Buyer Snapshot

By: Paula Trotter

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Don and Sharon Mulligan, 59 and 53, respectively, have already downsized once, leaving behind a bigger house in the suburbs for a 1,600-square-foot duplex in Hillhurst in 1998.

They’re now set to minimize again. With two grown daughters readying to leave the family home, the couple decided they didn’t need quite so much space. So they purchased a large southwest corner unit in Lido in December.

WHAT THEY BOUGHT:

A two-bedroom apartmentstyle condo with a den, with more than 1,300 square feet and two decks in Lido, the latest project by Battistella Development that will be completed by late 2016. This eight-storey midrise development will be located in the heart of Kensington, on the corner of 10 Street and 2nd Avenue N.W. (the project’s namesake is the Lido Café, a neighbourhood mainstay since 1962).

WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO THIS PROJECT?

The Mulligans are thrilled to know countless amenities — restaurants and pubs, the Plaza Theatre, grocery stores and bakeries (Crave Cookies and Cupcakes being Sharon’s favourite), banks, book shops, clothing boutiques, the LRT and so much more — will be right outside their door. Knowing they’ll be living in a highly walkable community has also inspired them to downsize from two cars to one once they move in. “We think we could live here for a long, long time,” says Sharon. “The hard part will be waiting over two years to move in,” Don adds with a laugh.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT YOUR CONDO ?

“There’s more flexibility for the next phase of our life,” says Sharon. Adds Don: “We hope in the next few years to be working less and travelling more. It’s simpler.nWe’re moving away from the maintenance work – shoveling snow and mowing grass.” 

“We’re ready to downsize, but we’re not ready to live in a shoebox. We wanted something that wasn’t too much of a squish and we didn’t want to eliminate our daughters,” says Sharon Mulligan.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT KENSINGTON?

“It’s close to the river — just a block away — and the great city pathway that we have,” says Don. “It’s a block from the grocery store (Safeway) and a block from the LRT station. It’s in an established area; many of the things you need are already here so we don’t have to hope they come to the neighbourhood.” Adds Sharon: “Or wait for them.”

DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE TO OTHER BUYERS?

“Focus on the amount of space you truly need for a good quality of life,” Sharon says, advice that Don seconds. “Live in the inner city so you can spend more of your time doing instead of being in your car,” he adds.