Vancouver shows country’s biggest gains in value of building permits

Brian Morton
Sun

Vancouver and B.C. led the country last year in the growth of the value of building permits as the demand for new homes soared, a Statistics Canada survey said Monday.

“This says that the construction industry was going very well in B.C., probably because of the general trend in the economy itself,” StatsCan spokesman Michel Labonte said in an interview. “In Vancouver there was a big increase in the residential component.”

Municipalities issued a record high value of building permits for the second straight year, as demand for new dwellings climbed across Canada in 2004.

The new record of $55.4 billion for Canada was 9.1 per cent higher than the previous high of $50.8 billion set in 2003.

“The largest growth in dollars occurred in Quebec and British Columbia, which was due mainly to vigorous activity in Montreal and Vancouver,” the report said. “These two centres recorded the largest increases [in dollars] among the metropolitan areas . . . . In Vancouver, the gain came from several projects for new multi-family dwellings and from strong growth in the non-residential sector.”

B.C. recorded a 23.9-per-cent increase in the value of building permits — the highest of any Canadian province — from $6.39 billion in 2003 to $7.92 billion in 2004. The residential component rose 29.7 per cent, while the non-residential component rose 10 per cent, also the highest in the nation.

In the municipal survey, the city of Vancouver led all municipalities by recording a 31.7-per-cent increase in the value of permits, from $3.68 billion in 2003 to $4.84 billion in 2004.

The value of building permits in Victoria was down 5.9 per cent over the year, from $568 million in 2003 to $535 million in 2004.

Peter Simpson, CEO of the Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association, said the 2004 StatsCan figures for B.C. and Vancouver come as no surprise.

“We had the best year for housing starts in a decade,” Simpson said. “And we’re expected to improve on that in 2005.”

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. predicts that the Lower Mainland will see 20,000 new homes built in 2005, up from 19,435 in 2004, Simpson said.

“The increase will be marginal, but over all, B.C. will be the only province in Canada to record an increase in housing starts in 2005,” Simpson said.

John Les, provincial minister of small business and economic development, said in a news release that the StatsCan figures show a growing confidence in the provincial economy.

“This is yet another indication of the optimism people have in the B.C. economy,” Les said. “This astonishing increase in permit values, in just one year, tells me that builders, consumers and investors alike are confident that B.C. is back.”

He said the overall value of B.C. building permits is 60 per cent higher than it was in 2001.

StatsCan said the annual level of permits has now increased across Canada for nine straight years, with permits in the housing sector totalling a record $36.7 billion across the country, up 14.7 per cent from the previous peak in 2003.

The agency said the year ended on a strong note in December as the value of permits hit $5.1 billion, up 1.6 per cent from November for the third consecutive monthly gain.

The survey attributed 2004’s strong performance in the housing sector to low mortgage rates, gains in full-time jobs, strong consumer confidence and tight vacancy rates in large centres such as Vancouver and Montreal.

The agency’s building permits survey covers 2,350 municipalities representing more than nine out of 10 Canadians.

BUILDING CONFIDENCE: VANCOUVER THE CLEAR LEADER:

Vancouver was in a league of its own as far as the percentage increase in value of building permits taken out in major Canadian cities in 2004. Even No. 2 Montreal, which came in at 18.3 per cent, didn’t come close.

Value of building permits by city, % increase 2003 vs. 2004:

Vancouver —- +31.7%

Edmonton —- +14.8%

Calgary —- +2.1%

Regina —- -8.9%

Winnipeg —- +8.4%

Toronto —- +4.3%

Montreal —- +18.3%

Halifax —- +7.1%

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

Immigrants from mainland China want west side neighbourhoods with good schools

Gillian Shaw
Sun

Buyers from China are emerging as a growing force in Greater Vancouver’s fast-selling condominium market.

A condo project at the University of B.C. sold out in eight hours recently with more than half of the buyers coming from mainland China.

And some 90 per cent of 40 townhouses and apartments sold by a company in a Richmond townhouse development and at another UBC condo project went to mainland Chinese buyers, another developer says.

George Wong, head of Macdonald Realty’s Platinum Project Marketing, which sold the Galleria project at UBC, said the experience represents a growing trend that is seeing Chinese buyers snapping up desirable westside Vancouver condos.

