The Cambie Corridor is about to get a facelift with a luxury retirement residence moving in. OPAL will be Element Lifestyle Retirement’s newest venture and its only retirement community in the urban core.
“We really wanted to revolutionize the concept of aging,” Candy Ho, the vice-president of Element said. “Retirement is the best part of life; we want people to enjoy it.”
And they should be able to, with the myriad of services, programs and activities that will be available at OPAL. Wine and scotch tastings, large group dining, a chauffeured town car and music groups are just a few of the amenities offered. Construction for the block-long residence will begin this fall and will take two ye
ars to complete. During that time, Element will open its Discovery Centre to the public for presales, seminars and focus groups to help cater to the community’s wants and needs.
Located on King Edward Avenue between Cambie and Yukon Street, Ho said she hopes OPAL will be the niche for the growing and aging Chinese demographic in the area and the city.
“We really wanted this new model to help cater the underserved Chinese community, given the location, and we can do that because of our leadership,” said Ho, whose leadership team and board of directors is predominantly Chinese. The new retirement community will offer tai chi, qigong, ping pong and mah-jong alongside authentic Chinese cuisine, including double boiled soups and a live seafood tank.
Ho stresses her team is focusing on the continuum of legacy and lifestyles, by introducing structured programs with young children and a four-level care system, which accommodates independent living, assisted living, memory care and complex care. With this framework, Ho continued, the seniors don’t have to worry about moving again and we can care for them until the end.
With 56 rentals, 44 condos, 30 units for care and one double occupancy unit for care, accompanied by three main patios, one outdoor courtyard, and one rooftop patio, the construction and land costs of the endeavour, alone, is upwards of $90 million dollars.
The five-to-six-star culinary program, wellness spa, infrared sauna, yoga movement studio, gym and other amenities offered will range up to $3 million a year to maintain, Ho said.
Now you’re asking yourself, how much will it cost you to live here? For a rental, the pricing is $10 dollars per square foot, ranging between $4,600 per month on the low end and upwards of $9,000 on the other. This includes housekeeping, two meals per day and access to all the amenities.
The condos vary between 640 square feet to 1,600 square feet, which are figures that don’t include the sizeable patios that are attached to some units. Prices for purchasing start at approximately $600,000 and average about $1.1 million. A monthly membership fee is attached to that bill, and while the price for that is yet to be determined, Ho assured it would be comparable to other high-end luxury retirement homes, such as Tapestry.
It is important to note all prices are dependent on the market, Ho said, and although these will be the prices for the first day of the presale, they are subject to change as the market fluctuates.
For more details, visit www.elementlifestyleretirement.com.
