Tag: development

• Two new chiefs

  

  There were some big announcements in the planning world this past week here in the Greater Toronto Area. Gregg Lintern (follow him on Twitter) was named the new chief planner of Toronto (he was previously the acting chief planner following Jennifer Keesmaat’s departure) and Andrew Whittemore (couldn’t find him on Twitter) was named the new chief planner of Mississauga.

  As I went through the articles announcing the above appointments, I couldn’t help but be reminded that this region is at an exciting and pivotal moment in its history. All of the talk is about improving urban mobility (i.e. becoming less dependent on cars); intensifying around transit stations (as well as gently intensifying neighborhoods); making downtown a better place for families; and so on.

  It can be easy to feel defeated in this big bad world of city making. Oftentimes things seem to get reduced to either urban vs. suburban rhetoric or, as if nothing else matters, this one simple question: “But, how tall is the building?” So its nice to know that those at the helm continue to see endless opportunity in this region. I know that I wouldn’t want to be doing what I’m doing anywhere else.

  Photo by mwangi gatheca on Unsplash

  2018.03.31

• What are the most important condo and rental building amenities?

  Last night I casually asked the

  Twittersphere

  what the most important condo amenity is, besides a gym. 

  That tweet got quite a few responses – everything from rock climbing to a proper facility for realtor lock boxes.

  Given the response, I thought it would be worthwhile to be a bit more rigorous in this analysis. So I have created an online survey that you can very quickly fill out by clicking here. 

  Here’s how this is going to work:

  – You have to enter your email address. Sorry, some friction. I figured that would make the data a bit more reliable. Don’t worry your email is safe.

  – You can select a maximum of 3 amenities. One of them can be “Other”, in which case you would then enter in an amenity not already found on the list.

  – The order of the amenities in the survey is being randomized so as to avoid any possible it’s-near-the-top-and-I’m-too-lazy-to-scroll bias.

  – You’ll be able to see the results of the survey after you’ve responded. I’ll also post the results to this blog so that it’s public and people learn things. Individual emails will, of course, never be published.

  Developers should be building what people actually want and will use. Now is your chance to tell us what that is. Click here for the survey.

  2018.03.21

• Thoughts on housing in the Bay Area

  I was out for drinks recently with a friend of mine who is a developer in California and she mentioned a few things to me that I thought were really interesting. 

  First, she talked about how virtually nothing gets built in the Bay Area “as of right.” And so the market is hugely supply constrained. She said, you’re lucky if you can get your entitlements in 2 years. It’s starting to take longer. I immediately said: “That’s Toronto.”

  Second, we talked about Proposition 13, which was timely given this recent post. One of the consequences of Prop 13, beyond helping golf clubs survive, is that longtime homeowners seem to be highly incentivized not to move. 

  Their property taxes are so below market that it can be more cost effective for them to stay put as opposed to downsize – even if they have too much house. This means far less turnover in the housing market.

  Third, there really does seem to be a feeling in the Bay Area that it’s at a breaking point in terms of affordability. When a successful software engineer making $200,000 a year can’t afford housing, people naturally start to look to other cities.

  We hear this refrain all the time in the media, but because I’m not active in that market, it was far more impactful hearing it from a friend.

  2018.03.16

• You can now buy a new home, online

  My friend Matthew Slutsky runs a company called BuzzBuzzHome that allows you to search for new construction homes. This week they launched a feature that allows you to put down a deposit on a new home – online – with your credit card. It’s live right now for the Barra on Queen in Kitchener, Ontario.

  I know that Matthew and his team have been working on this for years (I saw earlier demos), and so I wanted to publicly congratulate them on the blog. I’m not sure who their competitors are right now, but this feels to me like one of the first online real estate marketplaces where you can actually just hit “buy now.” Huge accomplishment.

  I am sure many of you will have objections that we will hear about in the comment section below. But I have little doubt that this is the future. People used to say that the masses aren’t going to buy clothes online because of the need to try things on. I own suits that I have purchased online. People will buy real estate online.

  The more important question: When will it go mainstream?

  2018.03.09

• RioCan REIT announces new residential group

  On Monday, RioCan REIT announced its new residential brand: RioCan Living. This is the group that will now be responsible for redeveloping the 43 properties within their portfolio that they have identified as having intensification potential. Here’s how they are describing the new brand: “RioCan Living delivers best in class purpose-built rental units and condos along Canada’s most prominent public transit lines.”

  It has been interesting watching RioCan over the last 6 months. In the fall they announced that they would be selling off somewhere around $1.5 billion of their portfolio to rebalance toward Canada’s six largest markets, and in particular the Toronto market. And with this recent unveiling it is clear that they are doubling down on transit-oriented mixed-use communities as a way to future-proof their retail portfolio against disruption.