“In this most recent project, the Galleria, over 60 per cent of our buyers are of mainland Chinese background,” said Wong. “They are recent immigrants from mainland China.

“That’s a big proportion.”

Wong said mainland Chinese buyers are gravitating to the west side of Vancouver and another key selling factor was the property’s school catchment area.

“A typical profile is a family with a mom, dad and one child,” said Wong. “There are two main reasons they buy here and one is that the west side is perceived as a good place for a family and to raise children and the second reason is the school catchment area.

“One of the first things they ask is ‘Where are the best public schools?’ “

Doors opened for the Galleria pre-sales opening at 10 on a recent Saturday morning with 60 people lined up in the snow waiting to buy. The lineup never dwindled and by six that evening, the project’s 95 units had been sold, at prices ranging from $210,000 to $620,000.

Thirty disappointed buyers put in bids in hopes that deals would fall through and they would end up with one of the condos in the project, which is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2006.

Howard Steiss, vice-president of marketing at the Adera Development Corp., said his company has had a similar experience in recent weeks. About 90 per cent of 40 townhouses and apartments recently sold by Adera in a Richmond townhouse development and at a University of B.C. condo project went to buyers from mainland China.

“There is a lot of optimism around the B.C. real estate market for the next 10 years,” said Steiss. “Globally, we still look like a bargain.

“Certainly, in the last year, we have had a growing number of what we believe to be mainland Chinese buyers and especially in the last few weeks,” said Steiss, adding that the recent flurry of activity could be tied to the upcoming Chinese New Year.

Bob Rennie, of Rennie Marketing Systems, said the market is seeing more and more mainland Chinese money coming in, but it’s to stay — not to flip for a quick profit.

“We are noticing more and more money from mainland China,” he said. “It is sort of the way Americans started buying here eight years ago.

“They are coming for real reasons, they are not buying five condos to flip, they are buying to get their kids here — part of the family is living here full time or they are living here part to a majority of the time.”

Rennie said he estimates mainland Chinese buyers still represent less than 10 per cent of his sales, but he said, “it is definitely trending upward.”

“There is a noticeable up-tick in the amount of buyers from mainland China.”

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

 

OPEN HOUSE: English-style townhomes on West 13th Avenue

Jeani Read
Province

A lot of people are using this basic design concept now and we’re not surprised. It’s a cool, charming idea that makes the most of small properties like those you often find on the expensive West Side. You want the maximum possible amount of attractive living area within each foothold and Brownstone is a nice example of achieving this. The small, tasteful development is promoting its tip-of-the-hat to the past, so think Victorian row houses: narrow facades side by side down the block, rather like Sherlock Holmes’ 221B Baker Street. Now update to the 21st century — shazam! — an inviting line of smart, practical townhouses with a gracious, traditional twist.

You may not be living quite as intriguing a life narrative as Holmes, his sidekick Watson and their assortment of weird crimes and criminals. But on the bright side, you will be enjoying more available light, patios and deck space than they did back then. Yes, there are also lots of stairs but so far the buyers for these properties are young professional couples with some young families added into the mix, none of whom have any real hesitation about tackling those flights. They’re attracted by the many choices this kind of floor plan with its different levels affords. As well, they like the central location — a quiet street easily accessible to many major thoroughfares, making the trip around and into town easy. You might be pushing it, but call it upper Fairview. Brownstone is just behind Vancouver Hospital, nestled between Broadway and 16th, Cambie and Oak.

Enter the display suite through the arched, windowed main doorway and right away you can see the potential for structure — or lack of it. To the right is a bedroom, or it could be a study or formal sitting area. A second, larger bedroom opening onto a stone, cedar and wrought-iron courtyard, plus a full bathroom with very stylish pedestal sink and shower, complete this level. One floor down is the entry to the secured private two-car garage. This is also the laundry-room level, with a storage area big enough to be decorated as a room itself.

One floor up from the entry level (staircases have really great-looking open-rail banisters) are the kitchen, dining and living-room, open-plan all the way with bay window overlooking 13th Avenue, beautifully appointed kitchen with granite-lookalike Corian counters, island with eating bar and stainless appliances, all standard — as is the hot-looking cherry hardwood flooring and elegant crown moulding.

