Metro Vancouver Areas That Will Most Benefit From the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive

Penelope Graham
other

The First-Time Home Buyer Incentive (FTHBI) has been highly scrutinized since it was first announced by the federal government in March; the program, which will see the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) provide interest-free down payment loans to home buyers in exchange for a share of equity, is considered to have restrictions too strict to really make a mark in Canada’s priciest markets.

The FTHBI, which will go into effect in September of this year, will provide some first-time buyers with 5% toward their purchase of a resale home. To be eligible, buyers must have a combined household income of no more than $120,000, and cannot take out a mortgage more than four times that amount, including the amount provided by the CMHC. They must also qualify for an insured mortgage, which requires them to have at least a 5% down payment saved.

What Does the FTHBI Do?

The FTHBI works by adding an interest-free second mortgage to the home purchase, which only needs to be paid back once the home is sold or the 25-year mortgage amortization matures. It cannot be paid back in installments, though homeowners are able to pay it off early with a lump sum. In exchange for the interest-free loan, the CMHC assumes an equity position in the home’s value, which can increase or decrease depending on market performance.

The loan reduces the size of the mortgage upfront, thereby reducing monthly payments and the amount of interest paid. The CMHC calculates that for a buyer receiving the maximum 10% (allowable on newly-built homes only), they’d save $286 per month, resulting in $3,430 in savings per year. 

Home Price Restrictions Too Low for Vancouver Market

However, the FTHBI’s income and mortgage limit maximums mean only a small pool of homes would be eligible; assuming a home buyer has the maximum income allowable and is making a 5% down payment, they would not be able to purchase a home with a price exceeding $505,000 in order to qualify for the FTHBI.

That arguably doesn’t have much traction in a market like Metro Vancouver; benchmark prices for Vancouver homes for sale were $998,700 in June according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver; benchmark detached houses fetch $1,423,500 while benchmark apartments – likely the only viable entry point to the market for most first-time buyers – sit at $654,700.

Only Apartment Purchasers Eligible in Metro Vancouver

In fact, according to recent calculations by Zoocasa, if you’re looking to purchase a benchmark-priced house in one of 16 Metro Vancouver markets using the FTHBI, you’d be out of luck altogether; there are no options priced low enough to qualify for the program anywhere in the region.

However, for apartment buyers, there are some options available in seven markets, though they remain beyond the downtown core. Here, benchmark apartment prices could potentially qualify for the FTHBI, assuming a home buyer qualifies based on household income of $120,000 and has saved the requisite 5% down payment. Home prices were sourced from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board for the month of June, 2019.

Markets with qualifying benchmark apartment prices include:

• Maple Ridge: $355,200
• North Delta: $377,900
• Surrey (excluding South Surrey): $416,400
• Langley: $416,900
• Port Coquitlam: $446,500
• Pitt Meadows: $498,400
• White Rock / South Surrey: $500,100

Check out the infographics below to see where it’s possible to utilize the FTHBI in Metro Vancouver:

© 2015-2017 Zoocasa Realty Inc.,

Metro Vancouver Areas That Will Most Benefit From the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive

Penelope Graham
other

The First-Time Home Buyer Incentive (FTHBI) has been highly scrutinized since it was first announced by the federal government in March; the program, which will see the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) provide interest-free down payment loans to home buyers in exchange for a share of equity, is considered to have restrictions too strict to really make a mark in Canada’s priciest markets.

The FTHBI, which will go into effect in September of this year, will provide some first-time buyers with 5% toward their purchase of a resale home. To be eligible, buyers must have a combined household income of no more than $120,000, and cannot take out a mortgage more than four times that amount, including the amount provided by the CMHC. They must also qualify for an insured mortgage, which requires them to have at least a 5% down payment saved.

What Does the FTHBI Do?

The FTHBI works by adding an interest-free second mortgage to the home purchase, which only needs to be paid back once the home is sold or the 25-year mortgage amortization matures. It cannot be paid back in installments, though homeowners are able to pay it off early with a lump sum. In exchange for the interest-free loan, the CMHC assumes an equity position in the home’s value, which can increase or decrease depending on market performance.

