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Archive for March, 2007
HPO Homeowner Protection Act explanation for new home buyers
Sunday, March 18th, 2007To flip homes or not to flip homes
Sunday, March 18th, 2007‘If you cannot afford to lose, don’t get into the business,’ says TV flipper
Joanne Hatherly
Province
VICTORIA — They’re provinces apart, but Randy Mackay of Toronto and Robin Pickard of Victoria have a few things in common.
They’re both 40 years of age and they both have found, fixed and flipped four houses.
That’s where the similarities end.
Mackay has sworn off flipping. Pickard is still in the game.
On paper, Mackay looks like an obvious winner when it comes to house-flipping.
A 13-year veteran of the residential construction industry, Mackay co-hosted HGTV Canada’s The Big Flip. Cameras followed Mackay and a friend for a year as they flipped as many homes as they could. During the same period, Mackay’s construction firm built 18 luxury homes, showing that he is a businessman with resources.
It’s a good thing. He put up $1.5 million in the race to make a fast buck off the hot real-estate market. But one year later, Mackay refused to sign up for a second season.
“I’ve had enough,” said Mackay from Toronto. “I’m not doing it again.”
Meanwhile, Pickard, a full-time wife and mother, doesn’t even call herself a flipper, “because we actually live in the house. It’s our home.”
Pickard doesn’t flip as much as she flows from home to home, living in each one for about a year.
That’s her advantage. While Mackay fell victim to a stalled housing market that hit in the middle of the show’s production, Pickard can weather those storms.
“We never buy a house that we can’t live in,” says Pickard. If the market slowed, Pickard and her family would simply stay put and wait out the downturn. Pickard has never lost money on a flip, but she has sometimes spent more on a renovation than she expected. Those costs have ranged from $5,000 to $65,000.
Pickard declines to answer when asked how much money she’s made on her Victoria-style leisurely flips.
Of Mackay’s four flips, he lost money on two and made money on two. He likes to say that he broke even, but he admits that’s only true if he limits his audit.
“That’s if I don’t count my own time,” says Mackay who reckons that if he also took into account six per cent interest he could have earned on the money if he hadn’t taken it out of circulation, his losses would go into the hundreds of thousands.
“It’s like gambling,” says Mackay. “If you cannot afford to lose, don’t get into the business.”
If there are flippers in Victoria, Murray Sluggett, chief building inspector for the city, doesn’t know of any.
“We’re not seeing any that emulate the HGTV-style of house flipping,” said Sluggett.
The local home-builders association couldn’t name a house-flipper.
Arnie Harnden, operations manager for MAC Renovations in Victoria, says some clients have approached MAC to do renovations for a flip, but MAC usually doesn’t get involved in the project because they would prefer to do a quality job rather than a quickie makeover.
Other times, Harnden says MAC has been called in to fix flips that flopped.
“I’m sure there’s people out there who will do a quality job, but there are those who are just in it for the money,” says Harnden.
That’s where flippers can get into trouble, says Pickard, who says she does every upgrade as though she’s going to stay in the house, because she may end up doing just that if the market slumps.
She ponies up the cash for upgrades that are best left to professional tradespeople, such as plumbers and electricians. She saves dollars by taking on the surface work of painting and patching, along with her husband’s help. They also reduced the cost of their renovation by selling some of the things they replaced, such as kitchen and bathroom cabinets.
She relies on a home inspector to ferret out trouble spots.
“We’ve walked away from some houses,” says Pickard.
She looks for homes that appeal to a broad cross-section of the market — one-level houses that were built with a unique architectural esthetic quality that appeals to both empty-nesters and first-time homebuyers.
“Location is everything,” says Pickard.
Pickard repaints her homes, pushing the colour envelope to the outside edge of rich neutrals, just enough to give the house a professional look, without teetering over into colours too strong to suit most palates.
The result: Pickard’s homes all attracted offers the day of the first open house.
Pickard doesn’t know how many more houses she’ll shine and sell. The tug toward creating a permanent home is strong.
“There are things I miss doing, like being able to take my time doing landscaping and gardening.”
Mackay has some advice for wannabe flippers.
“Don’t step up to the plate if you can’t hit a home run.”
© The Vancouver Province 2007
Stanley Park History – once home to native settlements
Saturday, March 17th, 2007Randy Shore
Sun
Millennia-old native village sites in Stanley Park were still in use by first nations people in the 1880s when surveyors and road builders knocked the homes down to create the Park Drive perimeter road.
Road workers chopped away part of an occupied native house that was impeding the surveyors at the village of Chaythoos (pronounced “chay toos”), near Prospect Point. City of Vancouver historian J.S. Matthews interviewed August Jack Khatsahlano, who was a child in the house at the time.
“We was inside this house when the surveyors come along and they chop the corner of our house when we was eating inside,” Khatsahlano said in that 1934 conversation at city hall.
“We all get up and go outside see what was the matter. My sister Louise, she was only one talk a little English; she goes out ask Whiteman what’s he doing that for. The man say, ‘We’re surveying the road.’
“My sister ask him, “‘Whose road?'”