The living room features an electric fireplace with an attractive marble surround, framed in a deep, white-painted wood mantle. Lots of room for knick-knacks, or a good place for the plasma or LCD TV.

Upstairs once more and you find the piece de resistance, a sweet, romantic master bedroom suite with walk-in closet, ensuite with separate soaker bath and oversized shower and, to the back, a south-facing terrace.

Brownstone has two floor plans, this one and a more family-friendly plan with three floors instead of four. The entry for the second is to the kitchen, dining and living level with a larger terrace for better barbecue socializing. The second level has two bedrooms, laundry and bathroom with the ensuite and master bedroom once again on the top floor.

Brownstone is already selling well: excellent finishings, a handy location and the homes are virtually ready for moving in — or a minimal waiting.

We’d say it’s a no-brainer. Or, to use Sherlock’s signature expression: “elementary.”

QUICK FACTS

WHAT: Brownstone is 26 townhomes in Vancouver.

WHERE: 13th Avenue at Laurel Street.

DEVELOPED BY: Millennium Urban Homes.

SIZES: Three-bedroom homes, 1,396 sq. ft. – 1,514 sq. ft.

PRICES: $584,000 — $594,000.

OPEN: Noon to 5 p.m. daily, except Fridays; 604-688-6822

© The Vancouver Province 2005

CITY SKYLINE: Olympic-related construction projects will have a dramatic impact

JIM JAMIESON
Province

The major projects

An estimated $16 billion worth of construction projects are on the books between now and 2010. Here are some of them:

1 A $1.7-billion RAV line between Richmond and Vancouver; 2 A $495-million Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre expansion; 3 A $162-million Olympic Village on False Creek; 4 A $1-billion expansion of the Port of Vancouver’s container terminals; 5 A $1.4-billion upgrade of facilities at Vancouver International Airport; 6 A $600-million bridge across the Fraser from Langley to Maple Ridge; 7 Expansion projects at both the University of B.C. and Simon Fraser University.

Vancouver will have not only a different look but also a different feel when the world comes to visit for the Winter Olympics in 2010.

Certainly, the slew of mega construction projects that will come to fruition in the next five years will transform the city’s landscape in major ways.

The downtown core will boast a number of new structures and features, starting with the $1.7 billion RAV line linking it with Richmond and the airport, the $495 million Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre expansion off Coal Harbour and a $162 million Olympic Village by the edge of False Creek.

Vancouver’s downtown skyline will also have a new focal point when the posh 60-storey Shangri-La hotel tower at Georgia and Thurlow becomes the city’s tallest building in 2008.

But the city — and region — in 2010 will be more than just the sum of its physical parts. Residents and tourists can expect to find a city that finally, after decades of construction, starts to feel finished.

The Vancouver core, says economist David Baxter, executive director of the Urban Futures Institute, will be starting to come into its own as a community.

“Five years from now, the down town is finished, the convention centre is finished, all of these condos are finished,” says Baxter. “So we’re going to be looking at a downtown that has become oriented to the downtown residents. That will make it more comfy to tourists and visitors because it will have more of a 24-hour feel to it, like Montreal.

“There will be more small restau rants, more small shopping, a wider range of hours. It will feel more like a community or neighbourhood, like the Denman-Davie intersection does now. It attracts a lot of tourists but on Friday-Saturday nights the parkside restaurants are full of locals.”

Baxter says the traditional boundaries of downtown will also expand.

“It will be creeping east,” he says. “There will be some tension over the next five years over the Downtown Eastside.

“There’s an evolution happening there already. I was looking at a small manufacturing building three blocks east of Main and it had a sign saying please don’t throw your needles in the garbage, so the impact is already being felt there.”

Baxter says the growing number of downtown residents will spur an already burgeoning arts community.

“What will be driving it will be the high density of downtown residents, who have a relatively small square footage of space to live in, so they’re not going to go home at night and weed a garden,” he says. “They’re going to go to a play or a gallery. As our population grows we’ll be able to support more of that.”

This will also be driven by an upsurge in retiring baby boomers, who have more time to attend cultural events, Baxter added.