The loan reduces the size of the mortgage upfront, thereby reducing monthly payments and the amount of interest paid. The CMHC calculates that for a buyer receiving the maximum 10% (allowable on newly-built homes only), they’d save $286 per month, resulting in $3,430 in savings per year. 

Home Price Restrictions Too Low for Vancouver Market

However, the FTHBI’s income and mortgage limit maximums mean only a small pool of homes would be eligible; assuming a home buyer has the maximum income allowable and is making a 5% down payment, they would not be able to purchase a home with a price exceeding $505,000 in order to qualify for the FTHBI.

That arguably doesn’t have much traction in a market like Metro Vancouver; benchmark prices for Vancouver homes for sale were $998,700 in June according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver; benchmark detached houses fetch $1,423,500 while benchmark apartments – likely the only viable entry point to the market for most first-time buyers – sit at $654,700.

Only Apartment Purchasers Eligible in Metro Vancouver

In fact, according to recent calculations by Zoocasa, if you’re looking to purchase a benchmark-priced house in one of 16 Metro Vancouver markets using the FTHBI, you’d be out of luck altogether; there are no options priced low enough to qualify for the program anywhere in the region.

However, for apartment buyers, there are some options available in seven markets, though they remain beyond the downtown core. Here, benchmark apartment prices could potentially qualify for the FTHBI, assuming a home buyer qualifies based on household income of $120,000 and has saved the requisite 5% down payment. Home prices were sourced from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board for the month of June, 2019.

Markets with qualifying benchmark apartment prices include:

• Maple Ridge: $355,200
• North Delta: $377,900
• Surrey (excluding South Surrey): $416,400
• Langley: $416,900
• Port Coquitlam: $446,500
• Pitt Meadows: $498,400
• White Rock / South Surrey: $500,100

Check out the infographics below to see where it’s possible to utilize the FTHBI in Metro Vancouver:

© 2015-2017 Zoocasa Realty Inc.,

Metro Vancouver Areas That Will Most Benefit From the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive

Penelope Graham
other

The First-Time Home Buyer Incentive (FTHBI) has been highly scrutinized since it was first announced by the federal government in March; the program, which will see the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) provide interest-free down payment loans to home buyers in exchange for a share of equity, is considered to have restrictions too strict to really make a mark in Canada’s priciest markets.

The FTHBI, which will go into effect in September of this year, will provide some first-time buyers with 5% toward their purchase of a resale home. To be eligible, buyers must have a combined household income of no more than $120,000, and cannot take out a mortgage more than four times that amount, including the amount provided by the CMHC. They must also qualify for an insured mortgage, which requires them to have at least a 5% down payment saved.

What Does the FTHBI Do?

The FTHBI works by adding an interest-free second mortgage to the home purchase, which only needs to be paid back once the home is sold or the 25-year mortgage amortization matures. It cannot be paid back in installments, though homeowners are able to pay it off early with a lump sum. In exchange for the interest-free loan, the CMHC assumes an equity position in the home’s value, which can increase or decrease depending on market performance.

The loan reduces the size of the mortgage upfront, thereby reducing monthly payments and the amount of interest paid. The CMHC calculates that for a buyer receiving the maximum 10% (allowable on newly-built homes only), they’d save $286 per month, resulting in $3,430 in savings per year. 

Home Price Restrictions Too Low for Vancouver Market

However, the FTHBI’s income and mortgage limit maximums mean only a small pool of homes would be eligible; assuming a home buyer has the maximum income allowable and is making a 5% down payment, they would not be able to purchase a home with a price exceeding $505,000 in order to qualify for the FTHBI.

That arguably doesn’t have much traction in a market like Metro Vancouver; benchmark prices for Vancouver homes for sale were $998,700 in June according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver; benchmark detached houses fetch $1,423,500 while benchmark apartments – likely the only viable entry point to the market for most first-time buyers – sit at $654,700.

