Tony Gioventu
Province

Dear Condo Smarts: We live in a 68-unit townhouse complex. All of our units are close to the same size so we have generally paid the same amount in strata fees each month. We’re now faced with major construction and the cost is going to be about $1.1 million.

We have several owners who have advised the strata council they will not pay the same as everyone else as their units are substantially smaller, and that in the future they want a reduction in their strata fees.

Council is aware we have not been using the registered formulas, but it seemed to work OK. In addition, one owner who’s been here 10 years also wants past payments “corrected” and she expects a refund for “overpaying.” This is getting ugly and we’re wondering what to do next.

— CH

Dear CH: All strata corporations must comply with the schedule of unit entitlement filed in the Land Title Registry or any other formulas that they have properly amended and filed in the Land Title Registry.

It is possible for strata corporations to amend their schedule of common expenses but it requires that the amendment be passed by a unanimous vote — which means every strata lot must vote in favour — and the new formula must be filed in the Land Title Registry in the proper form. The change must be disclosed to any potential or new purchasers or mortgage lenders.

A recent court decision regarding unfair application of strata fees and costs is very important for every strata that is not complying with their unit entitlement or filed and ratified amendments. In the decision of BPYA 1163 Holdings vs The Owners, Strata Plan VR2192, the court awarded not only the correction of how fees are calculated in the future, but also ordered the payment of damages dating back to 1996 relating to the overcharging of strata fees, which were identified as user fees. If the decision is not appealed successfully, the strata corporation will be facing the incorrect charge back to 1996 of $78,850, plus court costs.

The counsel for the plaintiff, Elaine McCormack, advises: “This is a wakeup call for strata corporations all over the province who are not allocating strata fees, common expenses and special levies as required by the Strata Property Act. Every strata must have a copy of the registered strata plan, schedule of unit entitlement and any filed amendments,” says McCormack.

“If your strata corporation is not using a registered formula and you have a history of different allocations for different costs, seek legal advice.”

If you’re in a new development, check the registered unit entitlement. It won’t likely be the same as was in your disclosure because the proposed unit entitlements on new developments are based on measured area, which is unknown until the building is complete and surveyed.

Tony Gioventu is executive director of the Condominium Home Owners Association (CHOA).

E-mail: [email protected]

© The Vancouver Province 2008

 

Province

TORONTO — Canada‘s residential resale market cooled slightly in May, and while house prices continued to climb they did so at a more moderate pace, the Canadian Real Estate Association said yesterday.

Existing home sales in major markets fell 0.5 per cent to 26,902 units in May from April, according to CREA, which represents more than 94,000 realtors.

The average house price rose 1.1 per cent to $337,071 from the year before. CREA said that while this is a record high for the average price, it marks the smallest year-over-year increase in more than seven years.

“Unlike the situation in the United States, resale housing prices in Canada continue to increase,” said CREA president, Calvin Lindberg.

“The evolving market means the increase in average price is below the double-digit percentages reported in 2006 and 2007.”

Newly listed properties also hit a record in May, up 2.2 per cent from April at 54,029 units.

© The Vancouver Province 2008

Bob Ransford
Sun

More convenient public transportation means more affordable housing.

The costs associated with your daily personal transportation have to be factored into your total shelter costs. Those transportation costs are growing quickly — in fact, almost daily, with skyrocketing gas prices. One way of easing housing costs is to improve public transit and make it easier for you to choose this more affordable means of moving about the city to meet your daily needs.

It’s not easy today moving around Vancouver using public transit. Despite the billions of dollars spent on transit improvements in the region over the last two decades, the truth is that billions more need to be spent if we are to rebuild an integrated public transit network equal to the one that existed in the area 60 or more years ago.

Every dollar spent needs to maximize the public benefits. The expensive SkyTrain technology, with kilometres of underground tunnels, is not maximizing those dollars.