The expanded convention centre will ramp up the city’s ability to attract visitors, says Paul Vallee of Tourism Vancouver. The expansion will increase the centre’s exhibit space from 91,205 to 322,000 square feet. This will improve the facility’s ranking in North America from 76th to 37th.

“All of the development we’ll see running up to the Olympics will be significant in terms of the tourism industry, but particularly the convention centre,” says Vallee. “It will be a significant contributor, long term. Right now, we have a terrific convention centre, but the increase in size is going to allow us to host two conventions at the same time and slightly bigger groups. We’re not going to become a Las Vegas, but it will put us into a bigger league.”

Vallee says the RAV line will also become a magnet for tourists.

“You’re not going to have people choosing a destination because of RAV, but getting in and around a city is a very important factor for the toursim industry,” he says. “Cities that have a strong transportation infrastructure reflect well in a visitor’s experience.”

Improved transit will allow visitors — and residents — the opportunity to more easily get around a growing region that will experience worsening transportation problems.

Hugh Kellas of the Greater Vancouver Regional District planning department says the Lower Mainland is going to be a bigger, more populous, busier place.

“There’s going to be 150,000 more people, 80,000 more jobs, another 80,000 vehicles running around,” he says. “There will be significant change in some areas. In the Vancouver-Richmond corridor there will be construction taking place along there in anticipation of the RAV line opening — just like it did along the Millenium line.”

Kellas sees a people-centred, community-focused Greater Vancouver in five years’ time.

“A lot of the construction that’s underway is designed to have a strong interaction with the public,” he says. “When people build restuarants these days, they build them with outdoor aspects. There’s a lot of attention going into pedestrian quality, shopping quality, the small parks that relate to people in local areas.

“We’ll see a community that’s more mature and more strongly tied together by strong transportation networks.”

John Mackie
Sun

VANCOUVER I One of the oddest sights in the city is an old house at 1052 Seymour St. that is perched on the edge of a giant crater on the site of a new highrise development.

The scene nicely sums up the perilous state of heritage buildings in the city. Heritage Vancouver president Don Luxton says Vancouver is in the midst of its biggest building boom since 1912. All over the city, heritage buildings are at risk from redevelopment schemes.

An 1889-1890 house at 909 Richards St. is slated to be demolished as part of a redevelopment at Richards and Smithe, and much of the 1903 Woodward’s building will likely be history if the proposed redevelopment of the site goes ahead. Even large swaths of historic Gastown and Chinatown are in danger as developers look for new “character” neighbourhoods to redevelop.

All three of these sites are included in Heritage Vancouver’s fifth annual list of the top 10 endangered heritage sites in the city.

This year’s list is wide-ranging, from institutional buildings such as Charles Dickens school, an old firehall at East 22nd and Nootka and the PNE Livestock Building, to modern structures such as the Evergreen Building and the Percy Underwood Office. The list is rounded out by the Burrard Bridge, which may be altered for bicycle lanes, and the Roselawn Funeral Home.

The basic problem for heritage buildings is that when there’s a boom, small old buildings on prime sites are ripe for redevelopment.

“The economic equation has changed,” explains Luxton. “Many of the buildings have been sitting there in kind of marginal situations for a long time, and all of a sudden the value of the land has risen. Whether that be commercial or residential, it’s just gone up. There’s greater return, interest rates are low, people can get money, assets are liquid, away you go.”

The heritage houses of Yaletown/Downtown South are a case in point. The neighbourhood was once filled with houses, and there are a surprising number left, including 10 in the square block bounded by Nelson, Richards, Helmcken and Seymour.

The three-storey house at 1052 Seymour St. dates to 1906. The only reason it has survived is because it is owned by the Fillipone family, which owns the legendary Penthouse strip club across the street. No developer has made the Fillipones a good enough offer for their land, so the house remains, teetering on the edge of the abyss.

“How long before that goes?” asks Luxton. “You think somebody’s going to buy that and preserve it, when you look at the value of the land it sits on? There’s just no way.”

The Seymour house isn’t on the heritage register.

Neither is 909 Richards, one of the oldest houses in the city. It was built in 1889 or 1890 for men’s clothier A.E. Lees, who used to operate a store at Cordova and Carrall in Gastown. Many people will recognize the site for a tiny commercial building in front that used to house The Best Little Hairhouse in Town.