Only Apartment Purchasers Eligible in Metro Vancouver

In fact, according to recent calculations by Zoocasa, if you’re looking to purchase a benchmark-priced house in one of 16 Metro Vancouver markets using the FTHBI, you’d be out of luck altogether; there are no options priced low enough to qualify for the program anywhere in the region.

However, for apartment buyers, there are some options available in seven markets, though they remain beyond the downtown core. Here, benchmark apartment prices could potentially qualify for the FTHBI, assuming a home buyer qualifies based on household income of $120,000 and has saved the requisite 5% down payment. Home prices were sourced from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board for the month of June, 2019.

Markets with qualifying benchmark apartment prices include:

• Maple Ridge: $355,200
• North Delta: $377,900
• Surrey (excluding South Surrey): $416,400
• Langley: $416,900
• Port Coquitlam: $446,500
• Pitt Meadows: $498,400
• White Rock / South Surrey: $500,100

Check out the infographics below to see where it’s possible to utilize the FTHBI in Metro Vancouver:

© 2015-2017 Zoocasa Realty Inc.,

Office vacancies in Vancouver at 2.6 per cent

Joannah Connolly
Western Investor

Vancouver has been declared the joint-hottest office market in North America, along with Toronto, with downtown office vacancy rates plummeting, according to a July 9 report.

CBRE’s Canada Q2 Quarterly Statistics Report said that downtown Vancouver’s office vacancy rate was 2.6 per cent in 2019’s second quarter, down from 4.7 per cent one year previously and now equal to Toronto. The third most-sought-after office space in North America is in San Francisco, where the vacancy rate is 3.6 per cent.

The average vacancy rate for downtown office space across Canada in Q2 was 10.1 per cent, according to CBRE.

In terms of new office developments downtown, 46 per cent of the 3.9 million square feet of office space scheduled for completion by 2023 has already either been leased or is under contract.

The report said that the record demand is resulting record-high rental rates. Vancouver’s average Class-A downtown office rents increased to a record $44.00 per square foot (psf) in Q2, up from $42.02 psf the previous quarter.

Paul Morassutti, CBRE Canada vice-chairman, said, “Two years ago, it would have been unprecedented to have a Canadian city top the North American office rankings. We now have two Canadian cities setting the pace, which is truly remarkable. Something special is happening in this country and the investments being made by businesses and developers suggest that our office and industrial markets are well-positioned for the digital economy.”

Jason Kiselbach, vice-president with CBRE Vancouver, said of the Metro Vancouver office market, “It will be difficult to find locations for businesses that need to expand and for new entrants to the market. Never before has the option to renew clause within a lease been so valuable, and if businesses don’t have that option in their lease, it is critical that they start negotiating extensions and consider relocation alternatives well ahead of their current expiry.”

Across all of Metro Vancouver, office vacancies were low in Q2 at 4.3 per cent, or 6.1 per cent if excluding Vancouver proper. The report added, “Transit-oriented developments across the region are expected to provide more options in the next few years. Of the 5.1 million square feet of [Metro Vancouver office] space currently under construction, 31.5 per cent has been pre-leased.”

Industrial market still tight

In the industrial market, it’s a similar story, with both Metro Vancouver and Greater Toronto having “among the lowest availability rates in North America,” said the report.

It said, “[Metro] Vancouver’s industrial vacancy rate was 2.1 per cent in Q2 2019, despite that market having had the largest amount of new supply delivered in a single quarter in over 10 years in Q2: 1.5 million square feet. This shows just how insatiable demand is for industrial space in that market.” However, that vacancy rate is slightly higher than Q1’s 1.9 per cent. Greater Toronto’s industrial market is even tighter than Vancouver’s, having been at a record-low 1.5 per cent vacancy rate for the past two quarters.

Kiselbach said of Metro Vancouver’s industrial market, “There will be a limited impact on the availability of industrial space despite this new construction boom. So we anticipate record low vacancy and increasing lease rates to remain.”