The $2.8 billion needed to build the proposed 12-kilometre Millennium Line subway extension along Broadway to UBC could install and equip 175 kilometres of a modern grade-level tram system, which would be about 60 kilometres longer than Vancouver‘s extensive streetcar system that existed in 1928. That is the conclusion of a recent study completed by UBC’s Design Centre for Sustainability, which looked at the costs and benefits of alternative transit systems.

Imagine living in Vancouver and, within a three-or four-block walk from your home, being able to get on a frequent streetcar that links to a system with connections in all directions in virtually every corner of the city. The foundations of that system exist today because the ease of transportation afforded by the streetcars that existed until about 60 years ago established the pattern of Vancouver‘s commercial arterial roads and adjacent neighbourhoods that still define the city.

The study by UBC Prof. Patrick Condon and his colleagues Sigrid Gruenberger and Mark Klaptocz questioned whether there were more affordable alternative to the existing SkyTrain. It compared the current plans for the Millennium Line extension to UBC with the recent development of the Portland tram system. Portland and Vancouver are remarkably similar cities, making them ideal for comparison.

The estimated costs of the Millennium subway line to UBC are about $233 million per kilometre. The costs for the new tram technology chosen by Portland were only $16 million per kilometre.

Research on Portland’s tram system also revealed how the new street-level transit system produced overlapping benefits, like more intensified land use in the area (EcoDensity in reality), improved access for the elderly and an overall improvement in civic quality of life as people were able to move around more freely.

During the formative years of Portland‘s streetcar construction, the amount of development adjacent to the new tram line increased exponentially. After the line was built, the potential for density within one block of the line was 90 per cent higher than in the blocks farther away.

Many will argue that streetcars can’t achieve the same travel speeds as subway systems and therefore not as many people will use the system. Portland‘s system is one of the cheapest transit systems, but also one of the slowest. But speed is really only important if you want to move a long distance from one part of the region to another. Lower operational speeds are better if the objective is to move people within a city district and create complete communities where people live, work, shop and play.

Richmond lost the opportunity to truly revitalize No. 3 Road and make its downtown compact and walkable when it failed to fight for a new split system that would have seen SkyTrain end at the first station in Richmond linking to a grade-level streetcar system down No. 3 Road. Instead, the ugly SkyTrain elevated guideway has effectively killed No. 3 Road while it whisks people out of Richmond‘s downtown to shop in Vancouver.

Decision-makers ignored a study completed prior to the awarding of the Canada Line concession that showed that switching to a streetcar system for the Richmond portion of the line would create enough cost savings to extend the Canada Line another seven kilometres along an existing right-of-way from Richmond‘s city centre all the way to Steveston. The additional travel time from downtown Vancouver to Richmond‘s city centre would have been five minutes.

Decision-makers ought to pay attention to the results of the UBC study before making the next costly decision on public transit.

Bob Ransford is a public affairs consultant with COUNTERPOINT Communications Inc. He is a former real estate developer. E-mail: [email protected]

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

 

Sun

More than a century may separate the Salient Group’s new Paris Annex from the 29-residence restored Paris Block (right) at Hastings and Abbott in the Downtown Eastside, but they still have plenty in common.

‘The Annex will complement its neighbour in design and purpose,’ a Salient news release says. ‘These two buildings will share corridors, stairs and an elevator, and the juxtaposition of old and new speaks for The Salient Group’s commitment to sensitive development in Vancouver‘s original neighbourhood.’

The Paris Block, built in 1907, sold out last summer.

The six-storey building kept its painted brick façade, its turn-of-the-century cornices, sills and centre-pivoting windows. The homes in the new Paris Annex, with its minimal concrete frame and glass and aluminum façade, will range in size from 689 square feet to 1,415 square feet with prices starting at under $400,000. Salient expects to begin selling later this month.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

Affordable residences close to downtown

Marcus Chee
Sun

Kingsgate Gardens is sure to appeal to buyers looking for an affordable home with easy access to downtown Vancouver.

