Couple Gears Up for Dream Garage Space in Sunset Ridge

For car enthusiastslike Cornelis Vogel and Chantelle Leggatt, the garage is more than just vehicle storage.With tools out and the hood up, it's a key recreation space.Vogel and Leggatt have a shared interest in tinkering on vehicles and each have their own hobby car. He's got a 1992 Volkswagen GTIand Leggatt's is a 1986 Volkswagen cabriolet.This helped fuel interest in a new multi-family siteby Excel Homes in the Cochrane community of Sunset Ridge.The development offers the uncommon combination of townhomes with a large triple-car tandem garage."The triple-car garage isa huge plus," says Vogel. "I was shocked we even found something like that."At build-out, the development will have 50 three-storey townhomes along Sundown Road. Its current starting price is $274,900 and first possessions are expected to be available in October of this year."The large garages are well received, with the ability for parking several cars, or extra storage," says Angela Ray, Excel's area sales manager. Vogel andLeggatt have plans to do both.First, it'll give them a generous space to spread out and get their work done."Now that we have the triple-car garage, we have the room to really do projects," Vogel says. "If we need to do body work, replace a motor, or pull a motor apart, we have an area where we won't feel cramped."The young couple will relocate to the townhome from a single-family home with a two-car garage they're renting and sharing in southeast Calgary."We'll actually have room to put our mountain bikes, her standup paddle board and my kayak," says Vogel. These items are currently "stuck in the rafters" or placed around the cars in the garage of the home they're now in."We sat down a few times to try and plan out what we're going to do with the extra room," says Vogel. "We figured the tandem part would be used mostly for storage. The back part of it, our bikes and water toys and any extra camping equipment, can go there."The move from renting to having a space all to themselves also gives Leggatt all the space she needs to work on another creative pursuit, refinishing older furniture.Vogel says she'll do a variety of things with the furniture, including painting and sanding it, to "bring it back to life."Another reason for going with the Excel development was the value they saw, says Vogel. While pricing out a townhome to potentially purchase, the couple upgraded a number of items "just for fun," and still found it to be well within reach of their budget.These townhomes arefee-simple, which means, unlike developments run by acondo management company, the buyer owns and is responsible for the exterior of their home. As a result, there's no need for monthly condo fees.The yard is about 18 feet by 20 feet and comes with wrought iron fencing. An eight foot by eight foot hard surface patio is part of the townhome, too.There are five floor plans at the development, ranging from 1,337 to 1,669 square feet. They come in three- or four-bedroom orientations with 2.5 bathrooms.The couplepicked a corner unit in the 1,546-square-foot Preston layout. It has three bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms.Vogel says he's seen floor plans at other developments, where the master bedroom is only a hair larger than the secondary bedrooms, and liked that with the Preston, this wasn't the case.It spans12 feet three inches by 12 feet three inches, while the secondary bedrooms each measure eight feet 10inches by nine feet eight inches."It actually feels like a master bedroom," says Vogel.They're fans of the views, too."We get the sun when it's setting in the west, so we get to watch the sun setting over the mountains," Vogel says.The other two bedrooms will be used as a guest room and exercise space, respectively.Vogel and Leggatt also look forward to life in Cochrane. He was born in High River andraised in Airdrie, and while Leggatt is from south Calgary, she has also lived inLangdon.Vogel says they both appreciate Cochrane's "small town feel."Sunset Ridge is a master-planned community by Melcor Developments on the west end of town. The community boasts an eye-catching 2.6-hectare pond surrounded by two hectares of park space.Ray saysthe townhomes will take root just down the street from a new school.WHAT: Fee simple three-storey townhomes.BUILDER: Excel HomesAREA: Sunset Ridge is a community on the west end of Cochrane.DEVELOPER: Melcor Developments.HOURS: Excel is selling these townhomes from the sales centre for its front-drive single-family homes at 7 Sundown Terrace. It's open 2 to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and noon to 5 p.m. on weekends and holidays.PRICES: Townhomes start from $247,900.INFORMATION:excelhomes.ca