At the buzzed-about Birchley Park master-planned community — a Diamond Kilmer development that will be nestled between the vibrancy of The Danforth, the charm of Birch Cliff, and the picture-perfect bluffs of The Beaches — residents will enjoy everything from a year-round swim spa and cozy fireside terraces, to a private central courtyard with hammocks and an outdoor gym (plus plenty more).

The sprawling 19-acre community will include a total of 1,050 suites across five development blocks, including mid-rise and back-to-back townhomes, with the first phase featuring 375 suites. The site will also incorporate retail at grade and an adjacent 5.5-acre public park. 

When it comes to the development’s varied amenities, two common themes resonate: four-season wellness and family-focused living.

READ: Breathe It In: Fresh Air Abounds At This Master-Planned Community

“Because of the scale of the project, we were able to deliver a tremendously unique amenity package that goes above and beyond what you’d typically find in a new community,” says Ty Diamond, President of Diamond Kilmer. “The way we look to deliver that is through a real focus on indoor/outdoor living, a connection to nature, and a connection to health and wellness.”

The indoor/outdoor element is reflected throughout the development to allow four-season use of the amenities. Diamond highlights Birchley Park’s indoor gym, which is juxtaposed with the outdoor fitness space in the courtyard. “There’s also an indoor yoga studio, and outdoor space that can be programmed as such,” he says. “There’s an outdoor swim spa and an indoor sauna; there’s indoor party areas with common outdoor terraces; we have an indoor catering kitchen and outdoor barbecues; and there’s also a programmed indoor kids’ zone and plenty of outdoor space for kids to enjoy.”

You get the idea. 

For Diamond, the star of the show is the development’s central courtyard, which houses an assortment of these amenities. “The courtyard is where we’re delivering all of the outdoor amenity programs, but also flexible green space all within a central location that facilitates a sense of community,” he explains. “You have these different complimentary outdoor amenities convenient to everyone’s living space.”

At a time when more children are growing up in condos, Diamond says that — in addition to health and wellness — the amenity programming specifically caters to family living and children. “This means things like an indoor half-court basketball court, a gaming room, and play spaces,” he says. “We are proud to deliver really sizeable indoor and outdoor components for kids of all ages to enjoy. You can literally walk out your front door and access these amenities.” 

Diamond also highlights the 5.5-acre public park that both residents of Birchley Park and the surrounding community can enjoy. “The design process for the park is ongoing, but we are really excited about some of the features we’ll see there,” says Diamond. “This includes accessible paths, a water play area, play structures, a dog off-leash area, and naturalized planting. It will be one of the city’s newest destination parks.”

Diamond Kilmer turned to The Patton Design Studio, of Toronto, to ensure the look and feel of the amenity spaces evoked a sense of both connectivity and overall wellness.

“It’s sort of a minimalist look, with muted tones and organic elements,” says Liz Smit, a designer at The Patton Design Studio. “We’ve also layered on the texture aspect as well, with textured walls and textured tiles. Everything is very tone-on-tone for the most part. There’s some contrast, but it’s a subtle contrast. So, it’s a very zen and spa-like Scandinavian feel to the look and feel of the building’s amenities.”

READ: Upcoming Master-Planned Community Boasts One of Toronto’s Best Locations

Smit says the lobby will feature a zen garden as a focal point, in addition to those textured walls. “The tech lounge off the lobby area creates a zone where someone could go and work on a laptop or just read,” she says. “It features a ‘green’ wall, so it’s about bringing the outdoors in and incorporating a wellness aspect.”

And it doesn’t stop there. “The cabana lounge and fitness/yoga/meditation area is all connected to the sauna, which is directly connected to the outdoors and linked to the outdoor programming,” Smit says. “We have some playful elements; we’re featuring some copper penny rounds in the cabana lounge to give it a fun aspect, but also tie into the layering of materials. For a natural tone-on-tone element, we are featuring these hanging cabana pods that people can lounge in. It’s all connected: you can exercise, sauna, use the outdoor facilities, and lounge all in one space.”

Smit also highlights the development’s pet spa – something that’s become a must-have for many Toronto pet owners. In the development’s first phase, the facility’s event lounges are connected to use together or separately and are adjacent to the outdoor amenity space. 

“It’s multi-functional and programmed really well,” says Smit. “There will be really fun, feel-good spaces for residents to use.”

While Birchley Park’s suite of amenities offer no reason to leave home, if residents should be so inclined, the development also shines on the location front, with many restaurants, shops, parks, and community spaces all within walking distance. Furthermore, it’s a six-minute walk to the Victoria Park TTC station and just a few minutes more to the Danforth GO station. Of course, the sights and sounds of the downtown core are just a short drive away.

But, with amenities like this, we wouldn’t blame you if you shamelessly want to spend most of your time at home.

Click here to learn more about Birchley Park.

This article was produced in partnership with STOREYS Custom Studio.

The post New Master-Planned Community Puts Amenities Into (Four-Season) Focus appeared first on STOREYS.

Under the TransformTO Net Zero Strategy strategy, a mandated shift – the construction of all new buildings with near-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 – means Toronto builders are on a relatively tight deadline for making major changes. 

But EllisDon, one of largest legacy construction services firms in the country, is already ahead of this curve. The employee-owned Canadian firm’s portfolio began with an elementary school in 1951, and has since grown to include universities, hospitals, and art galleries in every province. (This is without mentioning major, skyline-defining builds, such as the Rogers Centre in Toronto and the Summit Tower in Vancouver.) 

And just as the firm’s projects have evolved, so too have their building processes. One important example: the use of 3D modeling to create environmentally conscious living spaces. 