Most of the native inhabitants at Chaythoos left the park at that time and went to live on the reserve at Kitsilano Point, which was later transferred by the province to the federal government and eventually sold.
“When they left they took the above-ground grave of their chief with them when they left,” according to historian Jean Barman. The remains of Chief Supplejack, father of August Jack, had been kept in a cedar mausoleum at Chaythoos, the bones stored in canoe-shaped sarcophagus.
The last archeological survey of the park, completed in 1995 by Sheila Minni and Michael Forsman for the Ministry of Highways, found four new archeological sites. Their report also expanded the known boundaries of five of the seven previously known sites in the park.
Their survey was limited to the eastern half of the park and concentrated on areas affected by the expansion of the Stanley Park and Lions Gate causeway. The authors note that no complete survey of archeological and heritage resources in the park has ever been done.
Further investigation, they say, would likely reveal even more sites and contribute to the picture of native life and historic use of the park by native peoples.
Of one lost site, August Jack told Matthews of a burial ground not far from Xwayxway — now the site of Lumbermen’s Arch — that dates to “long before” his time. Its location remains unknown, though a letter to Matthews from local anthropologist Charles Hill-Tout notes that several skeletons were found during a road crew excavation of the shell midden at Xwayxway.
The largest settlement in the park in the 1880s, during August Jack’s time, was at Xwayxway, which was razed when the road went through.
The big house of that settlement was more than 60 metres long and about 20 metres wide, according to the interview with Khatsahlano. The building was constructed from large cedar posts and slabs. More than 100 people in 11 families lived there.
A potlatch was held at Xwayxway (pronounced “whoi whoi”) in 1875 in that longhouse, according to the commemorative integrity statement published when the park was declared a national historic site. The potlatch, held in the chief’s longhouse “Tay-Hay,” is also mentioned in the minutes of a city council meeting in which the medical health officer recommends destruction of the buildings at Xwayxway because of a smallpox outbreak, according to Eric McLay, president of the Archaeology Society of B.C.
Much of the native history of the park is shrouded in the mists of time. But Capt. George Vancouver encountered and wrote about people of the Squamish nation on those lands when he explored the area in 1792.
Spanish explorer Jose Maria Narvaez conducted a cursory exploration of the peninsula and the Burrard Inlet in 1791. But it was Vancouver who wrote about the area and its people at length in his journals.
Vancouver records it as an island, as the area from Coal Harbour west was submerged at high tide. He was met by 50 natives in canoes “who conducted themselves with the greatest decorum and civility,” he wrote in his journal.
The “Indians” presented Vancouver and his men “with several fish cooked, and undressed, of the sort already mentioned as resembling the smelt.”
He continued: “These good people, finding we were inclined to make some return for their hospitality, shewed much understanding in preferring iron to copper.”
Barman, an expert on the native history of the park, said the size and depth of the midden heaps found in the park suggests native settlement goes back much further than the good captain’s visit.
The midden at Xwayxway was so large that road crews who mined the site for calcined (fire-heated) shell used the distinctive white material to pave Park Drive “from Coal Harbour around Brockton Point and a long distance towards Prospect Point,” according to the notation on a City of Vancouver Archives photo of the crew excavating the midden heap.
Documents supporting the National Historic Site designation bestowed on the park by the federal government in 1988 note the existence of burial sites, middens and “long-abandoned villages” as well as acknowledging two “named” Squamish villages, Xwayxway and Chaythoos.
Minni and Forsman’s report includes five other native place names: Slhxi’7elsh (Siwash Rock), Ch’elxwa7elch (Lost Lagoon/Coal Harbour), Oxachu (Beaver Lake) and Papiyek (Brockton Point) and Skwtsa7s (possibly Deadman’s Island).
The documents suggest that the native settlements within the park boundaries are at least 3,000 years old.
“There’s evidence that [first nations people] were there for a very long time,” said Barman. “And this part of the history of Stanley Park has been acknowledged very little.”
“They talk about it as a sort of mythic past as opposed to saying that they were there when Europeans arrived and visibly living there until the 1920s,” said Barman, author of Stanley Park’s Secret: The Forgotten Families of Whoi Whoi, Kanaka Ranch and Brockton Point.
Midden heaps are scattered throughout the park, some of them close to the major trails that criss-cross the park today, Barman said. Their existence suggests that other village sites are likely waiting to be found, she said.
“There’s more there than just the midden heaps,” Barman said.
The site of Chaythoos village is noted on a brass plaque placed on the low lands east of Prospect Point commemorating the centennial of the park in 1988.
The apocryphal story has Lord Stanley spreading his arms and dedicating the park “to the use and enjoyment of peoples of all colours, creeds, and customs, for all time.” In fact, he would not visit the park until the following year, as governor-general.
“They so much wanted to erase the fact of the aboriginal presence in the park that they held the park opening ceremonies on the site of Chaythoos after they chased out the people who lived there,” Barman said.
The restoration of the park’s storm-damaged areas is a perfect opportunity to do some archeological prospecting and get a better idea of the potential richness of these troves, Barman said.
