Lorne from Cochrane

My wife and I wanted to purchase a home in Cochrane (2008) and move out there. It just so happened that Trico was building a multi-family complex in Heritage Hills called Laredo Place. We did as much research as possible on Trico, investigating BBB reviews/complaints and whatever resources we could get our hands on. We were impressed by the reviews, so we were confident we were making a good choice. We moved in 2009, and were among the first residents of the complex. That being said, there was still a lot of construction going on and we expected that. The plans for the neighbourhood and complex were very appealing for a young family such as ours. As construction finished, Trico came through and made repairs from construction damage, kudos to them. Since the project completion, however, things went downhill. We have a walkout den that we found to be extremely cold. Rather than fix insulation or address the problem (cheap windows, no insulation), Trico installed baseboard heaters in the basements which puts our electricity bills sky high in winter. We've had frost building up on our baseboards in the main entrance hallways, and this was due to poor siding and siding wrap. The issue was never fixed, especially after our one year inspection came and went. This also led to leaking and water in the crawl space. We found out the we were not the only people who have had problems. Other people had leaking basements from improper grading and leaking roofs. Apparently, the original roofing was not built to code, and in our Chinook winds, shingles would blow off and roofs would leak. The roof was replaced again last summer (2012), and after inspection, it was found AGAIN that the roof was not done to code. Trico has apparently tried to walk away from this, but our condo board is supposedly trying to get them to fix this. As Trico handed over the "control" of the property to our property managers, Asset West, at that meeting Trico sat there and as soon as 7:30 came, the representative literally ran out the door, refusing to answer any questions. That says a lot. Also the landscaping was never done correctly. As I've mentioned before, poor grading led to many residents having leaks in their basements and water pooling. To top it off, their idea of drainage was to put a giant rock pit in the back to collect water. This has about 30 degree slopes all around into a pit of rocks. This is a HUGE hazard to any children (such as my own) getting hurt. The sprinkler system that was supposed to make things grow was not done once, nor twice, but three times and it still DOES NOT WORK. The landscaping was done, then torn up to install sprinklers that didn't work, and then that was done again, then torn up again. Finally, they just gave up and hacked it together after a year of mess. Now it is a wreck. I could go on and on, but I would rather just display my disappointment at the quality of our home and townhouse complex. I've given 1 star for the sake that Trico has had good reviews in the past, however that does not apply to our place. If you are looking to see what a multi-family development SHOULD NOT look like, drive West on Highway 1A, past 22 in Cochrane and look at the townhomes on the north side of the highway. That is a forgotten complex that Trico has walked away from. I live there every day and have to deal with poor workmanship and unfinished landscaping.