Drivers making their way down North Road in Coquitlam tonight (Aug. 28) might be in for a bit of a shock.
Likely as not they might be sitting at a stop light behind a massive, 5,000 sq. ft. house that is being moved from 637 Aspen St. in Burquitlam to Powell River, B.C.
Nickel Bros, a Port Coquitlam company, is moving the house for Foster Living — a developer building 49 townhomes in the area — that has chosen to move the home rather than demolish it.
The five-bedroom, five-bathroom residence is only 12 years old with custom finishings and knocking it down seemed like a waste, the developer states in a news release.
Instead, the large executive home will make its way down North Road to a site on United Boulevard owned by Metro Vancouver near its recycle waste centre, from which it has easy access to the river for transportation through property owned by Beedie Living.
A barge will take the house up the Sunshine Coast, through the Salish Sea, to it's final destination in Powell River.
"The relocation of this home will preserve roughly 200,000 kgs of embodied carbon from entering our atmosphere. In addition, relocating the home to Powell River for continued occupancy has awarded the new owner an approximately 75 per cent discount on building new," Foster Living states.
The house is among five relocated for 49 townhomes, called The Grove, at the corner of Foster Avenue and Aspen Street in Burquitlam.
The other homes were relocated in July.
At the time, Foster Living’s Chris Yen told the Tri-City News that moving the five homes was a huge undertaking and took months to arrange, but is better than tearing them down.
"You move a house to reduce carbon and reduce landfill waste, it aligns with our company values," said Yen, who lives in Coquitlam.
Nickel Bros, which is part of a collective seeking municipal support to relocate homes, relocates the homes for the same cost to a developer as demolition, and sells them on its website.