Stanley Park restoration task group leader Jim Lowden said the archeological survey being used by the park board shows the general location of a handful of significant sites around the park. The report, Status of Archaeological Sites on Lands Administered by the City of Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, was prepared for the provincial government in 1978.
The text makes reference to shell middens, with no detail about the other possible contents of ancient settlement sites, Lowden said.
McLay said only a fraction of the park has been properly surveyed and suspects many hidden features may have been damaged by winter storms.
Minni and Forsman recorded 92 culturally modified trees (CMTs), mainly in the area east of Pipeline Road.
“There is a high potential that undiscovered CMTs and other smaller heritage sites may be located in these areas of wind damage — just because no one has looked, doesn’t mean they don’t exist,” McLay said.
The restoration of the park is a great opportunity to add to our knowledge of the first nations history of the area and to make those sites part of the public park experience for visitors, he said.
While the Squamish Nation has the most recent history in the park, the downtown peninsula and much of the area of Vancouver is subject to at least five competing land claims, including assertions of historical use by the Sto:Lo, Musqueam, Tsleil Waututh and the Hul Qumi Num treaty group.
The Lower Fraser River region and Puget Sound were the centre of a thriving Coast Salish culture prior to European settlement, according to Bruce Miller, an anthropology professor at the University of B.C.
Stanley Park is part of the core Coast Salish territory, which includes the east coast of Vancouver Island, the Fraser River to Yale and in Puget Sound. It was one of the largest, most densely populated nations in aboriginal North America and unique because it did not depend on agriculture.
“These are people who travel by canoe, they are water travellers and this territory is part of a complex of waterways connecting places,” Miller explained. The Coast Salish did not define ownership of places in the modern sense, although they have assimilated European notions of land ownership, which tends to muddy land claims.
“Any one longhouse group would have a winter house in one place and procurement stations in other areas,” he said. Settlements, areas of stewardship and foraging areas were controlled by family groups and access was regulated through a complex network of kinship associations often built through marriage between clans.
“If you didn’t have direct stewardship of a place and you didn’t have access through kinship you just weren’t going there,” Miller said. “The key word is protocol; you could get access to these places but you have to do the right things, talk to the right guy and ask permission in the right way.”
Over the centuries before European contact, many family groups could have made use of the sheltered sites and food-gathering areas in and around Stanley Park. Out-marrying was constantly expanding the kinship networks, Miller said.
Tsleil Waututh (Burrard Band) spokesman Leonard George said his people’s history in the Burrard Inlet is one of continuous occupation and use dating back thousands of years.
But political and kinship affiliations allowed people from other clans to use prime harvesting and fishing areas at different times of the year and many of those relationships are still in evidence today.
“Even in the last five generations, we have relationships through our grandmothers to the Squamish people,” George said.
“My first cousins now are Squamish,” he said.
The first nations understanding of ownership allowed those lands “to be shared in peace.”
“We spent as much time in Squamish or at Musqueam as they did here,” George explained. “That’s even during my lifetime. We would forage feast where the clam picking was good and conduct our ceremonies together.”
“We respect common areas like Stanley Park collectively,” George said.
George said his family traces the George surname to the arrival of Captain George Vancouver, one of the first Europeans who had significant contact with native people in Stanley Park and Burrard Inlet.
First nations people will be working with the park board on every aspect of the park’s storm damage cleanup, restoration and future development.
“We want to make sure that our middens and anthropological interests are cared for,” George said. “Then maybe build a longhouse village to commemorate all of our history there.”
If something good can be said to come of the massive damage that winds and snow storms wreaked on the park this winter, it is that first nations and park officials are finally talking in a constructive way about first nations history in Stanley Park, he said.
STANLEY PARK WAS AN ‘ISLAND’ WHEN VANCOUVER SAW IT
Capt. George Vancouver’s description of his first dealings with the aboriginal people living in today’s Stanley Park:
From Point Grey we proceeded first up the eastern branch of the sound, where, about a league within its entrance, we passed to the northward of an island [Stanley Park] which nearly terminated its extent, forming a passage from ten to seven fathoms deep, not more than a cable’s length in width. This island lying exactly across the channel, appeared to form a similar passage to the south of it, with a smaller island lying before it. From these islands, the channel, in width about half a mile, continued its direction about east. Here we were met by about fifty Indians, in their canoes, who conducted themselves with the greatest decorum and civility, presenting us with several fish cooked, and undressed, of the sort already mentioned as resembling the smelt. These good people, finding we were inclined to make some return for their hospitality, shewed much understanding in preferring iron to copper.
