Retailer and interior designer turn a newly constructed loft into a Terminus sales-generator

Mike Sasges
Sun

ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARTIN TESSLER

ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARTIN TESSLER

ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARTIN TESSLER

ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARTIN TESSLER

ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARTIN TESSLER

ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARTIN TESSLER

Nancy Bendtsen and David Nicolay worked together on Terminus

Construction completed, the Terminus developer, Robert Fung of the Salient Group, still has homes in the Gastown new-home project to sell. To create a show home to aid the sales campaign, he turned over a Terminus loft to a Water Street neighbour, Nancy Bendtsen of Inform Interiors, and the project’s interior designer, David Nicolay of Evoke International Design. The commission, Nicolay reports, allowed him ”to showcase my interior design of the suite with amazing furniture and furnishings that enhances the space.” The collaboration, Bendtsen says, meant she could ”display Inform Interiors furniture in a real living space that has an exciting design.” Together, they took on the following questions:

What are the dimensions of the apartment?

The Terminus show home is loft-like, urban and adventurous. It is 11 feet wide, 70 feet long and 18 feet high. The interior design, accordingly, focused on sharing light, borrowing light and getting light further into the apartment with continuous soffit lighting in the hallways. The goal in choosing furnishings was to accent the “daylighting” with warmer task and ambient lighting.

What were the other “unalterables” you had to work with, such as door and window location and developer-provided cabinetry and appliances?

The materials palette for the cabinetry and floor finishes is minimal and neutral, which allowed us to have some fun by selecting vibrant and colourful accent furniture pieces. Other pieces maintained the neutral colour scheme of the residence for a sense of calm, maintaining the open flow of the space.

Given that linearity and that neutrality, what then did you do firstly?

We picked lighting in a variety of scales to respond to the scale of the rooms in which they were placed. For example, we put a small-scale adjustable floor lamp in the den to maximize the space’s flexibility. We used three large-scale pendants in the double-height living room to accentuate the scale of the room and a Bocci chandelier in the double-height entrance to again accentuate the sense of spaciousness.

Were there insoluble challenges?

Our biggest challenge was to determine who the hypothetical home owner would be: single, a couple, a family with a child? We ultimately furnished the area adjacent to the bedroom on the second level of the show home as a home office. This easily could have been a dressing area — or a nursery.

Could whatever you achieved be done with furniture and accessories from the years of the original construction of the Terminus?

The heritage facade, with tall windows on one side of the building, created the rhythm of the units. The interior is modern, as is the furniture. Here the sectional sofa is engaged with the heritage windows but does not obstruct the views. Furniture is a matter of personal taste. So we wouldn’t want to suggest avoiding antiques, but we would limit the use of late Victorian furniture to accent pieces and art work. Comfort in furniture design has come a long way since then.

Could whatever you achieved be done over time, as a household’s time and treasury permit? If so, how?

This project was not meant to be exclusive, and we only touched on a few of the many options for how to lay out the space. But for someone starting out on a budget, there are certain pieces they wouldn’t want to live without. The basic necessities would be a sofa, dining table and a bed. The order in which someone would buy further pieces would depend on individual requirements.

Lastly, what do you want readers to know about your work at the Terminus?

The Terminus condos are larger than one would think. Because we wanted the furniture to demonstrate the size of the space we chose pieces that are very large scale. What other normal condo could take a sectional sofa, for example? Or a king size bed with a large lounge chair and ottoman in the bedroom? The use of large-scale light fixtures also enhances the sense of volume.

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Financial Post
Sun

New homes prices rose in Metro Vancouver in May, the first time the region has registered an increase since April 2008, Statistics Canada announced Friday.

The prices Metro-area contractors get for their units rose just 0.4 per cent from April (and prices were down 8.3 per cent from May 2008), but that increase bucked the national trend.

New homes prices across Canada fell for the eighth-straight month.

The federal agency said prices decreased 0.1 per cent during the month, following a 0.6-per-cent decline in April.

Prices had previously dropped by 0.5 per cent in March and 0.7 per cent in February across the country.

Prices declined the most in Saskatoon, falling 1.2 per cent, and Hamilton, with a 1.1 per cent drop. Edmonton saw a 0.9- per-cent decrease.

“In Hamilton, several builders offered free upgrades, incentives and cash bonuses in order to increase sales during a period of less favourable market conditions,” Statistics Canada said. “In Saskatoon, a number of builders reported reduced material and labour costs while other builders have lowered their prices to be more competitive and to encourage sales.”

