‘Five’ restoration in Vancouver marries preservation and sustainable construction, demonstrates densification’s attractions

Kim Davis
Sun

Standing on the northwest corner of Quebec and 27th in Vancouver, the difference in streetscapes is painted large. To the north, Quebec is a street typical of many single-family residential areas, a line of single-family homes, detached and attached, each home with a driveway and a yard fenced to the property line. To the west, however, is a row of five recently renovated homes which lack driveways and front yards, but appear to blend seamlessly with the sidewalk and landscaped boulevard just steps away from their front porches.

Although they do not conform to current zoning bylaws, because they lack on-site parking and far exceed the square footage allowed for lots in that area, the residences appear far more at home in the neighbourhood than those on Quebec. These homes are part of a unique heritage revitalization development called by all involved Five, which marries the overlapping interests of heritage preservation and sustainability in rehabilitating buildings rather than tearing them down.

Additionally, these houses demonstrate how density and livability need not be mutually exclusive.

HERITAGE LEVERAGED

The homes were built in 1912 on now standard 50-foot-wide lots and were owned by one family for more than 50 years.

After several changes in ownership, however, the homes were rundown and an eyesore in an otherwise vibrant community.

In 2004, a developer, reSource Rethinking Building, bought the site, but instead of demolishing the homes leveraged their heritage status into density to create a showcase for sustainable sensibility.

No space wasted

From the exterior, and even when inside, it is hard to tell that each of the site’s five homes hover around a mere 1,400 square feet.

Determined to restore the buildings to near original form, no square footage was added to their plans.

While the homes were raised to allow for the finishing of the ground floor, the buildings achieve their sense of spaciousness through carefully considered planning. “There is not a wasted inch,” says Robert Brown, principal of reSource Rethinking Building.

A small pantry just off the open kitchen, a linen closet tucked behind the door in the master bath and rooms that afford just the right amount of space provide evidence of this statement.

Surprisingly, the current floor plans, which include two bedrooms and a den (or small third bedroom), vary little from the homes’ original layouts.

While the developer drew numerous alternative plans, ultimately what was already there (with a few modest changes) proved the best use of space.

TRADITIONAL IN LOOK ONLY

Walking in and around Five, it is easy to get caught up in the beautiful design and heritage charm. Traditional-style front doors welcome you in; soft maple floors with underlying radiant heating and Berber carpets take you through the houses; and double-hung, wooden windows in nearly every wall offer light, fresh air and views of the surrounding neighbourhood.

Five is hardly your typical heritage renovation, however.

Those coveted windows are low-e and argon-filled to optimize energy performance. Low-VOC paints and finishes, and formaldehyde-free carpet, flooring and cabinetry ensure uncompromised indoor air quality.

Water-savvy fixtures like dual flush toilets and Energy Star appliances, including a tankless hot water system*, helped the homes go to 82 from 24 on the Energy Guide for Homes scale (an estimated savings of 12 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per house per year).

Wherever possible, FSC-certified wood was specified.

And when the original plans to use reclaimed flooring fell through, the project opted for Canadian-sourced maple, much of which, Brown notes, is sustainably harvested.

From reducing material consumption through the preservation of the existing buildings, to carefully balancing the need for privacy with opportunities for interaction, the Five project exemplifies healthy, sustainable living while at the same time honouring its historic origins.

NEIGHBOURLY REACTIONS

If the response from local residents is any barometer, Five is already a success. Cory Neal, the project’s on-site manager says that nearly every day, two to three people come by to thank them for helping to restore the community.

In the 10 minutes Brown and I stood on the corner of 27th and Quebec, nearly every person walking by (about 15 in all) stops to ask about the homes, or can be overheard talking about them.

Described in the marketing materials as “detached homes for townhouse prices,” the homes aim to fill an arguably underserved niche in Vancouver’s housing market. Brown expects to list the homes in the mid to high $600,000’s.

OPEN HOUSE

While one of the project’s developers has already laid claim to the corner residence, the remaining four will be open to the public next Friday and Saturday. Hours are 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

Even if you are not in the market to buy, the homes offer great inspiration for renovation ideas, as well as an opportunity to experience sustainable design firsthand. For more information about the project check out fivehomes.ca on the Internet.

Tankless, or on-demand water heaters, heat water only when there is a demand for it.

Turning on a hot water faucet ignites the heater’s burners and starts the flow of cold water through a series of heating coils.

This allows the system to provide just the right temperature and amount of water desired at that time.

With no tank to constantly heat, the system not only can provide an endless supply of hot water, no energy or money is wasted on keeping water constantly heated for the several times a day you use it.