For the sake of the company of our new friends, we stood on under an easy sail, which encouraged them to attend us some little distance up the arm. The major part of the canoes twice paddled forward, assembled before us, and each time a conference was held. Our visit and appearance were most likely the objects of their consultation, as our motions on these occasions seemed to engage the whole of their attention. The subject matter, which remained a profound secret to us, did not appear of an unfriendly nature to us, as they soon returned, and, if possible, expressed additional cordiality and respect. This sort of conduct always creates a degree of suspicion, and should ever be regarded with a watchful eye. In our short intercourse with the people of this country, we have generally found these consultations take place, whether their numbers were great or small; and though I have ever considered it prudent to be cautiously attentive on such occasions, they ought by no means to be considered as indicating at all times a positive intention of concerting hostile measures; having witnessed many of these conferences, without our experiencing afterwards any alteration in their friendly disposition. This was now the case with our numerous attendants, who gradually dispersed as we advanced from the station where we had first met them, and three or four canoes only accompanied us up a navigation which, in some places, does not exceed an hundred and fifty yards in width.
We landed for the right about half a league from the head of the inlet, and about three leagues from its entrance. Our Indian visitors remained with us until by signs we gave them to understand we were going to rest, and after receiving some acceptable articles, they retired, and by means of the same language, promised an abundant supply of fish the next day; our seine having been tried in their presence with very little success. A great desire was manifested by these people to imitate our actions, especially in the firing of a musket, which one of them performed, though with much fear and trembling. They minutely attended to all our transactions, and examined the color of our skins with infinite curiosity. In other respects they differed little from the generality of the natives we had seen. They possessed no European commodities, or trinkets, excepting some rude ornaments apparently made from sheet copper; this circumstance, and the general tenor of their behavior, gave us reason to conclude that we were the first people from a civilized country they had yet seen. Nor did it appear that they were nearly connected, or had much intercourse with other Indians, who traded with the European or American adventurers.
Perfectly satisfied with our researches in this branch of the sound, at four in the morning of Thursday the 14th [Date: 1792-06-14], we retraced our passage in; leaving on the northern shore, a small opening extending to the northward.
As we passed the situation from whence the Indians had first visited us the preceding day, which is a small border of low marshy land on the northern shore, intersected by several creeks of fresh water, we were in expectation of their company, but were disappointed, owing to our travelling so soon in the morning. Most of their canoes were hauled up into the creeks, and two or three only of the natives were seen straggling about on the beach. None of their habitations could be discovered, whence we concluded that their village was within the forest. Two canoes came off as we passed the island, but our boats being under sail with a fresh favorable breeze, I was not inclined to halt, and they almost immediately returned.
The shores of this channel, which after Sir Harry Burrard of the navy, I have distinguished by the name of BURRARD’S CHANNEL.
— from the journal of George Vancouver titled “Quit Admiralty Inlet, and proceed to the Northward — Anchor in Birch Bay — Prosecute the Survey in the Boats — Meet two Spanish Vessels — Astronomical and Nautical Observations” dated June 13, 14, 1792.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007
Donovan Movie Series – Today, the young and restless sell homes
Saturday, March 17th, 2007TRICKS OF THE TRADE. In their own words, how Cressey and its sales and marketing contractor became ‘movie’ producers
Cam McNeill and Marcella Munro
Sun
Web-marketing has been embraced by the real estate industry, but for the most part it has been through email contact with prospective buyers, web site design and the occasional virtual tour.
Last summer, Cressey Development Group and MAC Marketing decided to produce an online video series to tell the story of life at Donovan – our latest new-home project in Yaletown.
We knew enough about what we and our friends watch on YouTube and the Web to know we didn’t want an infomercial. We wanted something fun, urban, chic and sexy – something we could pass on to our friends and that they could pass on to their friends.
We asked Vancouver Eirector Roger Evan Larry for a short “viral” lifestyle comedy in the tradition of Sex and the City. Inspired by our request, he came back with a script for whole half hour featuring a great story and truly rich characters.
But with a half hour script and only a five minute budget Roger made a proposal:That Cressey sponsor this half hour and release it as five ”webisodes” instead of oneshow.
In exchange for cash and use of Cressey locations including the Donovan presentation centre, we made a deal that would give Cressey the right to use the series for our marketing campaign.
We hoped it would be a fabulous and exciting evocation of what Donovan the development would be – but without the usual obvious pitch. It turned out to work for all concerned, and then some. You can see for yourself at donovanlife.com on the Internet.
Donovan Life tells the story of Anya, a young professional woman who leaves her commitment-phobic boyfriend for her best gay friend, Dougal, and his luxurious new Yaletown apartment which just happens to be at Donovan.
Over five “webisodes,” Anya and Dougal try to get to the bottom of their mysterious metro-sexual neighbour’s dating preference, as Anya decides whether to go back to her boyfriend or start her life anew by moving into Donovan.
In producing Donovan Life, our goal was to come up with a concept and produce a series that would project the lifestyle of the building and the community — something that would create buzz for the development, and entice potential buyers to find out more.
From the beginning we understood that to have the kind of impact we were hoping to have we had to ensure that, above all, the videos were entertaining.
We think Roger, his writing partner and wife Sandy Tomc, and their entire team came up a story an an look and feel for the series that was both entertaining, and represented Donovan well. Who wouldn’t want to live next door to Will & Grace?
Why would we spend money on such a risky proposition?
There is, of course, no replacement for the traditional forms of marketing and public relations necessary to successfully launch a real estate development, or any other product for that matter
You have to give people what they want in a great location, and ensure the design and features are unique enough to make headlines. To get the message out, you still need to brand each project well, and use print advertising and direct mail effectively.