When the house was built, Vancouver was only three years old and had a population of about 13,000. The house is so old, it was built a couple of years before the city’s water service reached it.

The house is slated to be demolished for a new development at 538 Smithe. The irony is that the new development is bigger than would normally be allowed because it uses 4,500 square feet of bonus density acquired from the city’s heritage density bonus program.

Essentially, developers purchase bonus density from owners of heritage sites elsewhere in the city, who are supposed to use the money to fix up their buildings. But Luxton is dismayed to report that some heritage building owners are circumventing the spirit of the bonus density program by retaining the facade of their old building, then building a new structure behind the facade.

Another significant building, at 1280 West Pender St., also may be demolished for a highrise project that uses bonus density from another heritage site.

The Percy Underwood Office is a small but elegant modern building in the International Style. Built in 1946, it occupies a triangle where Pender and Melville converge. In recent years it has been the Crime Lab restaurant. A redevelopment plan would see a 28-storey highrise built on the site.

“It’s a great building,” said Luxton. “They don’t need to tear it down. What are they going to put under it, parking?

“You should not be able to get a heritage density bonus from somewhere else [to tear down a heritage building]. Period.”

The Woodward’s Building has been a concern for heritage activists since the store closed in 1993. It finally looks like it will be redeveloped, but Luxton is not enthused with the plan.

“It’s essentially a facade project, and it’s not even retention of the facades, it’s retention of parts of the facades, with great gaping holes cut in them,” he said.

“And a 30-storey tower stuck in it. Our position is there is not a lot of respect being paid to what was clearly recognized as a historic landmark.”

Luxton is dismayed that the pace of redevelopment may erase parts of the city’s history before we realize what’s happened.

“I think in many ways we’re destroying a lot of the city that has some character,” he said.

“A lot of the new construction is very repetitive and very formulaic, and doesn’t measure up in many ways to the slow incremental development of the city that leaves traces of different historical periods, different types of buildings and some variety.

“We’re ending up with a very homogenous streetscape in many parts of the city, especially Downtown South. It’s all the same thing.”

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

Sun

The creation of neighbourhoods in which a diverse population might reside is no easy achievement in Vancouver because of high land prices. Galleria, a condominium project near the University of B.C., may be the exception.

Orca West Developments is doing the seemingly improbable with a block of low-rise row homes built in the 1950s. Instead of seeking a change in zoning that would permit their replacement with a big multi-family project, it has decided to build to the existing zoning.

The outcome will be 95 new homes at prices ranging from $209,900 to $599,000. Occupancy is scheduled for the fall of 2006.

“I think it will fit in quite nicely to its context,” says architect Tim Ankenman, of Ankenman Marchand Architects, a 15-year-old Vancouver firm.

“We wanted to come up with a village-like atmosphere, where all of the buildings differ from one another and where everyone, from a first-time buyer to someone wanting a fair-sized home, could buy. It’s one of the things we constantly try to do in our

projects — a complete community. We very consciously try to make sure everyone who wants to be there can be there.”

This concept proved to be extremely popular. The 95-unit complex is already sold out two weeks after the grand opening with 25 people on the waiting list should any of the deals fall through.

George Wong of Platinum Project Marketing said on the grand opening day, Jan. 29, there was one fellow who had camped out the night before in order to be assured he would get a unit. The lineup throughout the rest of the day consistently numbered about 100, he said.

But even if a buyer misses out in the first buildings released by Orca, Wong says the developer has a fifth building, with 45 units, that he is holding back. It has not yet been determined when those units will go on sale.

Wong said the developer was able to offer more affordable rates by “tweaking the size of the units.”

“The units still feel spacious though,” he says. “They have eliminated wasted spaces like corridors and long walkways. The architect has come up with efficient and highly functioning layouts.”

Galleria is a collection of apartments and townhouses in four buildings. All, except the smaller garden flats, have nine-foot ceilings to help create a sense of space. The garden flats, where a one-bedroom is 510 sq. ft., will have eight foot high ceilings, but its open concept and elimination of hallways, stairs and lobbies makes it feel much larger, says Ankenman.

“In smaller units it’s important to design as efficiently as possible. It makes the project more affordable for clients and ultimately the buyers,” he says, adding the private patios in the front also help to increase the sense of space in the garden flats.