© The Vancouver Sun 2006

 

Sun

Environmental sensitivities and a modernist esthetic demonstrated by the dominating presence of Machine Age materials are among the parts of the “hippest address” whole in the DoMain presentation centre (above) and, eventually, homes.

1. Cork flooring, a first for a multi-family residential project in Vancouver (until someone comes along and says otherwise), will be installed in entries, living and dining spaces and kitchens.

Cork flooring enjoys an environmentally friendly reputation because it is manufactured from a renewable resource and, further, the harvest of the resource inflicts minimal consequences on the environment.

Additionally, cork flooring is a poor conductor of temperature, sound and vibration, an important attribute in a finishing material in a home overlooking a busy intersection.

“It acts as an insulator against the city outside your doors, and it looks fabulous,” Merike Lainevool, the DoMain interior designer, comments.

If currency is a primary attribute of hip, then cork is the hip flooring of the month.

May’s House and Garden magazine offers this praise for cork flooring, from a Boston chef and restaurant owner: “A cork floor is softer than tile, so it’s nice to stand on all day. It feels much warmer underfoot and helps keep the noise level down.”

“Green Label” wool carpet from New Zealand will be installed in the bedrooms. “The carpets are loopy and funky, and they are custom made for DoMain” Merike reports.

2. The Whirlpool stainless-steel appliance package.

3. The stainless-steel counter and backsplash, an upgrade. An engineered stone countertop and ceramic tile backsplash are standard.

“It’s a favourite of chefs and great cooks everywhere,” sales campaign organizer Patricia Glass says of the stainless over counters and backsplashes. “You can spread out across all 111/2 feet of counter, the length in the unit type in the presentation centre, and then just wash it all down with dishwashing soap and a stainless-steel shine.”

4. The cabinetry, in “a fresh, ‘modernist’ white” or “a blissfully dark taupe,” in the words of Glass, with lower cabinets in red under uppers in white or lower cabinets in “European-inspired light green” under uppers in taupe” combinations available to buyers “who want to amplify the vibrancy” of their kitchens.

5. The long dining table designed by Lainevool and built by Radius Woodworking. Its plywood construction permits an uninterrupted span of eight feet, more than enough to seat eight people for dinner (and to dispel any apprehension that a small home unduly restricts its owners’ entertaining opportunities).

“Merike was inspired by the laminated-plywood furniture-pieces she sees every year at the Eastside Culture Crawl,” Patricia reports. “In addition to loving the look, she was in awe of the strength of the material.”

6. The plastic side chairs, from Verner Panton (1926-1998), a design innovator and leader in the 1960s and ’70s.

7. The modular couch from Upholstery Arts. “We selected from UA’s standard components, to create a piece to fit our display space,” Patricia comments. “The same could be done to achieve this custom look in any of the DoMain units, either in the living areas or in the flex spaces.”

8. Lighting over the table as generous as the table is long.The three Maxilite pendants Merike selected for the display are enclosed in shades of white linen.

© The Vancouver Sun 2006

 

Old neighbourhood generates ‘hippest’ opportunity

Sun

Location: 12th and Main, Vancouver

Presentation centre location: Same

Hours: Noon – 5 p.m. Sat. – Thu.

Telephone: 604-709-8070

Web: domainliving.ca

Project size: 43 apartments, 8 townhouses

Residence size: 535 sq. ft. – 1,175 sq. ft.

Prices: Starting in the $300,000s to $460,900

Developer: Holborn Developments

Architect: Creekside Architects Ltd.

Interior design: Kodu Design

Tentative occupancy: February, 2008

For people who want to own a new home in an old neighbourhood, DoMain — Vancouver’s “hippest address,” in the words of the new-home project’s promotion literature — is an opportunity worthy of examination.

The promise from the Holborn development outfit is this: Contemporary interiors demanded by a SoMa address within exteriors of brick and glass demanded by a Mount Pleasant location.

More than 1,400 people, many of them potential first-time buyers, have expressed interest in DoMain by registering with the project’s Internet site.

The names the developer has assigned to the interior colour schemes — “Bliss” and “Chill” — are only two of the “hip” associations the developer is attempting to create at Domain. “Bliss” is a white scheme, with red or sage-green accents. ”Chill” is a taupe scheme.

Appropriately for a project with a young-demographic target, Holborn Group is giving a nod to sustainability with the use of environmentally friendly cork flooring and “Green Label” wool carpets.