“Digital models do what drawn blueprints only dream of,” says Daniel Meissner, Director of Digital Asset Delivery at EllisDon. “You’re effectively building in the virtual world before you even break ground.”

Meissner’s team leverages reality capture and 3D modeling to create digital representations of the built environment, resulting in buildings that are built efficiently and, in the end, operated more sustainably. 

“The initial objective,” he says, “is to complete the project in the virtual world, and within this digital model, store all relevant data that will be required down the line.” The process mitigates risk and schedule complications, and positions the project for better performance once tenants have moved in. 

“If you think about 3D modeling, the industry has been talking about it for decades — building information modeling (BIM) has been a term for 40 years,” says Meissner. “But with such limitless applications, it’s taken a bit of time to translate the tech into real-world practicality.”

EllisDon has been a trailblazer in this pocket of the industry, helping guide the tech with unique use-cases for decades. The company’s in-house teams have produced hundreds of models, from skyscrapers to civil projects spanning tens of kilometers. 

READ: Waterfront Development Site Breathes New Life Into the Port Lands

EllisDon Developments’ new Etobicoke project on Fieldway Road, for which the firm is taking on the developer role, is the latest to use 3D modeling. 

“BIM is at the core of the design for Fieldway,” Meissner says. “Everything is designed in 3D, then you slice it and dice it to see what you need. We also use these models to plan logistics, show progress over time, and even to operate more safely.”

Post-construction, EllisDon leverages these virtually identical assets and in-building sensors to assist with building operations. Referred to as a project’s “digital twin,” the digital representation of a building is loaded with information, collected real-time from sensors installed throughout. Through this system, a facilities manager would know if something broke, what and where it was, and what they’d need to fix it – immediately.

“Many condos have aging systems that they’re not thinking about year to year. Using systems like the digital twin give operators the tools and live data to manage buildings efficiently over the long-term,” says Jody Becker, Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President, Infrastructure Services & Technology at EllisDon. “That’s the pillar of what EllisDon is trying to do. We’re not in it for a quick fix; we’re here for the long haul.”

“Every existing building will need to achieve net-zero by 2050 or sooner,” she says, “which means that nearly every major piece of building equipment or system is only one lifecycle replacement away from net-zero. For operators to be successful in achieving an economical path to net-zero, they need to start planning today to align lifecycle management with their net-zero goals – any other approach will result in increased costs and uncertainty in achieving those goals.”

Whether a building is a condo, a purpose-built rental, or a living space in between, digital twin models can help them meet these upcoming sustainability targets. For example, in the same way the construction process can be built out before ground is actually broken, these models can compare how a new HVAC system would operate, prior to it being invested in and installed. 

“We are only beginning to unlock the power of data in the built environment,” says Becker. “Tools like BIM, and now EllisDon’s digital twin, are helping to harness the vast amounts of data that our buildings produce so that we can improve operations, make the buildings more efficient, and produce less carbon. And because we know that you can’t be ‘green’ unless you’re ‘smart,’ through technology, machine learning, and AI, we are revolutionizing construction and building operations.”

Though digital twins may be costly, EllisDon’s belief is they’re worth the long-term investment in both the smooth functioning of a building, and in the environment.

“We need to lower our carbon emissions,” says Meissner. “Construction is a major culprit. But these models will help us track how we’re getting better [at] meeting sustainability and decarbonization goals.”

Cover image: EllisDon

This article was produced in partnership with STOREYS Custom Studio.

The post Tech And Sustainability: This Canadian Developer Is Doing Both appeared first on STOREYS.

With buyers less willing to overpay when they feel a property isn’t properly priced, a number of homes in the city have seen significant price reductions over the last few months.

But, rather than a sign of sellers settling, the tactic is often an attempt to appeal to more prospective purchasers and, hopefully, incite a bidding war.

The latest example of such a scenario is 561 Arlington Avenue, in Toronto’s Humewood-Cedervale neighbourhood. The home originally hit the market for $3.6M in March 2022, but no buyer materialized.

In the 15 months since, the property has been re-listed four times, with the price fluctuating by several hundred thousand dollars each time.

The latest listing, which hit the market on June 6, asks $2,499,000, or, $1,101,000 below the original price. The decline comes in spite of a “marvellous, complete renovation” consisting of more than $100K in upgrades.

Zack Fenwick, a salesperson with Harvey Kalles Real Estate, told STOREYS the move is a sales strategy intended to illicit a higher price come offer day, which is set for June 13.

“We tried a price that we thought would be market value, and it showed that it wasn’t. So we decided to drop the price and go to market with an offer date,” Fenwick said. “I’m seeing this happening more across all price points, which is really interesting to me given the lack of supply.”

Said tactic was used in the sale of 337 Cleveland Street — nearly $1M was knocked off the asking price of the Davisville Village home, but the property ended up selling for $426K over. It was also used in an attempt to sell 140 Harrison Street, although it was ultimately unsuccessful, and the home was taken off the market.

“This is not a $2.5M house. That is not an acceptable price to us. We’re looking to get above that,” Fenwick explained.

Specs

• Address: 561 Arlington Avenue
• Bedrooms: 3
• Bathrooms: 4
• Lot size: 86.4 x 32 ft.
• Price: $2,499,000
• Listed by: Elise Kalles and Zack Fenwick, Harvey Kalles Real Estate

Constructed with glass and steel, the custom contemporary abode was deigned by the architect-owner, and features soaring ceilings, hardwood floors, and ample natural light. Beyond the foyer, with its dramatic 14-ft wall of windows and striking marble floors, the main level offers an open-concept layout with a minimalistic design.