For the year, new home prices were down 3.1 per cent in May, compared to March’s 2.4-per-cent decline.

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Starts in urban areas of the province reached 12,000 last month, compared to 9,600 in May

Fiona Anderson
Sun

Housing starts in British Columbia jumped 25 per cent in June after reaching near record lows in May, a sign the worst may be over.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of starts in urban areas in the province — which adjusts actual building starts in the month for seasonal variations, then multiplies by 12 — reached 12,000 in June, compared to 9,600 in May, according to numbers released Thursday by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). But the actual number of starts — 1,062 — was still well below last June’s near-record high of 2,635.

The jump came from multiple starts, which when annualized amounted to 7,300 in June, up from 4,900 in May. Single-dwelling starts remained unchanged at 4,700.

June’s numbers were in line with CMHC’s forecast that home construction would pick up in the second part of the year, said Carol Frketich, CMHC’s regional economist.

“But it’s not going to be a strong pickup,” Frketich said.

Recent strong housing resale numbers — with last month being the second-busiest June on record in Metro Vancouver — bode well for future construction.

“New listings peaked last year and it has come down, and that was one of the adjustments we needed to take place in the resale market before we could see a pickup in home construction,” Frketich said.

“It’s still early days but it’s movement in the right direction,” she said.

Peter Simpson, CEO of the Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association, said his members have seen increased activity.

Increased sales are depleting inventories and builders are starting to contemplate new projects, Simpson said.

“And some builders have launched new projects to great success,” Simpson said. “They’re getting buyers and they are starting construction on their new offerings.”

These are experienced builders, Simpson said, who have been through many business cycles.

“So I think by launching new projects they’ve shown a lot of confidence in the market and in the future,” Simpson said.

While numbers are still well below last year’s, “last year was the second-best year since 1993, so the comparison this year is always going to be deficient,” he said.

BMO Capital Markets economist Robert Kavcic also believes the worst may be over.

“We probably saw the worst of it in [the first quarter],” Kavcic said in an interview. “But I don’t think we are going to see a super-strong rebound because there was quite a bit of overbuilding in the four or five years going into the recession.”

Construction in Nanaimo has survived the downturn almost unscathed, with housing starts down only five per cent from a year ago, CMHC’s Frketich said. Nanaimo was one of the few centres last year where starts were up from the previous year.

“So that’s one area where construction continues to do well,” Frketich said.

Across Canada, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts increased eight per cent to 140,700 units during the month, up from 130,300 units in May, the country’s first back-to back monthly gain since February 2008. The Prairie provinces experienced the biggest jump, up almost 60 per cent. But starts are still down 34 per cent compared to June 2008, and 48.5 per cent below the peak in September 2007.

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CMHC notes multiple-unit starts take all credit for increase in B.C.

Province

The rise in housing starts is not from single-family units, but from multiple units, says CMHC. Photograph by: Ric Ernst file, The Province

Home building in urban B.C. jumped 25 per cent last month as low mortgage rates, a growing population and fewer existing homes for sale began to reheat demand for new houses.

Provincial housing starts in urban areas of the province rose to 12,000 units in June from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 9,600 in May, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said yesterday.

“The increase was entirely due to an increase in multiple-unit starts, as single-detached starts were unchanged from their May level of 4,700 units,” CMHC said.

Still, total urban starts in B.C. remain below 2008 levels, CMHC said.

In the Vancouver area, builders poured foundations for 571 new residential projects last month, of which 216 were for single-detached dwellings.

Nationally, home construction rose more than expected in June as Canada‘s beleaguered housing market showed signs of a possible recovery.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts increased eight per cent to 140,700 units during the month from 130,300 units in May, CMHC said.

“The increase in housing starts in June is broadly based, encompassing both the singles and multiples segments,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC’s chief economist.

Most economists had expected 130,000 housing starts in June.

“The Canadian housing market posted its first back-to-back monthly gain since February last year,”said Millan Mulraine, economics strategist at TD Securities.

“However, despite the strong increase, starts are down 33.9 per cent compared to their June 2008 levels, and are still 48.5 per cent below the high watermark set in September 2007.”

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But prices here are still well above the national average, according to a new report

Fiona Anderson
Sun

Diane Wild decided the time is right to buy a unit in this condominium complex in Vancouver because prices have come down from their record-high levels. Photograph by: Steve Bosch, Vancouver Sun

Housing affordability has improved significantly in British Columbia during the first three months of the year but it’s still well above the national average, according to a report released Wednesday by RBC Economics.