“My ‘muse’ for DoMain was the Main Street neighbourhood,” explains DoMain’s interior designer, Merike Lainevool of Kodu Design. “SoMa is full of colour, energy and creativity, and that’s what inspired my design.”

She found many of the design accents in the presentation centre while shopping on Main, the “ugly” dolls from Voltage and the tin robots from Bakers Dozen.

DoMain is Lainevool’s first major project under her Kodu Design label.

“DoMain is designed to be a unique setting for the vibrant people who live in this neighbourhood,” said George Wong of Platinum Project Marketing, Macdonald Realty, marketers of DoMain. “The modern, highly functional design offers a lot of flexibility and creativity for new homeowners to personalize the finishes in their space.”

For buyers who want to keep their homes simple, Lainevool explains, they might choose white kitchen cabinets, a particularly good choice if their furniture is bold. But if they want to infuse their kitchen with colour they could go for a red or sage green.

“If you want to crank up the vibrancy, you can add burgundy red lower cabinets to your white kitchen or you can add European inspired Honey Do light green lowers to your dark taupe kitchen,” adds Merike.

There is also a choice in flooring, either the standard cork or walnut.

DoMain will also feature nine-foot ceilings and some homes will have an innovative ‘guest’ concept plan, providing an adaptable space in the apartment that could either be used as a home office, media centre or guest room.

The Platinum Project Marketing organizer of the sales campaign, Patricia Glass, reports that the layout ingenuity adds to DoMain’s differentiation in the Vancouver market.

“The more people we consulted during the design phase, the more we realized that room to stretch and breathe was important, which is why there’s nothing less than 545 square feet at DoMain.

”Space to do their own thing is key for our homebuyers, so we’ve introduced the ‘guest’ concept to our plans, which maximizes the functionality of a one bedroom home.”

© The Vancouver Sun 2006

 

Adam Shell
USA Today

NEW YORK — In his first public comments as a private citizen since leaving the Federal Reserve in January, former chairman Alan Greenspan said Thursday that the housing “boom is over” but did not share his views on hot issues such as inflation, interest rates or Fed policy.

“This has been quite an extraordinary (housing) boom,” Greenspan said during a Bond Market Association dinner in New York. “The boom is over. I think we can safely say that with a strong degree of confidence.”

However, he said, there is “no evidence that home prices will collapse.” While he did not rule out price declines in “frothy” markets, he said it is too early to determine what impact a slowing housing market would have on consumer spending.

Greenspan, 80, also said he is not in favor of regulating the hedge fund industry, that the Medicare entitlement program is going to be much tougher to fix than Social Security, and that resilient consumers have weathered the increases in gasoline prices relatively well so far.

“One way or another, Social Security will be resolved,” he said. “The real fiscal problem is Medicare,” adding that the U.S. has already committed itself to more Medicare benefits than it can provide.

Greenspan’s 181/2-year tenure at the Fed ended on Jan. 31, when Ben Bernanke replaced him as chairman.

Wall Street was keenly interested in hearing Greenspan’s thoughts on economic and monetary issues but received no clues from him as to whether the Fed will raise its target for short-term interest rates again at its June meeting.

The Bond Market Association would not disclose how much Greenspan received for his speech.

Also Thursday, Bernanke said it “seems pretty clear now that the U.S. housing market is cooling.”

Bernanke, who did not comment on interest-rate policy, made his remarks after a speech on banking in Chicago.

The Fed chair said the central bank’s assessment at this point “is that this looks to be a very orderly and moderate” cool-down.

Another Fed official, Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, suggested the central bank was less likely to pause from its campaign of interest-rate increases after Wednesday’s report showing higher-than-expected consumer inflation.

“The inflation outlook is at the borderline of acceptable and perhaps moving beyond,” Lacker told reporters in Norfolk, Va., according to Bloomberg News.

Also Thursday, St. Louis Federal Reserve President William Poole said expectations in financial markets for the course of U.S. interest rates appeared on track, given economic data available.

Derrick Penner
Sun

Sawmill supervisor Tyler Bartlett has personal experience with the dwindling affordability in Greater Vancouver’s housing market.

Bartlett, 21 and a recent graduate of B.C. Institute of Technology, started looking at real estate in November. He’s already reduced his expectations from a house or townhouse in Burnaby to condominiums in Surrey or Coquitlam.

He dropped out of the market for a couple of months to watch interest rates, but then jumped in again, only to be beaten out in two successive bidding wars on homes priced in the $300,000 range.

“How are people affording housing today?” Bartlett asked. “That’s [the] biggest question I talk about with my friends. I have no idea how anybody in the Lower Mainland is affording the homes that they are.”