Located in the rapidly changing Edmonds neighbourhood of Burnaby, this 81-townhome development will have three three-storey wood-frame buildings placed together in a well-established neighbourhood when it is completed in the summer of 2009.

Construction is already well underway, with sales begun for the first two buildings on Kingsway. Homes facing the quieter 14th Avenue will be released at a later date.

As sales representative Marcus Chee points out, the location is ideal for residents, since they won’t have to cope with bridges to access downtown, yet they’ll be close to shops and services. Just a few blocks away on Kingsway is HighGate Village, and within a short drive there are the outlet stores in Queensborough, as well as large box stores like Walmart and Home Depot.

“We’re seeing a lot of changes in the suburbs with Vancouver prices extremely high [and] people are moving out here. They don’t want to cross the bridge and this area is more desirable in terms of travel time,” says Chee.

He adds schools are also nearby, including Sir Thomas Moore, a private school located around the corner from the development.

Since going on the market earlier this month, Kingsgate Gardens has attracted primarily first-time homeowners and investors, says Chee. Many of the one-bedroom units at the lower price points on Kingsway were quickly snapped up when the grand opening was held.

Chee adds that the area, once dominated by single-family residential, has been changing, with more townhome projects being installed in the immediate area — another one is slated across Kingsway — and concrete highrises further up the road closer to HighGate Village.

Some of the buyers of Kingsgate Gardens are, in fact, residents of nearby condo highrises who want to stay in the area, but are financially ready to upgrade to a townhome.

The Edmonds neighbourhood, where Kingsgate Gardens is being built, is zoned for single-family residential and lowrises.

“Because of the scarcity of land, we’re seeing parcels of land like this being used for higher density townhomes. I think a lot of the municipalities are becoming more savvy with development and they’re seeing townhomes as a good way to increase density,” says Chee.

KINGSGATE GARDENS

Project location: Edmonds, Burnaby

Project size: 81townhouses

Location: 7428 14th Ave. at Kingsway, Burnaby

Size range: 634 sq. ft.- 1,015 sq. ft., 1 – 2 bed

Prices: $256,900 – $477,900

Sales centre address: 7428 14th Ave. at Kingsway

Hours: Noon – 5 p.m. Sat – Thurs

Telephone: 604-324-4663

Web: kingsgategardens.com

Developer: ALTA Group of Companies

Architect: Paul Leong Architect Inc.

Interior design: ALTA

Occupancy: Summer 2009

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

 

Onni’s inserts new beginning into old district

Barbara Gunn
Sun

Strathcona may be Vancouver‘s oldest neighbourhood, but it isn’t too old to chart some new beginnings.

In a district that grew up around Hastings Mill, the streets are dotted with colourful houses, some dating back to the 19th century. Yet this isn’t a neighbourhood that’s looking only to the past, suggests Chris Evans of the Onni Development Group.

Strathcona is also very much focused on today — and tomorrow.

“I think it’s having a revival,” the Onni executive says. “It’s certainly going to be true to its roots… But I think it just continues to evolve.”

Part of that evolution is starting to take shape in the 200 block of Union Street between Main and Gore, where Onni is installing something new in the old neighbourhood: a nine-storey project it calls V6A. By the time it’s finished in early 2010, it will be home to some 128 households.

Those households, says Evans, will live in a neighbourhood that continues to reflect its original vibrancy. But they’ll also be within strolling distance of an awful lot more.

“It’s funny,” says Evans. “We have a lot of people within the office who are looking at it as just a good opportunity to move into an area that’s emerging. It’s really so close to Gastown, southeast False Creek, downtown… We’re kind of a walk or a quick bike ride from almost all neighbourhoods.

“Obviously, south Main is there with all the great shops. Yaletown is probably a 10-minute bike ride, tops. So all those things, I think, give people the opportunity, at a quite reasonable price, to be able to get into the market at a great location.”

Strathcona was identified in 1986 as a character area by the Vancouver Heritage Inventory because of its “unique mix of building styles” – styles ranging from small cottages to large Queen-Anne-style residences decorated with elaborate brackets and shingle work.