The townhomes, which would suit families with children, were deliberately designed with their yard space in the back. The idea is an enclosed backyard is safer for children.

Taking a cue from the row houses that currently exist on the site, Ankenman said every unit was designed with a shared entry stoop.

“There’s a strong sense of community that exists there now. We looked at that and incorporated it in our design. We believe a lot of projects nowadays don’t pay attention to that kind of detail.”

But Ankenman noted the fact that two homeowners will share one entry will help create a sense of community because the homeowners will, in all likelihood, get to know one another.

“With the proper detailing — landscaping, decks, patios — we can come up with an animated streetscape. We think we’ll be enhancing what’s there now. It’s been an interesting design process,” says Ankenman.

For home buyer Steven MacDonald the design was a big reason why he and his wife decided to buy two properties at Galleria. MacDonald, an engineering consultant, says he also liked the fact the land was freehold.

“I won’t touch anything with a 99-year lease. It feels like you aren’t really owning it . . . ,” he says, adding he also wanted to know the property he bought would be inherited by his children.

“I like the idea of having a property in case my son or daughter wants to go to UBC in the future,” says MacDonald, who is definitely looking ahead, considering his son Lukas is three and daughter Skylar is seven months.

MacDonald bought a 520 sq. ft. corner-unit, “garden flat” for $240,000 that he plans to rent out once it’s built.

He says after closing the deal on the garden flat he and his wife Chie came home and talked about how much they liked the layout of the townhouse. They returned the next day and bought a townhouse for $478,000.

“The price (on the townhouse) was a little high but it had nice fixtures,” says MacDonald, who said the couple will now change their long-term housing plans once the townhouse is built.

The family currently lives in a small house in Kitsilano, but had bought a downtown pre-build townhouse for $324,000. They are scheduled to take possession of that townhouse in March.

“I cover all the bases,” jokes MacDonald, of his real estate investment decisions.

MacDonald notes the “garden flat” prices, which start at $209,900 are cheaper than downtown Vancouver prices but added the units are smaller.

“It’s 520 sq. ft. I’ve lived in that size before as a student. The floor plan was very linear and well spaced out. There are windows on both ends (of the unit) so it’s quite nice. It feels like a home.”

GALLERIA

Presentation centre: 5600-block Toronto Road

Centre hours: noon to five (daily except Friday)

Telephone: (604) 225-2220

Website: www.galleriahomes.ca

Developer: OrcaWest Developments Ltd.

Architect: Tim Ankenman

Interior design: Creative Design

Project size: Four townhomes, including garden flats (95 units in total)

Residence size: 510 sq. ft. to 1,025 sq. ft.

Residence price: $209,900 to $599,000

Residence price/sq.ft.: $450 sq. ft.

Construction: Wood frame

Warranty: 2-5-10 National Home

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

Bob Ransford
Sun

A few weeks ago I wrote about the dwindling supply of industrial land in Vancouver. The threat to industrial land is only one challenge facing the ‘s economic future. Pressure is also being felt to allow residential uses in areas of the city where land has been set aside for economic activities of other kinds, like office and commercial uses.

An appropriate land supply and zoning that permits a mix of uses is absolutely essential if jobs and services are going to be located in the core of the city in the future.

You can’t create a superior quality of life in a city where there are no jobs. When people are forced to commute half way across the region to buy a piece of plywood or to visit their doctor’s office, quality of life is also compromised.

A city without jobs and services in its core is no better than a city without housing in the inner city.

These challenges are starting to become obvious.

Residential areas within the inner-city have grown faster than anticipated. They now surround the office districts and extend along our waterfronts. Whole districts of the city have been transformed from gritty industrial zones to distinctive and livable new high density residential neighbourhoods.

Many of the areas that were designated for a mix of commercial and residential uses have been developed as strictly residential areas. Office expansion in the central business district has been slow.

The strong resurgence of the residential real estate market is beginning to put pressure on heritage buildings in mixed use areas. Many of these heritage buildings, in places like Yaletown and Gastown, were converted over the last decade to house business of the “new economy.”

They are now in demand for conversion to lofts and apartments.

City officials are beginning to realize that land use in the metropolitan core of Vancouver has changed more dramatically than their land use policies drawn up nearly 15 years ago contemplated.