  Major markets. High-density. Transit-oriented. This shouldn’t surprise any of you. Here is a link to their latest investor presentation in case you’re curious.

  2018.03.06

• Manhattan apartment rents post biggest decline since 2011

  A friend of mine sent me this article earlier today with a sarcastic comment about the relationship between housing supply and rents.

  The article talks about how rents in almost every Manhattan neighborhood have fallen compared to a year ago because of a flood of new apartment supply coming online. The median rent dropped 3.6% (year-over-year) which is the biggest decline since October 2011.

  

  There has also been a spike in the number of leases with some sort of incentive attached to it (see above). As a landlord you typically want to use incentives, such as free rent, before resorting to lower face rents. Because lower rents mean a lower overall net operating income, which in turns depresses the value of your property.

  But sometimes you have no choice:

  “Landlords have finally realized, ‘OK, we have to adjust these prices because the concessions aren’t doing as much,’” said Hal Gavzie, who oversees leasing for Douglas Elliman. “Customers are looking past the concessions being offered and just looking for the best deals they can find.”

  A few weeks ago I wrote about a similar story playing out in Seattle. It’s almost as if excess housing supply is driving down rents.

  2018.02.14

• One year of Inclusionary Housing in Portland

  

  About a year ago, Portland enacted “Inclusionary Housing” policy requiring new apartment buildings of 20 units or more to offer up a portion of the units at below market rents.

  Developers are able to select from a few different options and the rents are calculated according to a percentage of the city’s median family income (30-80%). I’m not sure how this policy would apply to new condo buildings.

  This is an interesting account by The Portland Mercury of what this policy may be doing to the housing market. I say may because it’s only been a year and there could be other factors at play.

  Between 2013 and 2017, Portland typically built between 3,000 and 6,000 new units per year. Since the IH policy went into effect on February 1, 2017, 682 new units have applied for permit. 

  About half are coming from one developer who appears to be building the requisite affordable units in exchange for no parking minimums. They are now proposing buildings with zero parking.

  Again, in all fairness, it’s only been a year. But already Mayor Ted Wheeler is looking at other incentives to encourage more new construction in the central city. The biggest levers: height and density.

  All of this begins to speak to the very real impact of inclusionary zoning on development feasibility.

  Photo by Zach Savinar on Unsplash

  2018.02.08

• Skater’s Paradise: On/Off

  This skateboarding video is incredibly well done. I particularly like the 42 second mark. If you can’t see it below, click here.

  [vimeo 227394921 w=640 h=280]

  It’s incredible from a filmmaking standpoint, but – as I have said many times before on this blog – it also showcases the deep relationship between skateboarding and the urban environment.

  I can’t think of many other sports with that kind of relationship.

  2018.02.05

• Revisited: Habitat 67

  Last summer I went to see Moshe Safdie’s Habitat 67 in Montréal. Unfortunately, you can really on experience the architecture from the street. The entire complex is clearly marked as private and you can tell they have to work very diligently to keep the throngs of architecture nerds at bay. I almost called up an agent to see if I could see one of the listed apartments, but decided not to waste anybody’s time.

  Thankfully, James Brittain has a photography exhibition going on in London right now called Revisited: Habitat 67. The aim of the exhibition is to expose the hidden side of the famous housing complex, which I find fascinating, particularly because I wasn’t able to see anything hidden last summer. You can check out a bunch of his photos over at The Spaces.

  There are many dimensions to Habitat 67. But one aspect that stands out is this idea of conferring the benefits of low-rise single-family housing – things like large outdoor spaces and access to light – onto higher density urban housing. It is something that architects today still explore and something that we consider in basically all of our development projects. Habitat 67 considered this over 50 years ago.

  2018.02.03

• Los Angeles Councilman says upzoning near transit is the worst idea he’s ever heard

  Earlier this month I wrote about California Senator Scott Wiener’s bill to increase housing supply and mandate greater land-use intensities adjacent to transit. Here is that post.

  Judging by the comments, many of you seemed to think this was a fairly sensible proposal. I know I certainly did. Senator Wiener called it a housing-first agenda, as opposed to a housing-last agenda.

  So I thought it would be interesting to share how some people have responded to the proposal. 

  Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz called it both “devastating” and “the worst idea [he’s] ever heard.” He went on to tell the LA Times that, within 10 years, people should expect their neighborhoods to be transformed into Dubai. 

  His conclusion: “I don’t think people want to see significant rezoning around single-family neighborhoods whether they’re near transit or not.”

  I don’t agree with his first set of remarks, but I agree with his second one. And that, of course, is the challenge. If you own a single-family home down the street from transit, what great incentive do you have to support intensification?

  Paul is the messenger.

  2018.01.30