The kitchen is modern and monochromatic, with white cabinetry, black countertops, and stainless steel appliances. An elongated island, which seats four, separates the space from the dining area. Steel beams act as a divider from the family room. Through floor-to-ceiling windows, the serene space gazes out onto Cedervale Park, making for a “country in the city experience.”

A glass enclosed staircase leads to the second level, where the primary suite offers similarly stunning views, as well as heated floors and a sleek five-piece ensuite. The home offers two additional bedrooms and three more bathrooms, as well as a finished basement and a backyard that blends into the ravine.

With high hopes for a higher offer come June 13, Fenwick said he and his client have settled on an acceptable price range for the property.

“Since lowering the price we’ve definitely had more showings, more traffic, exactly the outcome we were looking for,” he said. “Now we just need to get the price we’re looking for.”

WELCOME TO 561 ARLINGTON AVENUE

KITCHEN AND DINING

LIVING ROOM

BEDS AND BATHS

The post Custom Cedervale Park Home Drops Asking Price By Over $1M appeared first on STOREYS.

And indeed, there has been growth in the spring market. According to the latest Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) housing statistics report, Canada’s real estate market posted an 11.3% growth in national home sales on a month-over-month basis in April 2023. All signs of a possible recovery in the housing markets for this year have been evident in recent months, and if the lively post-Easter weekend spring market is any indication, then it seems it could come to fruition. However, the problem of supply and demand in housing persists.

A Perennial Problem

Demand outpacing supply has become a perennial problem, especially when it comes to affordable housing units. In a 2022 report, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) stated that on top of the forecasted 22 million housing units required to help achieve housing affordability, an additional 3.5 million affordable housing units are needed by 2030 to better cater to the needs of the people. Further, Dalhousie University’s analysis of Canada’s National Housing Strategy (NHS) found that the NHS’s programs and policies have had little effect on affordability, with most of its programs focusing on market housing and private sector developers. 

And while the national government announced last year an additional funding of roughly $7.8 billion for the NHS (bringing the total budget to $82+ billion), a review conducted by the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) in early 2023 estimates that spending is closer to $89 billion, only a fraction comes at a net fiscal cost, and only a portion is net-new spending. 

READ: In a Changing Market, Here’s How to Set Agents Up for Success

In my own backyard, the frustration is palpable: Torontonians are increasingly frustrated with the housing affordability crisis. In a May 2023 Ipsos poll commissioned by the TRREB, respondents gave the city council failing marks in addressing the housing affordability crisis (“D,” 23%, and “F,” 31%), and 89% implored the next mayor to make housing a top priority.

The progressively worsening housing affordability crisis is an alarm bell. While the real estate market may be blooming, the accessibility of housing for all Canadians remains an essential concern that warrants immediate attention and action – not mere lip service.

Causes of the Affordability Crisis

Limited supply of new construction, speculative buying, Canada’s welcoming immigration policy, building of luxury homes instead of affordable ones, and the lack of skilled tradespeople in the construction industry are all factors that have led to this crisis. The current inflationary environment and high borrowing costs have also contributed to and exacerbated the state of housing in Canada.

An often overlooked but significant area of major concern that has impacted supply and spiraling development costs is the increasing time it takes to get projects approved. Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON) president Richard Lyall, recently wrote in a recent Canadian Real Estate Wealth Magazine article that “the approval timeline for a project in Toronto was a whopping 32 months in 2022, up from 21 months in 2020.”

Addressing these multifaceted causes requires a comprehensive approach involving policy interventions, strategic urban planning, and collaboration between various stakeholders to foster a sustainable and inclusive housing market that adequately meets the needs of all Canadians.

Government Efforts to Date 

The federal government has taken several measures to address the housing affordability crisis and alleviate its impact on Canadians. These initiatives include the introduction of the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive, the implementation of stricter mortgage qualification rules and stress tests, taxation of foreign buyers and speculators, and new taxes for vacant properties, in an effort to cool the market and discourage speculative behaviour.

Pursuing Sustainable Solutions: A Multifaceted Approach for Accessible Housing

While the government’s commitment to tackling the housing affordability crisis is clear, the housing challenge demands a multi-layered approach and continued collaboration between federal, provincial, and municipal authorities, along with innovative approaches to achieve sustainable, accessible, and affordable housing. 

Below are some practical ideas that I feel can help pave the way toward a more affordable housing market:

• Embrace innovative housing solutions: Incentivize developers of alternative housing models such as co-housing, co-operative housing, tiny homes, 3D printed homes, and modular construction with tax breaks, density bonuses, expedited permitting, and fee waivers or reductions. These solutions promote efficient land use and utilize available technologies to make homes more affordable.
• Update zoning and bylaws: Review and update local zoning regulations and bylaws to explicitly permit and encourage the construction of laneway housing and secondary suites. This can involve allowing for increased density, relaxing minimum lot size requirements, and accommodating parking needs.
• Encourage adaptive reuse and infill development: Promote the transformation of unused buildings, such as empty offices or industrial spaces, into homes to maximize their potential. Additionally, encourage the development of housing on vacant land or the revitalization of underutilized areas in cities, known as infill development, to further boost the availability of housing.
• Improve transportation infrastructure: Invest in transportation infrastructure, including public transit, to improve connectivity between urban centres and suburban areas. This can help ease the pressure of housing in high-demand urban areas and create opportunities for more affordable housing options in surrounding regions.
• Collaborate with private and non-profit sectors: Foster partnerships with private developers and non-profit organizations to leverage their expertise and resources in building affordable housing units. This could also include providing incentives and support to encourage their involvement in addressing the housing shortage.