The report added, “Strong demand and low availability pushed average net rents for [Metro] Vancouver industrial space to $12.62 psf in Q2, a 1.3 per cent quarter-over-quarter increase.” That price is 50 per cent higher than Greater Toronto’s average industrial rents of $8.18 psf, despite the GTA’s tighter vacancy rates.

CBRE’s report said that Metro Vancouver’s GDP is expected to lead the country over the next two years, with the highest growth for the office market lying in professional services and technology businesses, and for industrial, in the transportation, warehousing and manufacturing sectors. “This forecasted growth coupled with record low supply is why Metro Vancouver is one of the hottest commercial real estate markets in North America,” added Kiselbach.

CBRE’s quarterly market update comes just one day after it announced that the company had been awarded a massive $190-million-a-year contract to maintain and manage the B.C. government’s property portfolio. 

Copyright © Western Investor

Sam Mizrahi bullish on Toronto condos

Danny Kucharsky
REM

Mizrahi is currently developing The One, an 85-storey luxury condo, hotel and retail development at Yonge and Bloor streets that will stand at more than 1,000 feet, making it second in height only to the CN Tower.

Mizrahi says there have been more than 100,000 immigrants coming to the GTA every year since 2008, which has been fuelling Toronto’s real estate market. “It’s just been a very different market than other places in the world. We currently don’t have enough supply for the demand of 100,000 immigrants for the last decade or longer that have been immigrating to the city.”

An analysis published by The Globe and Mail found that there have been 6,350 planned condo units cancelled in the Greater Toronto Area since 2017. But Mizrahi says there has been a spate of condo cancellations for a very simple reason – there is a huge disparity in the pricing of the condo units when they presold versus where condo prices are today.

“The values are much higher today than they were in 2017 or when they did the presales,” he says, “and there were also cost escalations in terms of the cost of materials.” Hard costs have gone up about 35 per cent since the presales of the condos were conducted.

Pricing has increased more than anticipated and developers opted to cancel the projects “based on purely economics,” he says. “But it’s not to say there’s a problem in the market in terms of demand. It actually shows how much demand there was for the product.”

Mortgage stress tests and other rules that tightened access to mortgages resulted in an initial slowdown, he says, but interest rates are still at historically low levels. “Just getting a slight 250 basis points increase or 300 basis points increase is not going to really make any dent on the market. A market that is really in demand can afford the new mortgage rules.”

It was thought that taxes on foreign buyers would slow down the market and that real estate in Toronto would suffer, “but it really didn’t do anything.” There was only a short-term blip because the rules didn’t apply to the people that were buying, he says.

“They weren’t really foreigners. They’re people that are having their children go to school and university here; they’re people that are immigrating here, people that are moving their families here.”

Mizrahi says The One does not have foreign buyers. “It’s unbelievable. I keep asking ‘where are they?’ because they’re not in our building.”

Buyers at The One are families, empty nesters and divorced people. “We really have a mosaic of different age groups and diversity in the building that is hitting every age group and every type of family you can imagine,” he says. “It goes to the diversity of Toronto and Canada, which is great.”

Mizrahi adds there is a tremendous amount of depth in Toronto’s luxury condo market. He notes The One sold more than 75 per cent of its 416 units in 12 months, which is “significant” given that the development is one of the highest priced in Canada.

“There’s a significant need for high-end luxury products that before just didn’t exist in the marketplace,” Mizrahi says. “Everybody spoke luxury, but nobody really delivered it.”

Sophisticated immigrants who are moving to Canada are demanding “super high-end luxury” condos with high-end finishings and an eye to detail, he says. “They’ve lived in it and seen it for years prior to moving to Canada and they’re expecting to see the same type of product in Canada as well, which is creating the demand for it where we didn’t have it before.”

The One began construction in August 2017 and will be completed in 2023. It’s located at the southwest corner of Yonge and Bloor, the former home of the more than 100-year-old clothing store Stollerys.