But we all know that what worked five years ago, last year, or even last month doesn’t always work the same way today. People always want to be engaged in new ways, and in the past two years, the Internet has dramatically changed the way people are engaging with each other, and seeking entertainment.
You only need to look at the effectiveness of online video campaigns such as those developed by BMW and Dove soap to understand how viral video can strengthen a brand.
Both the award-winning BMW Hire series and the Dove Real Beauty campaign have altered the perception of these products, and heightened their profiles considerably. And millions of dollars have been spent by companies trying to imitate their success.
In fact, last summer Business Week Online estimated the production and distribution of viral web ads is now a global $100 to $150 million industry.
While this still represents only a fraction of the world’s advertising pie, there’s no doubt that people’s changing habits when it comes to using the web for not just information but entertainment must change the way we all think about marketing and branding.
Of course, you don’t have to spend millions of dollars to reach people with viral video – we didn’t. In some ways, this kind of communication is a marketers dream because if it’s good enough, once you put it out there, you are truly relying on building “word of mouth” and on individuals to pass it on for it to be successful.
As we all know, this kind of personal recommendation can be powerful stuff. And for an industry such as real estate, where decisions are based on a complex combination of logic and emotions, these new tools can be an extraordinarily helpful in getting our message across.
As in all marketing and public relations efforts, the question is: Was Donovan Life campaign a success?
In terms of generating buzz, there’s no question. Hits on the “Donovan Life” website averaged about 670 a day after our traditional advertising campaign began on January 8th, peaking at approximately 4,000 hits the day before we released the first video.
On the day we released the first webisode, traffic spiked to almost 20,000 hits, and averaged more than 15,000 hits a day for the ten days over which the entire five webisodes were released.
As well, the series and our marketing strategy around garnered interest not just in the local media, but from the Chicago Tribune, the Financial Times of Germany, and around the world through bloggers and websites too numerous to count, including FastCompany.com, futureofrealestatemarketing. com, MarketingVox, culturebuzz.com and Adrants.
Through this project, we not only increased awareness of Donovan, but we also the strength of the Cressey and MAC brands by continuing to be leaders in innovation when it comes to marketing and portraying the lifestyle we’re creating with each project we develop.
There are of course some risks with this kind of approach. To get noticed among the ever-increasing wave of video, being launched through the Web everyday, you need to be prepared to do something slightly more edgy than the usual ad campaign. In the case of “Donovan Life,” we had to be willing to accept that some people may be offended by some of the language. We put a warning on the series to that affect, but we also felt the material and acting was more than funny enough to warrant the dialogue. In the end, we received almost no negative comments from this series.
As for sales, we sold 82 of the 152 homes on our first release to “friends and family” on Feb. 18, and appointments and interest in the remaining homes has been strong ever since.
Most of the buyers have seen Donovan Life and enjoyed it, and from our perspective, it certainly set us and the development apart by representing the vital, sexy, urban luxury lifestyle Donovan offers.
There’s no question Donovan’s profile was increased by the web series, and that it made people pay more attention. We believe people will always buy the best product, and Donovan’s features, amenities and design are why we had such immediate success. But it’s our responsibility to keep up with the public and ensure we are engaging them in whatever creative and entertaining ways that we can. And in our minds producing innovative online video has definitely become one strategy worth considering.
Cam McNeill is the co-owner of MAC Marketing Solutions. Marcella Munro is the new media & communications manager of the Cressey Development Group.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007
Toward building an affordable Vancouver
Saturday, March 17th, 2007Small steps (shared laundries), big steps (‘reciprocal development’) would trim new-housing costs in city, former councillor writes
Jim Green
Sun
WOODWARD’S HIS FAVOURITE: The giant Woodward’s redevelopment is Jim Green’s exemplar of “reciprocal development” locally.DENSITY AND TRADEOFFSEndorsed by neighbourhood businesses and residents, he writes, the project received increased density and height from city hall in return for a social-housing component; housing for the disabled; public outdoor amenities, space for an SFU school; and community office and commercial space.Vancouver Sun photographer Ian Lindsay captured this construction-site scene earlier this month, the heritage component, the frame of the original store, shrouded, the almost-as-old Dominion Building behind. Photograph by : Ian Lindsay, Vancouver Sun
Jim Green is a one-term Vancouver city councillor, two-time mayoral candidate and long-time developer and builder of social housing. He presented the comments published here to a forum on housing affordability earlier this month.
To help people enter the housing market and then to help them maintain their housing choices in today’s atmosphere of rising costs we need to question the basic assumptions of what is the best way for development to proceed.
In the past there have been many developments that have been contested by communities and sometimes by the City of Vancouver itself. (The CPR and the city have been involved in the courts for years over the future of the Arbutus ”Right of Way.” The costs have been enormous for both corporation and taxpayer.)
It seems to me that an antagonistic development process adds to the expense of housing and makes it more difficult to deliver in a timely manner.