Plans and budgets alone will not solve Canada’s housing crisis. We need real action and collaboration from all levels of government, community organizations, and stakeholders in the housing sector. With a comprehensive strategy, sustainable policies and practical solutions, we can take meaningful steps to ensure all Canadians have a fighting chance to access safe and affordable homes.

This article was produced in partnership with STOREYS Custom Studio.

The post Expert: Lip Service Alone Will Not Solve The Housing Crisis appeared first on STOREYS.

The CAC payment is pertaining to Anthem Properties’ project on 1616-1698 W Georgia Street that Anthem has named Park. The proposal is for a 33-storey building that will include 127 strata residential units, and is designed by New York-based firm Kohn Pederson Fox.

Development projects that require rezoning approval are subject to CACs, which can be delivered either as an in-kind physical amenity for the City or a cash contribution. In a report to Council, staff noted that the City and Anthem had agreed on a CAC payment of $26.1M for the Park project, as well as a deferral of a portion of the payment.

As per the City of Vancouver Community Amenity Contributions Policy for Rezonings, cash CACs have to be paid prior to rezoning by-law enactment, but portions of the cash CAC over $20M can potentially be deferred, at the discretion of the City.

When the Park project was approved, the City made an exception and agreed that $15,660,000 (60%) of the $26.1M — rather than just the portion over $20M — was to be paid prior to rezoning enactment, but that the remaining $10,440,000 (40%) could be paid either upon issuance of the Stage 1 building permit for the project or the 24 months after the rezoning enactment, whichever is earlier.

Rezoning enactment for this project occurred on April, 26, 2022.

In the report, the City said that Anthem has paid the initial 60%, but is seeking an extension for the remaining 40%, either upon the issuance of the Stage 2 building permit for the project or 24 months after rezoning enactment, whichever is earlier.

Stage 1 building permits are generally issued to allow excavation work on a site, while Stage 2 building permits allow for site works from foundations to grade.

The City notes that there are no proposed changes to the “outside date” and the remaining amount would still be paid by April 25, 2024 at the latest, adding that Anthem is requesting the CAC deferral — referred to as a “one-off” elsewhere in the report — “due to market uncertainty from recent interest rate increases, coupled with unprecedented increased in hard costs.

According to the City, the remaining balance is subject to interest accrued beginning from the date of rezoning enactment at prime plus 2%, with interest payable in quarterly installments,

Staff and the City’s Risk Management Committee are recommending Council approve Anthem’s request, and a decision will be made on Tuesday, June 13.

In an interview with STOREYS, Anthem Properties Founder and CEO Eric Carlson discusses the rationales behind the CAC deferral, why it’s a positive for the Park project, and the current state of housing development in Vancouver and Metro Vancouver at large.

Most people would consider Anthem one of the bigger developers in Metro Vancouver and may be surprised by this $10M CAC deferral request, or perhaps even take it as a sign that Anthem is in trouble. Can you elaborate on the reasoning for the extension request?

It’s unfortunate that this is kind of the implication in that story in the Vancouver Sun. This project has been around for a long time. We took four and a half years to get to the rezoning. Getting anything done in recent times has been very difficult. There’s new rules all the time, new regulations all the time, and it just gets bogged down.

We’re very anxious to get going. We want to start excavation this summer, while the weather is good and don’t have rain to contend with, and a little less traffic on the streets. But our construction financing won’t kick in until the fall, and you have to pay these fees by the time you pick up the building permit, typically. I wanted to get the project going, pay for the construction costs of the project out of, what I’ll call, corporate cash, and I just wanted help on getting it going. And the City is considering it because they want to get a bunch of homes built.

So getting the CAC deferral would allow Anthem to start on the project sooner?

Yes. If they don’t do this, we wouldn’t be able to get going until our construction financing kicks in. The project is in its own little capital fund — we have partners in it — and that capital pays for a lot of the fees, and the construction costs, and the interest, and the property tax on the land, but to really get going, we wanted to defer that [CAC] payment by eight or nine months. This project is quite well capitalized. We own the lands and have been carrying it for years. We’re sort of the owner-manager. We have partners on it. It’s a pretty strong group, and we’re motivated to see this thing through and get it done, but we’re trying to be prudent and get it done with the resources we have on hand.

This is just about getting the show on the road, as opposed to the project [not working], or we’re in trouble, or anything like that. To me, this is just normal business course. Stakeholders on real estate projects make arrangements all the time to create solutions to get things built on time and on budget to achieve mutually-acceptable outcomes.

Compared to the number of homes needed in the region, relative to population growth and household formation, there’s a huge deficit, which is why we have a 0% vacancy rate. This council and staff, they want to try to fix that, and this is them trying to get a project that’s ready-to-go going, a project that’s been significantly delayed because of the slow nature of the approval process.

(The City of Vancouver’s Director of Planning Theresa O’Donnell provided the following statement to STOREYS: Back when COVID hit, there were about 6 or 7 high-density downtown projects that stalled out.  The City was keen to keep those deals alive and we explored alternatives to our standard CAC policy in an effort to assist the developers. We worked with them to develop a 2-year time-limited option. One aspect of that option was to defer payment of these large CACs. Only 3 of the 7 opted for the deferral, Anthem was one of them.)