Derek Holt, assistant chief economist for RBC Financial, whose index report said B.C. recorded the worst deterioration of affordability in Canada in the first quarter of 2006, said the rising cost of home ownership, including mortgage payments, prices and taxes, outstripped income growth for the second quarter in a row.

Holt said dramatically rising prices, combined with rising mortgage rates, were the biggest culprits.

He added B.C. and Alberta surprised forecasters because price appreciation in these provinces remained at double-digit rates in the first quarter, which he characterized as “unsustainable” over the year.

“Over long periods of time, house prices should probably not stray too far from annual income growth,” Holt said.

He added it is becoming a “less forgiving environment” to adjust mortgages in ways that will allow buyers to carry large principals.

The RBC housing index measures affordability as a percentage of pre-tax income required to carry the costs of owning a home including mortgage payments and taxes.

RBC’s index report said B.C. affordability measures lie “at or near their highest points on record in every class except for condos.”

The bank’s index found that affordability declined across the country during the winter.

Among major cities, the least affordable was Vancouver, where the carrying costs of a bungalow amounted to 64.4 per cent, or nearly two-thirds of the average income, followed by Toronto at 41.7 per cent, Calgary at 32.7, Montreal at 34.9 and Ottawa at 28.9 per cent.

In Greater Vancouver, the affordability index score for detached bungalows was a 10.9-per-cent increase from the fourth quarter of 2005. The score on two-storey homes was up 7.5 per cent to 69.57.

The scores for townhouses and condominiums were much lower at 47.54 per cent and 32.69 per cent respectively but still up 7.9 per cent on townhouses and 9.8 per cent on condominiums.

“It still says that for most people that [two-storey-house] segment is out of reach,” Holt added

“It’s only relatively well off people, over $100,000 a year in income who can afford to play in that market.”

The RBC affordability index is just the latest comment on the financial pressure being put on buyers in the market.

TD Bank, for the past year, has warned that price increases that are outpacing income growth make Greater Vancouver the most bubble-like real estate market in the country.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. analyst Cameron Muir said he wasn’t surprised Vancouver’s unafordability scores crept up.

He added that he is still predicting that 2006 will be the last year of double-digit housing price increases.

“By 2007, we’re going to see [unaffordability] reach a point where it begins to have an impact on demand,” Muir said.

Tsur Somerville, director of the centre for urban economics at the University of B.C.’s Sauder School of Business, said Vancouver’s real estate market will eventually hit a correction, but it is difficult to point to any one statistic, such as RBC’s affordability index, as evidence that the correction is about to occur.

“People find things to do,” Somerville said, such as put basement suites into their homes to rent out and lower the carrying costs of their mortgages.

“We have a lot more of that [in Vancouver] than they do in Toronto or Calgary. It’s one of the ways people have adapted.”

Bartlett has now hired realtor Rob Boyes, with Royal LePage Coronation West Realty, and is searching for apartments in the $250,000 range.

“For a person starting out with virtually no assets, [and can] maybe come up with about 10-per-cent down, you can’t touch the housing market,” Bartlett said. “It’s gone for me.”

© The Vancouver Sun 2006

 

Politicians, planners need to do something about inventory problem

Ashley Ford
Province

Housing affordability in the Lower Mainland has gone, says Bob Rennie of Rennie Marketing Systems.

And there is an urgent need for politicians and planners to sit down and do something about it, he told the Urban Development Institute yesterday.

“Paying lip-service to it won’t work any more and sustainability and affordability must be looked at,” he said. “We already have an inventory problem, we can’t find land and there are just not enough sites.”

Rennie’s comments came on the same day the Royal Bank released a report on housing affordability showing that B.C. and Alberta buyers face the highest price hurdles in owning a home.

The report found that the cost of owning a home — including financing, utilities and property taxes — rose faster than incomes for the second consecutive quarter.

“The economies of B.C. and Alberta are driving most of that affordability deterioration,” said RBC economist Derek Holt, noting house prices rose 17 to 20 per cent in B.C. from a year earlier, while Alberta saw a 25-per-cent hike.

Rennie said downtown waterfront property now costs $1,500 a square foot to develop compared to $550 four years ago.

Non-waterfront land downtown is now $650 a square foot, up from $305.

Rennie said city officials need to consider increased densities and bonuses for developers to create more affordable housing.

He said no one predicted construction costs would go where they have and “I don’t necessarily believe they have settled.”

Despite his affordability concerns, Rennie believes the market is very stable and will remain that way.

