Another residential development in southwestern British Columbia has been put on hold after failing to find enough buyers willing to shell out up to $1.1 million for the luxury condominium units.

A 28-floor residential tower in Abbotsford, B.C. is on hold after the project failed to find sufficient buyers.
(CBC)

Construction crews have abandoned the 28-floor Brio project in Abbotsford. It was advertised as the tallest residential condominium development to be built between downtown Surrey, B.C., and downtown Calgary

Real estate industry officials say the target market that developer Matsqui Land Corp. was going after didn't materialize in spite of inducements that included the use of luxury cars and valet parking.

"The average price for condos [in the Fraser Valley] is $180,000,'' said Jim McCaughan of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board. "Brio was selling some for over $1 million," he said.

Only 20 of the 174 units were sold before construction stopped several weeks ago.

News that Brio is on hold follows reports that a handful of condominium projects in the Vancouver area have run into financial difficulty, leaving dozens of purchasers in limbo.

Two recent examples are the Chandler Development Group Inc.'s H&H Yaletown project in Vancouver and the Garden City building in Richmond, which are in the hands of a receiver.

However, Brio buyers appear to have emerged relatively unscathed, even though their dreams of living in a luxury condo may take more time to realize.

All of the presale Brio purchasers got their deposits back with interest, a project spokesperson told CBC News.

However, the spokesperson was unable to say when construction will resume.

In order to speed development at Brio, construction crews were being offered catered food service.

The residential tower was originally scheduled to be complete by April 2009.

Apartments ranging in size from 670 square feet to 2,028 square feet were priced between $279,000 and $1.1 million for the top-floor suites.