The City wanted to get fees. If we start construction, they’ll get them; if we don’t, they won’t. So if they give us a little bit of a helping hand here, they’ll get more money later [from interest]. We already paid $16M. In the meantime, they get all the connection fees, offsite fees, engineering fees, building permit fees. It’s kind of a win-win. And more importantly, for the market, we get more housing in the system sooner. Housing of any kind is good for the market right now. It takes the pressure off of other parts of the market, frees up stock as people move.

For Anthem, this just means we get our project moving several months sooner, rather than waiting even longer than we’ve already waited. It allows us to start sooner. It’ll get us digging the hole in the summer, it’ll speed up the completion time by — probably — five or sixth months.

What “new rules” are you alluding to that bogs things down?

We’re building houses half as fast as we’re capable of building them, because we’re so bogged down with all the new rules. There’s so many new rules, new fees. We’re trying to solve a lot of problems, for the world, for the community as a whole, whether you’re a politician, staff member, developer, or concerned citizen. Decarbonized buildings, climate change, affordability, [making] sure buildings are safe, but the end result of that is the building code gets longer every year, it gets more expensive to build a home every year, the fees go higher — as a percentage of the total — every year.

It used to be you pay one or two permit fees, now there’s like 20 of them — the big one being the CAC. The Province has introduced four or five levels of new taxation on housing units since 2018. The federal government is getting in on the action. Metro Vancouver [the federation], they’re now starting to charge fees. It just keeps getting layered on more and more.

How does this compare across municipalities, such as Burnaby, where Anthem has numerous projects?

It really depends on what year you’re talking about. The list of 10 municipalities that was announced last week [to be given housing targets by the Province], I think that kind of pressure speeds cities up. I will say that we’ve had better success in places like Coquitlam and Burnaby than we have in places like the City of Vancouver or the District of North Vancouver, or Port Moody for that matter.

But councils have changed in some of those cities, and attitudes have changed. I also think public knowledge and awareness of what the issues really are is increasing and so I’m finding that the City of Vancouver is getting quite a bit better, quite a bit faster right now.

Burnaby — even though it’s been great over the years — had two years where it was terrible because they stopped processing applications until they figured out what their affordable housing policy was. They got that done and now they’re back on track.

When you have pressures like we have with our housing problems, people do the best they can with what they know, and things can get bogged down. Collectively, as a region, I think we got quite bogged down in recent years. I think that some of the councils and municipalities have gotten worse, not better — not always because they were malicious, but because they just have different views of how things work, and I think that some of those views are misplaced.

Are there any positives?

What I’ve seen now is the beginning of a reversal. The focus is now “let’s just build homes.” We’re seeing City staff say “what can we do to help get this thing going?” And provincially, even. After four years of demand management constipation from the provincial government, blaming foreigners, money launderers, gangsters, and rich people for the housing crisis, they finally realized it’s because they weren’t building homes fast enough.

We finally have a coming together of stakeholders, of city governments, of city staff, and developers doing things to accelerate projects, to get housing supply back on track, but we’re in the beginning stages and it’s gonna take a while. But there’s a change in attitude.

Can we make building housing a top priority? Can we make regulating housing a top priority? I think we’re moving in that direction.

Responses have been edited for length and clarity. This article has also been updated with a statement from the City of Vancouver.

The post Anthem CEO Eric Carlson On The $10M CAC Deferral, State Of Housing Development appeared first on STOREYS.

The project is being developed by Vancouver-based Jameson Development Corp at 2538 Birch Street (formerly 1296 West Broadway), a site that was once occupied by a Denny’s.

The project drew the ire of many residents of the Broadway area because of the size of the proposed tower, particularly in relation to its surroundings.

The project was initially proposed in 2017 as a 16-storey building with 153 rental units, which received rezoning approval, but construction never commenced.

Jameson later changed the proposal to 28 storeys to take advantage of the Moderate Income Rental Housing Pilot Program (MIRHPP) the City of Vancouver introduced in late 2017, which — among other things — waived the Development Cost Levy for developers in exchange for below-market rental units.

The current iteration of the project consists of 258 rental units, 58 of which will be MIRHPP units, atop a commercial podium with office and retail space, as well as five levels of underground parking with 174 vehicle stalls.

Public hearings were held over three days in July 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, and City of Vancouver memorandums following those public hearings showed a variety of issues that were raised by upwards of 100 people.

Regarding a question about the value gained by the developer from the additional 12 storeys, Gil Kelley, the General Manager of Planning, Urban Design, and Sustainability at the time, and his staff said that “the cost to an owner to legally secure below-market rental units over a long period of time is significant when compared to market rental housing” and that “the proposed below-market rental units in this project will rent at approximately half the rate of a market rental unit in the same building.”

“The City’s Real Estate Division has evaluated the applicants’ pro forma and determined the cost to secure 58 below-market rental units at this location, over 60 years, is equivalent to the value of the additional floor area requested,” City staff added. “No additional land lift or profit is generated.”

Regarding concerns about the height of the building in relation to its surroundings, City staff acknowledged that an exception was made for the project in favor of the below-market housing units, saying that “the number of storeys correspond directly to the amount of floor space that the project requires to achieve profitability from the type of tenure that is targeted.”

Staff also added that they required the form of the project to be a slender tower atop a podium in order to achieve certain urban design objectives, so, therefore, the only way to make the project financially viable was to increase the height of the building.

In a March 2020 report referring the project to the public hearing stage, staff said that the floorplate of the tower is 6,500 sq. ft and that “limiting the floorplate size helps to control the physical slenderness of the tower, which in turn limits its impact on the surrounding areas with respect to physical imposition and shadowing impacts.”