The tower is being designed by internationally renowned architect Norman Foster of London-based Foster + Partners. Among the firm’s designs are the new German parliament in Berlin, the so-called “Gherkin” tower in London, the Great Court at the British Museum and Apple Corp.’s new headquarters in Cupertino, Calif.

The One features an exoskeletal design with column-free spaces throughout the building.

Aside from condos, The One will feature a 160-room Hyatt Andaz hotel on floors four through 16 of the tower, with more than 15 luxury suites, more than 12,000 square feet of event and conference space, restaurants, bars and a spa. There will also be a flagship ground-level retailer.

Mizrahi founded Mizrahi Developments in 2008 and previously ran Dove Cleaners. After initially building custom houses in Forest Hill, Mizrahi moved to luxury condo development.

His first condo project was 133 Hazelton Residences in Toronto’s Yorkville in 2011. His other projects include 181 Davenport and 128 Hazelton, also in Yorkville.

© 2019 REM Real Estate Magazine

FTHBI available September 2019

Steve Randall
Canadian Real Estate Wealth

The federal government’s plan to boost Canadian homeownership among middle class families now has an expected launch date.

The First Time Home Buyer Incentive is set to be available from September 2, 2019, Jean-Yves Duclos, the minister responsible for CMHC has announced.

The incentive will allow eligible first-time homebuyers who have the minimum down payment for an insured mortgage with CMHC, Genworth or Canada Guaranty, to apply to finance a portion of their home purchase through a form of shared equity mortgage with the Government of Canada.

The first closing is expected to be November 1, 2019.

Meanwhile, the Shared Equity Mortgage Provider Fund will launch on July 31, 2019. Administered by CMHC, the five-year, $100-million lending fund to assist providers of shared equity mortgages to help eligible Canadians achieve affordable homeownership.

“Through the National Housing Strategy, more middle-class Canadians – and people working hard to join it – will find safe, accessible and affordable homes,” the minister said. “Our proposed measures will reduce the monthly mortgage for your first home by up to $286. This will mean more money in the pockets of Canadians and will help up to an estimated 100,000 families across Canada.”

Incentive program facts

The First Time Home Buyer Incentive will be 5% for the purchase of an existing home, while for the purchase of a newly constructed home, an incentive amount of 5% or 10% may be available.

No on-going repayments are required, the incentive is not interest bearing, and the borrower can repay the incentive at any time without a pre-payment penalty.

The government shares in the upside and downside of the change in the property value.

The buyer must repay the incentive after 25 years, or if the property is sold.

The incentive will be available to first-time homebuyers with qualified annual household incomes up to $120,000. At the same time, a participant’s insured mortgage and the incentive amount cannot be greater than four times the participant’s qualified annual household income.

Per the table below, for a family buying a $500,000 home, this program could save them as much as $286 per month or more than $3,430 a year (note: for illustration purposes only, results subject to change depending upon amortization, interest rate, term, etc.).

Copyright © 2019 Key Media Pty Ltd

Find out what makes pre-sale condos so irresistible

Kara Kuryllowicz
REW

Studio condo sales decreased 27% in june

Josh Sherman
Livabl

It looks like the Vancouver housing market’s collapse is as wide as it is deep.

While the market’s slowdown is perhaps most apparent in the detached-home segment, it’s even struggling to sell a starter home in Canada’s priciest city for real estate.

Realtor Steve Saretsky notes that studio condo sales decreased 27 percent on a year-over-year basis in June. On a per square foot basis, the average studio condo price took a 6.9 percent hit.

“Similar to the detached market, the majority of the weakness in the condo market is at the higher end of the spectrum. In other words, the more expensive the condo the more challenging it is to sell,” writes Saretsky in a blog post.

“This should not be mistaken for assuming entry level condos have not been impacted. One bedroom and studio units have witnessed sales fall and prices drop as well,” he continues.

Small units in high-rise buildings are often the only option for first-time homebuyers looking to wade into the property market, so the weakness in the lower price points suggest a widespread correction.