An alternative to this is “reciprocal development” in which the developer engages consumer and community in a very real way and at the earliest possible moment.
Developer, community and consumer must be educated by one another.
I would further argue that the more the developer involves consumer and community in the design and placement the better the end product will be.
The approval process will clearly be faster if there is community support. In addition community support could lead to more density and height if there are benefits to the consumer, the community and the city.
There can be further reciprocal benefits if the development also provides specific components that address desired social and cultural elements such as social housing and/or support for the arts.
This reciprocal development, I believe, is the key element in development of a diverse, vibrant and inclusive city.
This is not a pie-in-the-sky concept that simply looks good on paper.
We have a laboratory example of “reciprocal development” in the Woodward’s redevelopment which went forward with the support of Chinatown and Gastown businesses and the residents of the Downtown Eastside.
The project received increased density and height from city hall as a result of providing social housing, public outdoor amenities, housing for the disabled, space for SFU’s school of contemporary art, community office and commercial space, and a child-care hub.
Another development, L’Hermitage, acquired extra density and height by providing new replacement single room accommodation units for the local low-income community.
Living Shangri La contributed to an affordable housing fund, saved and upgraded a significant heritage structure, endowed a public sculpture garden and planted thousand of trees to offset emissions.
The key to affordability generated by this process is that the community and development partners must create a compact that creates a proper working relationship and that this is endorsed and championed by the City of Vancouver.
The city must then apply the greatest degree of flexibility to allow reciprocity to create the desired results.
This is only the first assumption that needs to be question. Others may include:
– Persons entering the housing market prefer private amenities to shared amenities.
– A starter home must include an array of high quality appliances and finishes.
– Sustainable options are more expensive than conventional technology and materials.
– Households are static entities.
We assume we know what a person entering the market is looking for.
However, a starter home may not need a garburator; the new owner might be happier with rooftop composting.
If we are to generate affordable homes we must re-examine our assumptions and create a new philosophy of affordability.
For any number of reasons, shared living arrangements may be preferable to private and sustainability and creative design may be less expensive, more desirable and highly marketable.
If we take all of these factors into account, consumers and developers will both benefit from user design modelling.
This approach allows the developer to better understand the consumer’s needs and the “sacrifices” that are acceptable in achieving affordability.
Affordability is not created by choosing one alternative over another. It requires the correct bundling of options that work together to create affordability, livability and sustainability.
Are purchasers prepared to give up or reduce individual amenities in exchange for shared amenities?
For example, if they gave up smaller individual balconies in exchange for shared roof decks that allow for community gardens and other activities, they would most likely have better views than from apartment balconies.
This could be a very attractive alternative and would also be in keeping with sustainability goals and could add to social cohesion.
We must examine our concepts of housing units. For example, what is a two-bedroom unit?
This is an important concept in that the needs of people change through time as does the household makeup.
Students, young workers and others often get together to purchase or rent housing.
A two-bedroom home may be adapted to a three-bedroom by converting the living room into a bedroom. This may be designed to ensure access to the bedrooms does not require violating anyone’s personal space.
Later if things change the bedroom can go back to being a living room and a bedroom may change into a study or workroom.
This flexibility in the unity allows for affordability, more flexibility of lifestyles as well as allowing aging in place. More stable housing also leads to more stable communities.
Mortgage helpers in the form of secondary suites are one of the most cost-effective means of creating affordable housing.
These need not be confined to single-family-detached housing. They may work just as well in multi-storey, multi-unit housing. And they do not have to be an owner with a tenant in the secondary suite.
Both may be renters with the primary tenant being responsible for the two units. In this situation the secondary suites are referred to as lock-off suites. We have local examples at SFU’s UniverCity and Bastion Development’s projects at UBC.
Washrooms are more functional if functions are separated. Separation of toilets and washbasins from bath and shower allows simultaneous use.
This saves space and is cheaper than providing plumbing and appliances for two fully equipped bathrooms. Pocket (sliding) doors save space.
In units that are two bedrooms or larger there need not be a bathtub in all washrooms and showers may replace tubs in others.
LOFTs
– Sleeping lofts (static): A permanent sleeping loft over a work area could be well designed and be a sought-after design and living feature. It would add about 50 square feet to the home.
If the city were to include that 50 feet in its floor-space-ratio calculation, this could be a drawback. And building codes may require higher ceilings.
– Sleeping lofts (animated): This option has all the positive aspects of the static option, but disappears when not in use.
It required a pulley system that elevates the loft to the ceiling when it is not needed. It also requires a floor-lock system.
The sides and underside are treated with wood panelling or other claddings that adds to the overall design of the unit. There could be code considerations with this option. This would be seen as a very cool and hip unique option. Animated sleeping lofts may be powered by hand or electronically.
MURPHY BEDS
This is another option that has worked well in small homes in Vancouver (Bruce Erikson Place). Murphy beds need very exacting design to function well. They also require vacant floor area or daily re-arranging of furniture.
‘SHELL UNITS’
These homes are turned over to the resident with an occupancy permit, but are in different stages of finish. The resident is then required to provide “sweat equity.” “Shell” design allows the residents to alter bedrooms, living rooms, kitchen and dining arrangements as financial and livability needs change.