Acknowledging the surrounding context, staff also noted that “this area of Broadway is currently developed with two to four-storey commercial buildings and mixed-use towers” including an eight-storey tower and two 13-storey towers in its immediate vicinity.

On Wednesday, commencement of the project’s construction was announced by the Ministry of Housing, who is providing Jameson Development Corp with a $164M low-interest loan for the project. The Ministry also noted that Jameson will be providing $81.41M for the project and the City of Vancouver $3.1M through the Development Cost Levy waiver.

The Province touted the project as “one of the first tall rental buildings to be developed along the Broadway Corridor,” but other tall buildings have been proposed for the Broadway Corridor since the Birch project, including a 29-storey and 28-storey project at the old Mountain Equipment Company, as well as a 40-storey mixed-use building atop the future South Granville Station of the Broadway Subway.

Construction on the Broadway Birch project is expected to be completed in 2025.

The post Divisive 28-Storey Broadway And Birch Rental Tower Begins Construction appeared first on STOREYS.

Some major highways and downtown streets will be inaccessible between Friday, June 9 and Sunday, June 11, likely making Toronto’s already bad traffic congestion even worse.

It’s a good weekend to leave your car at home, but, with several route changes and subway closures impacting TTC service, it’s probably best to just walk.

Here are the upcoming Toronto road closures to avoid:

Princess Margaret Ride to Conquer Cancer

More than 4,000 cyclists are expected to take part in the annual event, which will start at Exhibition Place at 8:30 am. On Saturday, June 10, the following roads will be closed at 8 am and are expected to begin reopening at 11 am:

• Westbound Lakeshore Boulevard West from Strachan Avenue to Windermere Avenue
• Northbound Windermere Avenue from Lakeshore Boulevard West to The Queensway
• Westbound The Queensway from Windermere Avenue to The West Mall 
• Northbound The West Mall from The Queensway to Burnhamthorpe Avenue 
• Westbound Burnhamthorpe Avenue from The West Mall to Mill Road

Do West Fest

The street festival is taking over a stretch of Dundas Street West all weekend. From 1 pm on Friday, June 9 until 12 am on Monday, June 12, Dundas Street West will be closed from Lansdowne Avenue to Shaw Street.

North and southbound traffic will be allowed to cross Dundas at Lansdowne Avenue, Brock Avenue, Dufferin Street, Dovercourt Road, Ossington Avenue, and Shaw Street.

Southbound Don Valley Parkway ramp at Wynford Drive

The ramp will be closed for pole replacement work on Saturday, June 10.

Don Valley Parkway South From Millwood Bridge To Beechwood Drive

The southbound shoulder will be closed on Saturday, June 10.

Lake Shore Boulevard East From Richardson Street To Lower Sherbourne Street

The eastbound curb lane will close for road and sidewalk repairs from Friday, June 9 until Wednesday, June 14.

Lake Shore Boulevard East At Cherry Street

One lane in each direction will be closed until Saturday, June 10 to accommodate work on the median.

Lake Shore Boulevard East From Cherry Street to Parliament Street

The westbound lanes will be closed until Friday, June 16 for permanent restoration work.

Lake Shore Boulevard West At Lower Simcoe Street

One lane in each direction is closed until Saturday, June 10 for concrete chipping. 

The post Toronto To See Several Major Road Closures This Weekend appeared first on STOREYS.

Joined by representatives from the Kensington Market Community Land Trust, Black Urbanism Toronto, and Chinatown Community Land Trust, Chow specified an annual investment of $100M to be used towards the purchase, repair, and transfer of affordable rental stock to land trusts, including not-for-profit, community, and Indigenous housing providers.

READ: With a Firm Lead in the Polls, Olivia Chow’s Renter-Centric Platform Is Hitting Home

“Working with land trusts and other non-profit housing providers, we can do more to empower communities to take greater ownership over housing and keep that housing affordable to families,” said Chow. “Together, we can support and protect renters, end renovictions and ensure people have real affordable options when they’re looking for a place to live.”

Taking a cue from the City of Montreal, Chow will also explore securing the right of refusal for the City of Toronto. This would give the City the pre-emptive right to acquire properties that are already listed for sale in order to secure them as affordable units.

Since launching her campaign in mid-April, Chow has maintained a firm lead in the polls with her renter-centric platform.

READ: As The Race For Toronto’s Mayor Heats Up, Here’s Where The Top Candidates Stand On Housing

The former city councillor, member of parliament, and school board trustee has spoken about creating a Toronto Renters Action Committee — a task force dedicated to establishing anti-renoviction bylaws, advocating for real rent control, and reviewing existing policies and programs related to renters — and has vowed to build 25,000 rent-controlled homes over the next eight years on City-owned land, including at least 7,500 affordable units and at least 2,500 rent-geared-to-income units.

She has also proposed raising the new Vacant Home Tax to 3% and using those funds to construct affordable housing and support the City’s existing affordable housing initiatives, including rent supplements.

“Renters are feeling precarious. They are worried about surprise rent increases and renovictions. They know the rental market is skyrocketing and they are afraid that if they have to move, they won’t be able to find a home they can afford. Renters need a mayor who has their back,” said Chow on Thursday. “Our city is losing affordable housing fourteen times faster than we’re building it. We need to build more, I have a plan for that, but we also urgently need to protect the affordable homes we have now before they’re gone forever.”

The post Olivia Chow Will Create $100M Fund To Protect Affordable Housing, Prevent Renovictions appeared first on STOREYS.

The Canadian architect’s first residential towers in the country and his tallest buildings in the world, the two-tower Forma will top off well above most downtown Toronto skyscrapers.