As much as Onni wanted to insert something new in Strathcona – and the V6A interiors will most certainly provide for that sense of something new – the award-winning developer also wanted to ensure that the building’s exterior was in keeping with the area’s historic complexion.

To that end, says the V6A literature, detailed exterior cornices will be inserted in order to “to complement the historic architectural integrity of the neighbourhood.”

As well, says Evans, the retail spaces that will occupy the street level of the V6A project will have inset doors with alcoves, which he says are “typical of the [area’s] heritage.”

“And as you move up the building, the inset balconies [will have] columns that front the building… rather than protruding out.

“I would say the [brick] façade up to the first seven floors is similar to typical Chinatown heritage. Then above [on the eighth and ninth-floor sub-penthouse and penthouse levels] is going with a more contemporary, clean look, floor-to-ceiling glass windows.”

The V6A project – it’s named after its postal code – may be located in the heart of Vancouver‘s heritage district, but the interiors of the homes will be more reflective of the present than the past.

Laminate flooring will stretch from the entryways through to the living spaces, kitchens and bedrooms.

Kitchens – in most cases, they’ll have a linear configuration – will have composite stone counters, overheight marble backsplashes and refrigerators that are “hidden” behind wooden panelling.

Most of the homes, which Onni expects to bring to market toward the end of the month, will have at least 80 square feet of covered, recessed outdoor space. Penthouses will have rooftop decks.

Most will also have frosted glass sliding partitions that can be used to enclose bedrooms adjacent to the living area, something Evans says is representative of the flexibility that’s typical of loft-style living.

“It really gives people the opportunity to live as they wish,” he says. “You could keep these walls open, which gives it more of an open plan. But at the same time, if you are entertaining and have people over, you can shut the frosted glass walls.” V6A, is unique to the area, says Evans – and not simply because it’s being built in the 21st century.

“There are some other developments going on within probably a six- or seven-block radius, but certainly nothing of this size,” he says, adding that V6A will offer first-time homebuyers a chance to enter the market. “With downtown prices in Yaletown, Coal Harbor, southeast False Creek all over $800 a foot, [and] this being probably in the range of the mid-sixes a foot, it’s just going to give people the opportunity to get into the market.”

As well, he expects there will be other, established homeowners drawn to V6A.

“I think we’re also seeing some trend of people moving out of smaller spaces in downtown who are already in the market. They’ve seen their unit appreciate in value; they can upgrade their size of space and move east, get larger square footage, maybe a larger outdoor space for the same kind of money that they’re selling their 900-square-foot two-bedroom in Yaletown or what-have-you.”

Either way, Evans says, V6A residents will find something special when they take on a new postal code.

“This area is going to be one of the most dynamic neighbourhoods. It’s not going to be all one type of person; I think it’s certainly going to have a great variety.

“And I think to be part of that change – and an early part of that change – is just a great opportunity.”

THE ONNI DEVELOPMENT COMPANY’S V6A NEW-HOME PROJECT IS AN ADDITION TO VANCOUVER‘S OLDEST NEIGHBOURHOOD, STRATHCONA.

On the City of Vancouver website, Strathcona is bound by Hastings and Great Northern Way north and south and Quebec Street and Clark Drive west and east.

Strathcona is more, however, than a collection of city blocks.

For one thing, it’s an ethnically diverse neighbourhood with considerable history, and a place, author and heritage champion John Atkin says, “with a strong sense of identity and pride.”

A community that grew up around the Hastings Mill, and then expanded south from Burrard Inlet, Strathcona “is a place where residents meet as they walk to the corner store, exercise the dog or practise tai chi in the park,” Atkin says on the Discover Vancouver website.

“The street-end parks are meeting places to talk or sit and read in the sunshine,” he says. “The jumble of buildings are squeezed onto narrow lots, so close to each other that their gutters sometimes touch, and in a mixture of styles and colours that is uniquely Strathcona.”

