, a full-service spa, fitness facility and yoga studio. A gelato shop is open and a restaurant is planned; meanwhile, meals are served at the resort’s wine bar.
The more than 300-metre lakefront, above a beach, features a public pedestrian boardwalk. The resort’s pool and patio area includes a waterslide, hot pools for adults and children, communal barbecue facilities, and a “kids’ zone” and day camp.
Of the 153 units, 37 fully furnished suites and town houses, with various floor plans, remain available. One-bedrooms units, from 600 square feet, start at $199,900; and two bedroom units, from 836 square feet, at $389,900.
The two-storey townhouses and one top-floor “bungalow,” all with two bedrooms and between 1,208 and 1,230 square feet, start at $569,900.
Resort realtor Judith Hart reports that one of the town houses sold in 2007 for $750,000, illustrating the impact that the 2008-09 recession had on the Okanagan recreational real estate market.
At the same time, Hart and resort manager Ingrid Jarrett, who also chairs the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA), says that the Watermark Beach Resort has weathered two years of sluggish sales better than comparable regional properties.
“At this juncture, we’re doing very well,” Hart says. “We’re very secure in our financing, and from a real estate perspective, we’re very solid.”
The South Okanagan, with its ever-expanding wine culture and dry summer heat in what is said to be Canada’s only true desert, “is poised for success,” Hart claims.
There are 40 wineries within 30 kilometres of Osoyoos, many garnering widespread attention. Wines coming out of the Black Sage Bench to the east of the lake, and the Golden Mile Bench, on the west, are often exceptional.
Among the region’s particular success stories are the Osoyoos Indian Band’s Nk’Mip Cellars and associated Nk’Mip and Spirit Ridge resorts.
The Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre, together with the Desert Centre at Osoyoos, brings to public attention to the local “antelope brush ecosystem,” and ongoing efforts to create the South Okanagan-Lower Similkameen National Park Reserve.
The South Okanagan region boasts half a dozen golf courses, and extensive trails for walking, hiking and biking. Mount Baldy, east of Oliver, is an expanding ski resort. Osoyoos Lake, and smaller neighbouring lakes, draws anglers year-round.
However, the region may be best known for its agricultural output. Along with grapes coveted by wineries through the entire Okanagan, the south produces soft fruits such as cherries, apricots, peaches, pears and apples, and other farm produce. Osoyoos is developing a strong culinary scene.
TOTA chair Jarrett reports that European, Australian and New Zealand tourists are showing a growing interest in a South Okanagan noted for its cultural, ecological and soft adventure attractions, as well as for being “warm, clean and safe.”
And therefore eyeing double-digit tourism growth, she believes that Watermark Beach Resort rental income will increase.
Indeed, Skinner already sees an upward trend. “We didn’t buy the property to flip it. We’ll keep it for 10 years at a minimum,” he says. “And we’re pleasantly surprised with the returns we’re getting. I’m thinking that this year should be even better.”
Special to The Sun
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