Rising 73 and 84 storeys in the heart of the entertainment district, Forma is defined by its twisting form and a shimmering façade, which was designed to reflect the city’s light and colour. A unique addition to the downtown core, renderings reveal stacked steel boxes soaring into the sky.

READ: Frank Gehry-Designed Toronto Skyscrapers Finally Get a Name

An official groundbreaking for the east tower, the shorter of the two, was held on Wednesday, and came as the project reached over $1B in sales, including the $20M penthouse suite. Gehry was present for the occasion, alongside developers Great Gulf Group, Dream, and Westdale Properties.

“This project truly raises the bar for the future of urban living in Toronto,” said Mitchell Cohen, Chief Operating Officer at Westdale Properties. “After almost a decade of planning, the momentum for this project has only continued to grow.”

Located at 266 and 276 King Street West, Forma will offer 2,087 units across the two towers, with layouts ranging from studios to three-bedroom plus den condos. The design features offset floor plates, giving every suite a different, yet equally enviable, view. The development will also house retail space as well as new facilities for OCAD.

Designed by Paolo Ferrari, the interiors establish “a compelling balance between exuberance and serenity,” the developers say. Amenities include a creator’s club with multi-functional workspaces, a maker’s studio with space for hands-on activities, and a health and wellness retreat with a spa, a jacuzzi, and a spin room. Located on the 73rd floor, the grand suite offers sweeping views, a theatre room, and a chef’s kitchen.

In designing Forma, Gehry, whose work includes the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, wanted to “build something new but that had a resonance with Toronto.”

“This building is very close to my heart. Toronto is my hometown, and I wanted to do right by it,” Gehry said.

“We wanted to make a building that paid homage to Toronto’s rich past while also looking forward to its optimistic future. I hope that we have succeeded in making a sculpture on the skyline to reflect the light and essence of this city that I love.”

The post Construction Begins On Frank Gehry’s Forma appeared first on STOREYS.

It’s now 2023 — 36 years later — and the average home price has increased by 1,162% to about $1,861,100, meaning an average tax bill that used to be under $1,500 is now closer to $35K, because the $200K threshold still stands, despite a grand total of zero homes being sold in the Greater Vancouver region for under $200K in 2022.

The tax was originally created to only target wealthy speculators, but instead of raising the threshold to meet the times, new thresholds were added — 2% on home prices between $200K and $2M and 3% on prices over $2M.

The government did introduce exemptions for first-time homebuyers, though. First-time homebuyers are eligible for a full exemption from the Property Transfer Tax if the property has a fair market value of $500K or less, and a partial exemption if it has a fair market value of less than $525K.

However, in 2022, a grand total of 8,396 single-detached homes were sold in Greater Vancouver, 120 (1.4%) of which were sold for less than $525K. In 2022, a grand total of 4,214 townhouses were sold, 75 (1.8%) of which were sold for less than $525K. In 2022, a grand total of 15,597 condominiums were sold, 2,239 (14.4%) of which were sold for less than $525K.

This is all just one of many reasons why the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) made formal recommendations to the Province last week to “overhaul” the Property Transfer Tax by conducting a comprehensive review of the tax, removing the tax on any home costing less than $75K, increasing the first-time homebuyers exemption threshold to $750K, exempting all presales, indexing those thresholds using the Consumer Price Index to allow for annual adjustments, and using revenue from the tax to assist renters looking to buy.

REBGV simultaneously made recommendations regarding the forthcoming Flipping Tax proposed by Premier David Eby, as well as general recommendations regarding increasing the supply of rental housing in British Columbia.

STOREYS recently caught up with REBGV’s Director of Economics and Data Analytics, Andrew Lis, to dive a bit deeper into the rationales behind the various recommendations, whether flipping is really a problem, and how all of these things tie into our housing and affordability crisis.

To start off with, can you tell me about how these policy recommendations came together? When did REBGV first start exploring these changes? Were any other industry stakeholders involved? 

These recommendations were actually developed in-house. There was no panel of stakeholders. The vast majority of the work was actually done by our Director of Government Relations Harriet Permut.

The first recommendation, regarding changing the threshold on the Property Transfer Tax — our organization and Harriet herself has been lobbying for this for a very, very long time. Many, many years. It’s possible it’s over 20, so this is not a new one we’ve been looking at. However, the angle that we’ve taken this time is slightly different, by translating it into an effect on renters, because I think the government is often not aware of how certain policies may impact or spill over into segments of the market that they’re not targetting.

It’s kind of shocking that the policy has not been reviewed since 1987. You would think something that old and that important would at least warrant a review.

The worst part is the government has a program to exempt first-time homebuyers, but they put in thresholds. To be honest, I’m not sure why the threshold levels exist. I think it just sort of so they could say ‘Well, we’re not giving this tax break to the wealthy, we’re just giving it to people who truly need it.’ That’s my speculation, but one could very reasonably question whether there should even be a threshold at all. If the goal of the policy is to help first-time buyers, does it really matter what price point they’re shopping at? They’re still a first-time buyer.

Home prices have gotten quite expensive. For many people, it’s very hard to find an entry-level home below the $525K threshold. We found that 15% of condos that sold last year were sold below that, but not all of that 15% were sold to first-time buyers. So really, this policy is having very little impact on our Greater Vancouver region. Outside the region, even if you look across the province, I think you’ll find that a significant amount of homes are priced above that threshold level.

It’s unfortunate. It’s a policy that exists, it could be helping, it could be doing more right now, but it’s sort of just sitting on the shelf collecting dust, when all they really need to do is a review of it and tie the thresholds — if they’re going to have a threshold — to the movement in the property market so it continues to make sense over time.