Strathcona, named for the elementary school at Powell and Jackson, has one of the largest concentrations of 19th and early 20th century buildings in Vancouver, many of which are part of the city’s heritage inventory.

V6A

Project location: Strathcona, Vancouver

Size: 128 residences, 9-storey building

Residence size: 610 sq. ft. – 1,335 sq. ft., 1-3 bed

Prices: From the low $300,000s

Sales centre: 1829 Quebec

Hours: noon – 6 p.m., Sat – Thu

Telephone: 604-684-8717

Web: onni.com

Developer: Onni Group of Companies

Architect: Lawrence Doyle Young & Wright Architects

Interior design: Inhouse

Occupancy: Early 2010

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

Home listings flood market

LORI McLEOD
Other

A fresh flood of homes on the market sent resale listings to their second consecutive record level in May, while sales activity and price gains both cooled.

There were 54,029 new listings of resale housing units in major markets last month, a 2.2 per cent increase over the seasonally adjusted record hit in April, according to data released Friday by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

On an unadjusted basis, listings rose to 67,628 units, up 7 per cent from May 2007.

Unlike listings, year-over-year sales levels fell in 18 of the 20 markets in the study for which data were available. Information was not available for the Quebec markets because geographical areas in the province are being redefined.

Unit sales across Canada dropped by 17 per cent this May from the year before on an unadjusted basis, and by 0.5 per cent compared with April, 2008, on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Prices edged up 1 per cent in May from the year before to $337,071, a new record for the average price, but the smallest such increase in more than seven years.

“Rising food, fuel and home prices are denting consumer confidence. Increasingly cautious home buyers may keep listings on the market longer before being sold, which increases the importance of realistic pricing,” Gregory Klump, chief economist at CREA, said in a statement.

The most dramatic surges in new listings occurred in Saskatoon and Regina, a marked reversal from earlier in the year when they were the country’s tightest markets in terms of supply.

New resale listings rose by 58 per cent in Regina and 44 per cent in Saskatoon year-over-year in May. During the same month, year-over-year sales fell in those markets by 28 per cent and 37 per cent respectively.

This pattern has already been seen in other markets including Calgary and Edmonton, where tight supply and soaring prices have given way to a cool-down.

Listings in those markets are now retreating from the peak levels reached in March as the market readjusts, with listings up 1 per cent in Calgary and down 9 per cent in Edmonton from the year before.

“It is now becoming increasingly clear that the Canadian housing market is gradually cooling off, with the decline in activity in the West particularly pronounced,” said TD Securities economics strategist Millan Mulraine. “However, we believe that the sector will remain in reasonable shape, and will avoid any U.S.-style housing correction.”

CREA characterized Calgary, Edmonton and Windsor, Ont., – the only three markets where home prices dropped year-over-year in May – as the country’s three “most balanced major markets.”

Other data included in the report (all figures compare May, 2008 with May, 2007):

– Markets with the largest increases in listings: Regina (+58 per cent), Saskatoon (+44 per cent), Greater Vancouver (+20 per cent), Victoria (+20 per cent), Sudbury, Ont. (+16 per cent), Ottawa (+16 per cent).

– Markets with the largest drops in listings: Edmonton (-9 per cent), Windsor-Essex (-6 per cent), Newfoundland and Labrador (-6 per cent).

– Markets with the largest decreases in sales: Saskatoon (-37 per cent), Edmonton (-35 per cent), Calgary (-33 per cent), Greater Vancouver (-31 per cent), Regina (-28 per cent).

– Markets with increases in sales (2 of 20): Newfoundland and Labrador (+5.5 per cent), Ottawa (+2.5 per cent).

– Markets with the largest increases in unit price: Regina (+45 per cent), Saskatoon (+29 per cent), Saint John (+22 per cent), Newfoundland and Labrador (+21 per cent).

– Markets with decreases in unit price (3 of 20): Windsor-Essex (-6 per cent), Edmonton (-5 per cent), Calgary (-2 per cent) .

© The Globe and Mail