He said the rest of the development world is in “awe of us” and international investors are keen to buy B.C. properties.

“We are already a world-class city and the world is coming here,” he added.

© The Vancouver Province 2006

Ashley Ford
Province

The Evergreen building in Coal Harbour has been saved from the wrecker’s ball and will become a heritage building.

The to-and-fro over the Arthur Erickson-designed office building at 1285 West Pender, with its landmark terraced design and rooftop garden, was resolved yesterday with the sale of the property by owner John Laxton to a B.C. government employees pension plan for an undisclosed price.

Laxton said he was very happy to see that the building will become a heritage structure with the Bentall Capital Group managing it.

He said it is his understanding the building will be completely refurbished and continue to operate as an office building.

The tussle over the building’s future has been going on for more than three years, and Laxton said he has nothing but praise for the city and all those involved in finding a compromise agreement.

“We have been able to preserve a great part of Vancouver architecture and that is very important as is the part of the deal will see it become a heritage structure,” he said. Laxton said his law and development firm will retain its top floor office space in the building.

The sale was arranged by Avtar Bains, executive vice-president for Colliers International. He said the negotiations took some time but it is one of the most important medium-sized building sales in the city because of its design and history.

Erickson designed the property for Laxton in 1980.

Laxton originally want to redevelop it as a residential building and hired Erickson to design a four-storey addition. That eventually was replaced by a plan for a high-rise that would have seen it demolished, but Laxton said he always wanted to see the building preserved.

Larry Beasley, Vancouver’s director of planning, said “I am really happy with this solution. A year ago we really thought we could lose the building and now it has been saved.” He said Laxton “was very co-operative and that helped a great deal,” he added.

© The Vancouver Province 2006

 

Jeannine Aversa
USA Today

WASHINGTON — The housing market, after flying high for five years, has lost altitude but appears headed for a safe landing, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday.

“It seems pretty clear now that the U.S. housing market is cooling,” Bernanke said in a question-and-answer session following a speech he delivered on banking in Chicago.

He noted that home sales and construction are slowing.

“Our assessment at this point … is that this looks to be a very orderly and moderate kind of cooling,” Bernanke said.

One of the things Bernanke and his Fed colleagues are keeping close tabs on is the extent to which a housing slowdown will chill overall economic activity.

The housing market has been a top performer. The sector racked up record sales five years in a row. Rapid appreciation in house prices has made homeowners feel wealthy and has powered consumer spending, helping the economy move solidly ahead.

Cooling of the housing sector is expected to be a factor in slower economic growth in the months ahead.

The economy in the first three months of this year grew at a brisk 4.8% annual rate, fastest in 2 1/2 years. Many economists predict growth will moderate to around 3% in the April-to-June quarter, still a good pace.

Bernanke did not discuss the future course of interest rates in his speech or in remarks afterward.

The Fed, which boosted its target for a key short-term interest rate last week, left its options wide open in terms of future rate decisions. It suggested another rate increase is possible if inflation worsens, or that it could pause in its two-year-old rate-raising campaign if economic growth slows.

Some economists believe the odds are growing that the Fed will bump up rates again at its next meeting, June 28-29. Those analysts say the odds went up after a government report Wednesday showed consumer inflation bolted ahead in April.

Others, however, believe the Fed will pause in June to see if economic growth will slow and ease inflation pressures.

On the issue of risky home mortgages, Bernanke pointed out that the Fed has issued some guidance for lenders and he underscored the importance of borrowers making sure they understand how interest-only and other non-traditional mortgages work.

“We’re not saying you shouldn’t make these loans. What we’re saying is that they be done the right way,” Bernanke told the banking conference.

Borrowers and lenders holding exotic mortgages could get clobbered if housing prices drop or interest rates rise sharply.

In his speech, Bernanke said federal banking regulators will press ahead on a sweeping plan aimed at improving risk management for the country’s largest and most internationally active banks.

The proposal, years in the making, dubbed Basel II, would instruct such banks to use complex new risk formulas to determine capital requirements.

The thrust of the proposal is to promote stability of the U.S. financial system and make big banks better able to withstand any financial problems that might erupt in the global marketplace.

“No immediate crisis requires us to move toward Basel II, but the gradual evolution of market practice and the emergence of very large and increasingly complex banking organizations operating on a global scale require that we make significant changes in the way we assess capital adequacy at these organizations,” Bernanke said at the conference organized by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

“Indeed, waiting for a crisis to force change would be foolish; by moving forward now, we have the luxury of being deliberate in the development and introduction of a system that promises significant benefits,” Bernanke added.