This allows the occupant to be involved in do-it-yourself design and renovation. (This is a very popular aspect for residents of single-family homes that can now be enjoyed by people in multi-unit accommodations.)
Unlike a static design the “shell” unit concept allows for units to better reflect the personality of the inhabitants. What are people prepared to forego to reduce purchase price? Are they prepared to purchase with less expensive materials that can be upgraded at a later time? Will they buy inexpensive armoires and do without built-in closets for the time being? What materials and appliances will they accept? In understanding “starter” home we need to know where “starter” starts.
Reduced finishes, or amenities, could include:
– Washer, dryer and dishwasher connections roughed in, but the appliances sold as options. Alternatively washers and dryers could be provided in basements and shared.
– Vinyl surrounds and flooring in bathrooms.
– Exposed concrete ceilings and polished concrete floors.
– Range-tops, with ovens optional.
– Shared composting areas for community gardens on roof decks rather than in-sink garbage disposers.
– Fewer parking stalls.
Any alternative to supplying parking is a great savings. In general, the less we use our vehicles the bigger our contribution to sustainability and livability.
The city may reduce parking requirements if alternatives are provided such as car-sharing or car-pooling options. As a parking stall costs up to $34,000 to provide, reduced parking can be one of the greatest way to provide affordability. Parking stalls should be leased or sold to inhabitants if they are needed. If all the stalls are not taken up by the residents and the car co-op they could be offered to the public.
We may also look at operating costs. Affordability is not just based on purchase price but the ability to sustain the residence. Therefore operational aspects of the home are as important as purchase price.
Fuel costs will continue to rise and could rise at a pace that would make it difficult for the owner to keep the unit. We need to look at alternative ways of heating air, heating water and cooling the unit.
Alternate systems are becoming less costly to install and are less costly to operate. Also there are programs that can offset the cost of installation. For example:
– Geothermal systems can save greatly on electrical and related costs while simultaneously reducing greenhouse gases and other emissions.
– Radiant floor heat is highly efficient.
– Passive solar floor heating is also efficient but needs to be used in conjunction with other systems.
– Installation of energy efficient lighting through the use of fluorescent lamps rather than incandescents.
Water is a resource that is becoming rare and more costly. Collecting rainwater, reducing consumption and recycling water can reduce costs.
There are very aggressive roles that the federal and provincial governments can embrace to assist in providing affordable housing.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities is very strongly lobbying the federal government to create a nation housing policy and plan.
Without this all of our attempts to assist persons to acquire appropriate housing will be at best patchwork solutions.
This is true of the province as well. The recent provincial budget had some elements, such as the elimination of the Property Transfer Tax for first-time home owners, that will help in the attempt to reduce housing costs.
IN SUMMARY
There are many little tricks that can make minor contributions to affordability. But we can make major steps to achieve affordable housing if we follow the model of “Reciprocal Development;” use sustainable approaches; seek density and height bonuses for providing social and cultural components; and reduce parking.
The beauty of this approach is that it not only produces more affordable housing, it also supports low income housing, the arts and livability. This in turn helps build a better Vancouver.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007
Varsity homes ‘the sequel’ has developer excited
Saturday, March 17th, 2007Robert Fung gave buyers their money back in 2005 because of unprecedented rise in costs
Michael Sasges
Sun
VARSITY
Location: West Point Grey, Vancouver
Address: 4375 West Tenth
Project size: 19 apartments, 4 storeys
Residence size: 1 bedroom, 1 + den, 2 bedrooms, 705 sq. ft. – 1,154 sq. ft.
Prices: $430,000 – $725,000
Developer: Salient Group
Architect: Tom Staniszkis and Kristina Kovacs, Neal Staniszkis Doll Adams
Interior design: Alda Pereira Design
Tentative occupancy: September, 2008
For more information: varsitystyle.ca on the Internet
Advance and retreat. Despair and deliverance. Conflict and resolution. Build homes on a property occupied by a movie theatre for 65 years and, of course, drama will ensue, developer Robert Fung’s experience with the Varsity new-home project suggests.
Fung has sold the Varsity homes before — in October, 2005. By last spring, he knew he couldn’t build them for the prices at which he had sold them. “The unprecedented rise in construction costs has claimed its first Vancouver victim,” as The Vancouver Sun’s business section reported in June of his decision to return the buyers’ deposits.
He returned the deposits with interest and with an additional sum of money to compensate the purchasers for their inconvenience.
He also promised to come back to market with redesigned and re-priced homes, with construction costs known before he sold the Varsity homes for a second time.
He now is selling the Varsity homes again. And, yes, his asking prices are higher in spring, 2007 than in fall, 2005. He’s declining to say how much higher.
He also organized a rewrite of the Varsity script in the last year.
The first Varsity homes were to have been located in a steel-and-concrete building. The latest homes will be located in an all-concrete building.
“A steel and concrete building is a very good building,” Fung comments. “But I like all-concrete better, just because we then have better control from a design standpoint. It’s better acoustically in terms of the . . . separation between units.