Overall, Greater Vancouver condo sales plunged 23.9 percent in June compared to the same month last year. The last time June sales activity was so sluggish was in 2002, Saretsky notes.

“This is particularly concerning given this doesn’t account for the increase in population growth and new condo stock during that period,” he adds.

Contractors continue to complete work on new condo projects that were launched in recent years, and the unsold units in these buildings are bolstering supply at a time of dwindling demand — a recipe for further price declines in the near-term.

However, more and more projects are getting shelved as some developers would rather wait for signs of market recovery than begin selling in a more challenging environment.

Earlier in the spring, MLA Advisory, the research brand of real estate marketing firm MLA Canada, estimated that 17 condo projects had sales launches delayed this year.

“This shortage in our housing stock will greatly impact affordability in the years to come,” the MLA report from May says.

© 2019 BuzzBuzzHome Corp.

The News takes an iconic Abbotsford location

Kathleen Freimond
The Vancouver Sun

The News

Project address: 34375 Gladys Avenue, Abbotsford

Developer: Elevate Development Corp.

Architect: Atelier Pacific Architecture

Interior designer: BAM Interior

Project size: 282 units (two six-storey buildings and a three-storey amenity building)

Bedrooms: One to three bedrooms, Two bedroom + lock-off

Unit size: one-bedroom: 437 — 609 square feet; two-bedroom: 781 — 967 square feet; two-bedroom + lock-off 1,310 square feet; three-bedroom: 1,109 — 1,246 square feet

Price: From $219,900 (junior one bedroom)

Sales centre: 34375 Gladys Avenue, Abbotsford

Sales centre hours: noon — 5 p.m., Sat — Thurs

Phone: 604-746-2880

Website: liveatthenews.com

The News comprises 282 units in two six-storey buildings, plus a three-storey amenities block at 34375 Gladys Avenue at the northwest corner of Sumas Highway and South Fraser Way. The site, currently occupied by The Abbotsford News, was sold in 2016 and the newspaper will move to another location prior to construction.

In a nod to the site’s history, an old ink vat from the printing press has been reclaimed and will eventually be placed on the property as a piece of art.

The first release of 206 homes in the development includes one-, two- and three-bedroom units suitable for a range of buyers from first-time homeowners to young families and downsizers, says Elevate vice-president Tim Clark-Hollis.

Clark-Hollis believes one the major advantages of the location is its walkability.

“The building nestles into one corner of the site and [will] offer people the ability to walk to the grocery store or to dinner at a local restaurant, or to Starbucks for a coffee,” she says.

Elevate has given two acres of the five-acre site, including the area traversed by a creek, to the city of Abbotsford to be preserved as an environmentally protected area.

The developer will also add bicycle and walking trails to connect to the northern part of the town, Clark-Hollis says.

The buildings, designed by Atelier Pacific Architecture, will reflect a contemporary West Coast esthetic with the use of metal panels and wood.

 “The colours are inspired by nature – the copper colours of fall along with charcoal, light grey and white,” she says.

A row of mature cherry trees on the site will be retained and will be complemented with additional shade trees and landscaping.

As part of its environmental focus rooftop solar panels will collect enough energy to power all exterior building and landscape lighting and a rainwater collection system will save the water to be used for landscape irrigation.

The three buildings form a U-shape and while the landscaped area in the courtyard will be planted with trees and shrubs, the lawn will be a permeable synthetic grass.

“It will be green all year round,” laughs Clark-Hollis, adding the choice will enable the area to be used year-round.

The children’s playground equipment is also nature inspired and will feature wood instead of plastics and metal, she says.

For the interiors, homebuyers can choose from two colour palettes: Sepia is the light, contemporary option, while Slate has darker hues for a more modern ambience.

There are two display units at the presentation centre at 34375 Gladys Avenue. The junior one-bedroom apartment is finished in the Sepia colours – white porcelain tile backsplash, lighter wood accent cabinetry surrounds the refrigerator and a lighter laminate floor in the living areas – while the home with two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a den is finished in the Slate option with its dark 4.5- by 50-centimetre stacked-tile backsplash. Both palettes have light quartz countertops.

