West Hawk to Make the Most of Mountainview Hillside

Non-stop views are just part of the promise of Cochrane’s newest community.While work has yet to start on West Hawk — earthworks or grading begins in October; a grand opening is anticipated around mid-2025 — JL Developments has high hopes for its first Cochrane community.

“West Hawk is the largest hillside master planned community in Cochrane, rising in elevation approximately 70 metres from the lower lands located along Highway 1A to the uplands resulting in spectacular views of the Rocky Mountains, the foothills, and the town of Cochrane to the west, south and southeast,” said Jesse LaFrance, president of Edmonton-based JL Developments.

Located on just over 110 acres in Cochrane’s northwest quadrant, West Hawk, part of the Heritage Hills Area Structure Plan, will ultimately be home to more than 500 residential lots with at least 50 per cent of these lots backing onto green space or an environmental reserve. That reserve, said LaFrance, will preserve the area’s natural surroundings.“West Hawk was designed around 27 acres of sloping environmental reserve containing native habitat for wildlife with future rest nodes, seating areas at important viewpoints and a series of walking trails and ravine crossings to allow residents to travel through the environmental reserve,” said LaFrance.West Hawk will also include a five-acre school site in its first phase.

While West Hawk is currently working through a detailed analysis of its architectural guidelines, buyers will be able to build homes in what is being described as a Cochrane Modern motif. That will include a colour palette that is inspired by natural hillside tones, including stone accents and key architectural elements.

Builders in West Hawk include Akash Homes, Luxuria Homes and Paragon Homes, as well as Bedrock Homes and Cantiro, two companies that are based out of Edmonton. There will be a variety of housing types including duplexes, townhomes, single family and estate ridge homes.

“We believe that a desirable place to live means having space,” said LaFrance. “Space between homes, space to enjoy nature and the outdoors. To accomplish this, we have designed the community under a comprehensive slope-adaptive framework encouraging view corridors to be maintained along each streetscape as our homes descend towards the lower segment of our lands, Highway 1A. Our builder’s slope adaptive homes will be configured to suit a variety of demographics while ensuring the views of the Rocky Mountains and foothills are maintained throughout the community.”

Special design consideration will be provided to all ridge homes as many homes will be visible from the highway, added LaFrance.

Final pricing has not been determined, however, initial pricing will be released by West Hawk’s builder group in 2024. The community is expected to be built over four phases with its first phase being serviced in the spring of 2024.

A boutique developer with active developments in the Edmonton region and the Okanagan, JL Developments said the topography offered the proposition of developing a unique hillside community not available elsewhere in the region.

“We are privileged to play a small role in developing the Town of Cochrane in a thought-provoking manner,” said LaFrance. “With construction commencing on the Highway 22 and Highway 1A interchange, we viewed this as an opportune time to unlock a new hillside community in West Cochrane. The new overpass will replace the current traffic lights, which coincides exceptionally with the grand opening of West Hawk in the summer 2025, providing new residents with ease of access and incredible views of the foothills and the Rocky Mountains.”

Further, LaFrance said that Cochrane is attractive as it appeals to a variety of homebuyers since it is a reasonable commute to Calgary, boat and beach access is nearby at Ghost Lake and that Canmore and Banff provide winter sports enthusiasts with an ideal destination that is only around an hour or so away.

“We’re super excited to bring this online into a market that is growing,” said LaFrance.