How did REBGV settle on the $750K threshold that’s being recommended?

It’s sort of just an arbitrary number, in some ways. That’s sort of where we see the entry-level price point for a lot of homes in our market. But again, I’m not sure there should even be a threshold. Of course, the policy already has a threshold in place, so removing the threshold is probably harder than just changing it, from a government policy and process perspective. It’s really just trying to make it as easy as possible for the government, but, honestly, it could be higher.

Another recommendation is regarding presales. Why exempt all presales without any thresolds?

Presales are tricky. In the discourse around housing, I think there is this belief that presales are kind of the domain of speculators, but that’s not really all that true. The issue there is that for one to actually move the needle on building more housing, your presale investors are a very key component. They are the one who fund new projects. Without them, you’re not going to get new projects. So if you put roadblocks in place, on people trying to invest in that product type, you’re just going to get less of that product at the end of the day. So we’re saying any kind of new construction should really be exempt to encourage people to invest in construction, so that we get more of it, because, ultimately, the answer to a lot of our issues is unquestionably adding more housing.

Let’s talk about flipping. What was the rationale behind the recommendations?

If you think about it: How do you define a flip? Is it simply any home that transacts within some arbitrarily-defined time period such as 12 months? Does it have to be a situation where the so-called flipper makes money on the transaction? What if they don’t make money? What about people who need to move for all kind of life reasons?

We know from census data that the vast majority of people who are younger, they’re the most likely to move, and so they’re the most likely to be hit by a tax like this if the tax is not very hyper-aware of all the life circumstances that could lead to somebody needing to move. And, of course, these are not people looking to flip, these are not people looking to speculate on the housing market. They’re just trying to live their life. You could imagine a situation where a young person buys a condo and let’s just say for some reason they don’t like it. They find that it’s too noisy and they can’t sleep, so they decide they want to sell it. Well, if the tax is so cost-prohibitive that they can’t sell it, then some renter who may like to own that condo can’t move in to it, because the owner isn’t going to move.

I think there is enormous potential for very negative spillover effects, such as limiting the freedom of movement up and down the housing ladder, and kind of locking people into their homes longer than they otherwise might stay, simply for fear of having to pay the tax, while they are not actually flippers. We’re just trying to say ‘be careful with a tax like this, make sure it targets the correct segment of the market you’re actually trying to target, be specific about who a flipper is, make sure this doesn’t penalize those who are most likely to move for life reasons.’

Is flipping a big enough issue these days to even warrant a new tax? 

I think if you were to put in all kinds of exemptions, you would find that the true number of so-called flips is just trivial. So it seems odd to me that they want to go through with the process of legislation and regulation, which is time-consuming, expensive, and takes up a lot of resources, while not providing the public with any information about the extent to which they know flipping is a problem.

It’s concerning to us in that it feels like another tax being added into the market, and we know taxation does not tend to spur the creation of new housing. Every new tax tends to have a negative effect on the addition of new supply.

I bet you that if you were to do an analysis of the values [so-called flips] were purchased at, what it was sold at, and you account for everything like fees, taxes, legal fees, title registration, and transfer taxes, the vast majority of homes bought and resold within some arbitrary-defined time period do not make money. At least not enough for it be associated with somebody speculating on the property market.

I’m not so sure that there is a sound rationale for the flipping tax, both in terms of its profitability and its prevalence. The government has the information they need to do a proper analysis. They have all of the sales data they would possibly need, they have tons of information about BC Assessment about the uses, they have data from the land titles registry. I would be very curious to see an analysis to see whether it truly is a problem.

It reminds me of the saga with the federal foreign buyer ban where it seemed to be responding to something that was perhaps a problem several years ago and created unintended consequences.

That’s exactly right. That’s a great example. It’s not like we don’t have examples of the government putting in policies that are both ineffective and create downstream consequences that are undesirable. It’s just kind of unfortunate, because it feels like a policy that’s a bit targeted towards garnering public support, but probably won’t have the impact they’re looking for, and could potentially create problems that they will find much more problematic than the so-called flipping problem, which may or may not be prevalent.

Has REBGV heard, or anticipate hearing, any pushback about any of these recommendations? Are there any that may require more softening for people to accept?

I think all of them are going to be somewhat challenging for the government to accept. I don’t want to sound too cynical, but the government has people working on policy — I used to do that, actually — and I know that when somebody from the outside comes in with a recommendation, a lot of people on the inside look at it and say ‘why would we do that? We already have these policies that are doing x, y, and z,’ so there’s that possibility.

For the flipping tax, it remains to be seen what the legislation will look like. We’re hopeful that they will at least listen to the fact that there could be a very lengthy list of exemptions that are needed. On the Property Transfer Tax, like I said, our Director of Government Relations has been lobbying for that for I don’t know how many years, and they haven’t listened. I’m hopeful they will listen this time, but we’ll see.

So the recommendations have been presented. What happens now?

Our understanding is that we take this information to this panel, the pre-budget submission panel, and they take that information and they go to government and present it, presumably, at other committees they have within government, and discuss which ideas may have some merit. And because of the sensitivity of some of these things, a lot of that is behind closed doors, so we don’t actually see the inside thinking and what happens next. Really, it’s more like we make these recommendations, I think there was a statement that the government released saying they’ve heard our recommendations, and that’s kind of all we hear.

So the ball is in their court now.

The ball is in their court.

Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

The post REBGV’s Andrew Lis On Overhauling The Property Transfer Tax, Dangers Of A Flipping Tax appeared first on STOREYS.