In both display suites, a wood shelf runs below the high-gloss slab cabinet doors, providing useful open storage for items like casserole dishes, glasses or crockery. On the dining room-facing side of the kitchen peninsula in the two-bedroom suite adjustable open shelving – including a wine rack – is standard and useful for storage and/or display items.

Ian Wong, principal at BAM Interior, which designed the interiors, says storage in the units was a priority.

“Even though kitchens and bathrooms are typical condo size, we created lots of shelves and storage systems so the space is very usable,” he says, noting features like the pull-out spice-bottle shelves next to the range, the pantry cupboard alongside the refrigerator and pull-out shelves in the corner cupboard.

The major appliances are by Samsung and include a refrigerator with french doors and bottom-mount freezer, a five-burner gas range, a dishwasher and microwave. There is the option to upgrade the appliances to a Bosch package. All units include an LG front loading washer and a front-loading dryer of the same brand.

Design continuity is enhanced with the use of Kohler faucets throughout. In the kitchen, a faucet with a pull-down spout is a practical choice and in the bathrooms showerheads and faucets add some sparkle to the space that features oversized 60- by 60-centimetre tiles on the floor and walls.

The amenity building is expected to be a popular venue for residents. The building has more than 4,500 square feet of indoor space, plus a 1,900 square feet rooftop patio area. The first floor includes a gym and a sound-proof music room designed by Tom Lee Music.

The second floor includes a chef’s kitchen with Bosch appliances and dining space for 18 people.

“The kitchen is big enough for hosting cooking classes or preparing that big turkey dinner,” Clark-Hollis says.

A lounge and billiards table completes the second-floor features. On the roof deck residents will be able to take advantage of a barbecue and outdoor seating while enjoying views of Mount Baker.

Parking is underground and includes 10 charging stations for electric vehicles. There is also a car-wash station, a bike repair room and a pet grooming room with facilities to wash small and large dogs plus a stainless-steel table.

© 2019 Postmedia Network Inc.

Vancouver was established on a grid pattern to serve separate and distinct neighbourhoods

Elizabeth Murphy
The Vancouver Sun

Vancouver was established on a grid pattern of arterials for streetcars (replaced by trolley buses) to serve separate and distinct neighbourhoods across the city. Each neighbourhood was designed to be walkable and transit oriented, with a commercial street, schools and parks.

But current planning directions are undermining these historic patters by massive land-use corridors like the Cambie corridor and now the Broadway corridor. It is an enormous mistake at a high public cost.

The Broadway corridor land-use planning is now underway in anticipation of a subway from VCC-Clark Millennium Line station to Arbutus and Broadway, even though it could be a decade away from completion. The boundaries for land-use planning are Clark Drive to Vine Street, and 16th Avenue to 1st Avenue. It crosses multiple neighbourhoods that are broken up into sub-areas, that do not fully follow historic neighbourhood boundaries.

For example, the neighbourhood of South Granville, with its many heritage rental apartment blocks, goes from Burrard Street to Oak Street but is not defined as a sub-area of the corridor. It instead is split between Kitsilano and Fairview South.

The city recently had walking tours as part of the Broadway corridor planning process. On a tour of the sub-area they call Kitsilano South (that includes South Granville to Granville Street), the planning staff who guided it were very nice young planners but were mostly not from here and did not understand the historical context of neighbourhood boundaries. Clearly institutional memory is being lost due to senior staff turnover.

The planners did not understand why it was important to distinguish Burrard Street as the boundary of Kitsilano that divides between the RT duplex zoning in Kitsilano and RM apartment zoning in South Granville.

Why this matters is that these neighbourhoods are distinct and different in how they have evolved over time so need to be planned in that kind of context. This is what the city-wide plan is supposed to do, however, large portions of the city are being taken out of that process and instead planned as part of a corridor.

The city-wide plan is looking like it will just be an implementation of the former Vision council’s policies and programs at a cost of $20 million. It will not be determining what the people who live and work here want for their neighbourhood like the previous CityPlan program. Quite the opposite.

