Open spaces, terraces and an appealing neighbourhood translate to strong sales

Elizabeth and Cliff Lebrun are homeless -- and not a bit concerned.

The retired teachers have sold their Ottawa-area townhouse, given away or stashed their furniture, and start driving to Vancouver in the late fall. They bunked in with their daughter for two months before going south to spend four months under the warm Florida sun.

Come May, the two will check on the progress of their condo under construction in Ottawa's west end. Now a sea of concrete on the western edge of the trendy Westboro neighbourhood, the condo may not be ready until July or August, but that doesn't faze the Lebruns.

"That's why we have a daughter in Vancouver," says Elizabeth, who remembers the 1970s when she and Cliff were young and rented a downtown apartment.

The Lebruns, who left teaching nine years ago when they were in their mid-50s, have bought nine homes over the years, trading a two-storey in the suburbs with a big backyard and swimming pool for a lofty bungalow townhouse in an adult-lifestyle community.

Eighteen months ago, Cliff was one of the first buyers through the front door of the sales office marketing the first phase a 10-storey condo planned for the large chunk of land that had been home to an auto shop since the '50s.

"We needed something a little more turnkey, something that did not need a lot of work," says the former phys- ed teacher. "I'm looking forward to being homeless. It's a good thing at the moment."

Some time next summer, the Lebruns will move into their two-bedroom condo with a den and a huge terrace. "We're going to be able to walk out of our living room door onto the terrace and into the dining room through another door," says Elizabeth.

The Lebruns paid in the low $400,000s for their 1,200-square-foot unit, plus $27,000 for an underground parking spot. The building sold quickly in spring 2007 when the economy was buoyant.

Now, even though the economy seems headed for the dumpster, the second and larger phase of the project, known as Westboro Station, has also had strong sales. While new home sales slipped in Ottawa by 55 per cent in October, young and older folks surged through the sales office and lined up to buy, even though prices had climbed by $100,000 on some condos or an average of $50 a square foot in the second phase. During the first three weeks, there were 30 firm sales.

The combination of an appealing neighbourhood and a condo with open spaces and terraces has locked in sales when there are shivers throughout the industry.

Karla Tate, 31, is at the younger end of buyers, paying $270,000 for a one-bedroom condo with a modest balcony on the third floor in the second phase.

"If you had asked me a year ago 'Do you want to buy a home?' I would have said absolutely not. It's all about the readiness factor," says the single woman.

"And I love the neighbourhood."

Real estate analyst Brian Card says the Ottawa project is a good model for other developers. "You will be very successful if you give people what they want and do it well. This is a prime example."