”Further, from the standpoint of our environment all-concrete is much more long lasting in a wet environment. And now and at the time when we re-costed it it turned out concrete and concrete and steel were the same instead of being a savings to do the steel.
”So you get a better building at the same price right now. we just redesigned it to be the better building at the same price. Concrete and steel is still a good way to do it, just more complex.”
If he has stepped back from the ”complex” outside, he has stepped forward with the sophisticated inside.
Fung brought in Alda Pereira as the relaunched Varsity’s interior designer, a resurrection of a collaboration that served him well at his Bowman Block warehouse conversion on Beatty Street in downtown Vancouver.
Alda Pereira is a storied new-home-project interior designer. Developers name buildings after her – Alda in Yaletown. When Oprah wanted an interview about small-home residency, she called Pereira. The interiors in this year’s lowrise of the year in the annual Georgie competition are Pereira’s.
The end-of-apartment glazing of the 19 Varsity homes frame Vancover’s most splendid geographies, natural and cultural.
To the north, just beyond the lane between West Tenth and West Ninth single-family-detached homes on tree-lined streets roll down to English Bay, the North Shore mountains beyond.
To the south, beyond West Tenth, the established neighbourhood rolls upward – as if unto infinity – at least from the upper floors.
These proximities figured large in her response to the interior spaces – large views seen from small homes and further, seen, from small homes located on what Robert Fung calls one of Vancouver’s ”high streets.”
”You see a lot of developments going up on the ‘high streets,’ four storeys, three residential over [one] commercial,” he says of the second-offer product he wanted at Varsity.
”Usually it’s discount housing. Behind it [will] be an expensive high-rise, or a mid-rise. Along the street itself will be the cheaper product. This is totally the opposite.”
Perhaps the most pointed reference to the location of the Varsity homes is Pereira’s tile selection for the kitchen backsplashes.
”The backsplash tiles are referred to by the supplier as ‘pool tiles,’ ” she reports.
”These mosaic tiles are one-inch by one-inch, with rounded edges and are traditionally used for swimming pools. We thought we would incorporate them in the Varsity project to reflect the larger ‘pool’ of the Burrard Inlet – certainly, for the lucky ones with a view – or the sky.
”Plus, there are three colours offered as an option, white, a ‘sky blue’ or a more dramatic dark ‘midnight’ blue.”
Perhaps the most pointed reference to Robert Fung’s aspirations for the Varsity homes – interiors only found in high-end Coal Harbour penthouses and never in wood-frame apartments on city arterials – are the kitchens he and Pereira have specified.
She credits him with the commercial gas range that is making its first appearance in the city (he says). It’s an Italian design, by a company called Bertazzoni.
He credits her with the fully integrated design of the kitchens, that is design that conceals as much as it reveals.
Simply put, you’re not supposed to see the fridge (or the dishwasher or the hood fan). ”The idea is that the integrated kitchen serves like a piece of furniture when you’re not in the kitchen and when you are in it it serves as a highly functional cooking environment.”
Comments Pereira: The integrated doors of the fridge and dishwasher allow these appliances to also disappear, which provides a cleaner and more modern approach to the overall function and aesthethics of a kitchen.
”These doors are fabricated by the cabinet millworker at the same time as the other cabinet doors. In this case, to match the lower wood cabinets.”
The lower cabinets will be faced in quarter-cut walnut with the grain laid horizontally, a presentation she says means the doors will ”visually become more like furniture pieces.”
The upper cabinet in white laquer ”are meant ‘to disappear,’ therefore opening up the upper half of the room.
”We have used this approach to small spaces in a few other projects with great success.”
She also specified the same arrangement for the Varsity bathrooms.
If the ”specs” inside were taken upmarket and one form of construction was replaced with another, the West Tenth facade of the building was not changed, Fung reports.
”We haven’t changed the nature of the building, in the way it interacts with the neighbourhood.
”It’s still of the same philosophy. We wanted a design that would utilize traditional materials. So we have brick, we have metal panels, we have glazing. But we will utilize them in a way that is contemporary.
”We wanted to try . . . and have something that isn’t in the face of the existing traditional neighbourhood. We wanted something that blends in, but also speaks to new design.”
© The Vancouver Sun 2007
Vancouver hotel a first for partners
Saturday, March 17th, 2007Sun
A Vancouver developer and a Los Angeles-based operator of luxury hotels announced a partnership this week that puts them in new markets.
For Amacon (the two-tower Brava and the Vancouver International Film Centre in Yaletown, among others) the Loden hotel is the company’s first hotel.
For the Kor Hotel Group, the Loden is the company’s first Canadian hotel.
For Vancouver, the Amacon news release says, the 130-room hotel is Vancouver’s first new hotel in five years.
Loden is scheduled to open this summer, the release says.
If the Loden announcement by Amacon signals a departure for the 40-year-old company, it signals nothing about its commitment to residential construction.
This year alone, Amacon is working on (at least) a new-home project in Morgan Heights and in Yaletown.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007