If a subway is extended to UBC, the Broadway corridor is proposed to include all of Kitsilano and West Point Grey as well. Staff are redefining corridor planning as being neighbourhood-based when that is not the case.

Each neighbourhood should be able to have its own land-use planning response to transit. Instead, the tail is wagging the dog as transit is dictating a land-use typology regardless of neighbourhood context.

Planning for the future needs to start with what exists now and who lives and works in the city. Displacement should be avoided as much as possible since the older more affordable housing will be demolished and replaced with more expensive new construction of both rental or strata. Displacement has the domino effect of the most vulnerable people being put at risk of homelessness.

So planning must be done very carefully to ensure it is appropriate and in context to provide for incremental growth. If we are managing growth appropriately, we should not have to be in chronic crisis mode. The current housing crisis is the result of over a decade of mismanagement. It doesn’t have to be this way.

A long-standing policy to protect existing rentals through a one for one replacement requirement has been in place in most apartment RM zones. But repeated efforts to extend this policy to commercial C2 zones has been squashed.

In the last council term, Coun. Adriane Carr brought forward a motion that was voted down by the Vision council majority. And recently Coun. Jean Swanson brought forward a motion that was lost by one vote.

When the Swanson motion was at council, Mayor Kennedy Stewart said the city is working with their developer “partners” on building rentals, similar to how former mayor Gregor Robertson used to frame it. Then Stewart called the vote without allowing consideration of amendments, so the motion to include C2 zones failed. It was a déjà vu moment.

Stewart seems to be following in Robertson’s footsteps. Stewart has had a series of 10 meetings with former councillor Raymond Louie and the major developers for whom he advocating. These include Ian Gillespie of Westbank Projects Corp., Bruno and Peter Wall of Wall Financial Corporation and Brian McCauley of Concert Properties. He also had lunch with Bob Rennie and met with Ryan Beedie of Beedie Development Group.

The city budget is becoming increasingly dependent on development fees such as community amenity contributions (CACs) and development cost levies (DCLs). This makes the city’s addiction to development insatiable. Rental projects that waive development fees will not fill this need.

However, the rental programs inflate market rental rates while the projects are being used to set precedents of scale for condo towers to follow that will provide CACs and DCLs.

As part of a rental pilot program set up by the previous Vision council, there are 20 projects coming forward that greatly increase height and density. One example is the project at Broadway and Birch Street at the old Denny’s site.

Since this is in the heart of Central Broadway, a 16-storey tower was previously approved. Under the rental pilot it is now proposed to go to 28 storeys and a floor space ratio of 10.52. Of the 248 secured rental units, only 53 will have moderately priced rents while the balance will be market rent units.

Another example is at developer Wesgroup’s site at Broadway and Alma Street. An application was originally submitted for a six storey market rental project a few years ago, and now is coming back with a new proposal under the pilot project for 14 storeys and 5.8 floor space ratio, setting a new precedent for the surrounding area of Kitsilano and West Point Grey that currently is mostly under four storeys. It has staggered floors and is orange in colour that couldn’t be more obtrusive.

These kinds of blockbusting projects are just the start, especially where corridor planning is implemented without neighbourhood context. It will fuel speculation and expectations that will increasingly displace local people. The Broadway corridor, especially if extended to UBC, contains a huge amount of the city’s most affordable existing rental stock and older condos. Many people will be displaced if this corridor planning program continues.

The city already has an enormous amount of zoned capacity, even when only counting the sites most likely to be developed or already in the pipeline, and is enough to meet actual growth projections well past 2040. The city is targeting 72,000 units from 2017 to 2027, yet based on census data it only justifies 26,000 units. So the city sets unrealistic growth targets by almost three time as much.

Neighbourhood-based planning that manages growth city-wide is the way to avoid these problems of crisis management that only makes things worse. The city can press pause to establish a new direction rather than implementing the previous Vision council’s agenda.

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