Affordability improvements in the province ranged from 7.4 percentage points for a standard two-storey home to 3.5 percentage points for a standard condominium.

So while in the last quarter of 2008 it took 72.7 per cent of pre-tax income to service the purchase of a two-storey home in the province, that number dropped to 65.3 per cent in the first three months of 2008.

Condominiums were still the most affordable option requiring only 32.7 per cent of income at the beginning of the year, compared to 36.2 per cent at the end of last year.

In Vancouver, the decreases were more significant: From 8.6 percentage points for a standard two-storey home — 77.5 to 68.9 — to 3.6 percentage points for a condominium — from 39.7 to 36.1. When coupled with earlier drops, affordability has improved year-over-year by 14.7 percentage points for a two-storey home in the city to 8.9 percentage points for a condominium, one of the steepest drops in Canada, the report said.

“We’re quite encouraged because affordability had deteriorated quite substantially during the boom and it had put tremendous weight on the [housing] market,” RBC senior economist Robert Hogue said in an interview.

The increased affordability has caused resale activity to rebound with June being the second-busiest month on record for the Greater Vancouver area.

Jennifer Smith, 30, decided the time was right for her to get into the market. She bought a three-bedroom townhouse in Pitt Meadows, with 1,300 square feet of space, much bigger than the one-bedroom condo she had been renting. Her new home, which she moved into in June, has two storeys, a garage and a backyard, everything she wanted.

“It was a good time because the housing prices have come down and the interest rates were really great,” Smith said. “And I’m at a point in my life where I’m done with renting.”

Smith had thought about buying a year or two ago but wanted to save more for a down payment.

“And the housing prices even just a year ago were still rather high and I never would have been able to buy what I wanted,” she said.

“So I think I got in at a pretty good time because I got everything I wanted.”

Diane Wild, 38, had been putting off buying a place, but felt the time was finally right. She bought a two-bedroom condo in Vancouver, a step up from the one-bedroom she was renting, and will be moving in at the end of August.

“A couple of years ago I just thought prices in Vancouver were still crazy,” Wild said. “When they went down a bit it seemed like a better decision to buy.”

British Columbia and Vancouver still remain the most expensive places in Canada to buy a home. Canadians, on average, need to pay 39.4 per cent of pre-tax income to service the purchase of a detached bungalow, compared to 59 per cent in B.C. and 62.6 per cent in Vancouver. For a condominium, the average amount needed in Canada is 27.1 per cent of income but in B.C. that number is 32.7 and in Vancouver, 36.1.

“That’s Vancouver, that’s B.C.,” Hogue said. “Vancouver traditionally in terms of the affordability measure and in terms of housing prices has been far above pretty much everyone else except perhaps Toronto. That’s the nature of the beast.”

And further improvements in affordability may not be on the horizon.

“Most of the improvement is likely behind us,” Hogue said. “The drop in mortgage rates is mostly behind us. The drop in prices is probably mostly behind us as well. For further improvement it would have to come from rising family income and there it rests mostly on the economy.”

RBC’s affordability measure uses data from Statistics Canada to determine median income and data from Royal LePage for average house prices. The monthly payments are based on a 25-per-cent down payment, and a 25-year amortization at a five-year fixed mortgage rate.

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Vancouver costs drop but stay well ahead of the rest of the country

Province

Housing affordability in B.C. over the past year has improved the most since 1991, RBC Economics says.

The percentage of income required for various housing types in the province fell by 3.4 to 7.4 percentage points during the first quarter of the year, RBC said in a report released yesterday.

The average cost of maintaining a detached bungalow in Vancouver was 62.6 per cent of household income during the first quarter, while in Toronto it was 45.9 per cent, RBC said. Calgary affordability was 35.1 per cent.

“The repair of poor affordability levels in British Columbia accelerated significantly in the first quarter of this year,” RBC said.

“Sales of existing homes have picked up vigorously from historical lows during the November-January period and prices have shown hints of levelling off.”

A slower pace of existing homes going up for sale in B.C. and with low construction levels for new ones will likely put a floor under prices in coming months, RBC said.

Across the country, weaker home prices and lower borrowing costs are attracting buyers back into the housing market, RBC said..

“Declining costs of home ownership during the last year were driven by significant cuts in mortgage rates along with the federal government taking an active role in supporting the mortgage securities market,” RBC said.

RBC’s affordability index — the percentage of pre-tax monthly household income needed to maintain a home, including mortgage payments, utilities and property taxes — improved across all housing segments in Canada.

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