The land use changes that were starting to manifest themselves a decade and a half ago as a result of the emergence of a new economy have literally transformed Vancouver and could be threatening the role of the inner-city as the economic powerhouse of the larger city and the whole region.

Last May, city council adopted interim policies to prevent major residential development from displacing commercial capacity in the central business district and adjacent area designated for expansion.

The new quickly implemented policies were a reaction to concerns that the ability of the downtown to accommodate employment growth and to remain the major office core of the region was beginning to be jeopardized by a loss of commercial capacity, especially through the loss of a few well-located large sites suitable for major office development to new residential projects. Then there was the conversion of the old West Coast Transmission office building to “The Cube” condominium project.

Planners were afraid that the domino effect might result in a change in the dominant character of the central business district from office to residential.

They were also afraid that a high density residential neighbourhood would be created in an “accidental” way, without the level of design and public amenity that have made other new communities attractive and livable.

The main thrust of those interim policies, now more than six months old, prevent residential development in the central business district and the areas immediately adjoining it, where the central business district might expand.

Now, the city’s planning department is set to embark upon a comprehensive study that will assess the current situation and project a range of future options for economic activity within the city’s core. It will also identify the capacity of the existing land supply for non-residential uses and assess the infrastructure capacity to service those future uses.

Studies like this can take time — often years. The planners seem to realize that this issue is too urgent to wait a long time. They are proposing that policy options be brought forward as quickly as they are developed.

This work will likely shape the city of the future, hopefully one that maintains a balance between inner-city living and a healthy diverse economy in the city’s core.

Bob Ransford is a public affairs consultant with COUNTERPOINT Communications Inc. He specializes in urban development issues. He is a former real estate developer and serves as a Director of the Urban Development Institute – Pacific Region.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

B.C. will remain among the hottest real estate markets

Bruce Constantineau
Sun

The B.C. housing market will remain among the top three markets in Canada this year — along with Alberta and Quebec — as a growing provincial economy creates more first-time buyers, according to a year-end house price survey from Century 21 Canada.

“Sales activity in B.C. will be stronger than almost anywhere else in the country,” Century 21 president Don Lawby said in an interview. “There’s still some pent-up demand in this province because B.C. didn’t start recovering from the recession until later than other parts of Canada.”

He said housing markets in Ontario and other provinces started recovering in the mid- to late 1990s but the B.C. market didn’t really take off until the spring of 2000.

The survey shows that between 1999 and 2004, the price of a typical Richmond home shot up by 53 per cent from $237,800 to $365,000.

Other big price jumps during the five-year period include Vernon (up 49 per cent to $215,000), Abbotsford (up 48 per cent to $309,800) and the south slope of Burnaby (up 45 per cent to $395,000). House prices on the west side of Vancouver rose by 20 per cent to $671,000.

The highest percentage increase in all of Canada took place in Gloucester, Ont., where the price of a typical two-storey home rose by 92 per cent to $324,600. The lowest price increase in the survey occurred in Estevan, Sask., where the price of a detached bungalow remained unchanged at $99,900.

Lawby expects Lower Mainland house sales will remain flat or drop slightly this year but feels the market will perform better in other parts of the province.

Greater Vancouver sales on the Multiple Listing Service fell by 14 per cent in January but Lawby does not expect that trend to continue.

“All of the things that are in the cards for B.C. economically indicate we’ll have as good a market this year as we had in 2004,” he said, noting that a small projected increase in new B.C. housing starts this year means the resale market should perform well.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. officials predicted Thursday that B.C. housing starts will increase by 2.1 per cent this year to 33,600 units — the highest provincial increase in the country. National housing starts are expected to decline by 7.3 per cent to 216,300.

Credit Union Central of B.C. chief economist Helmut Pastrick said the B.C. housing market will be more “sane and balanced” this year, with prices and selling activity increasing slightly but not so much that frenzied buyers are forced to rush their decisions.

“The gains in the market will be very small when compared with a year ago but it will still be a good market with high levels of activity,” he said. “Interest rates should come down a bit more this year, which will help affordability.

Pastrick said continued job growth in B.C. and positive interprovincial migration numbers will also work to boost market activity this year. He noted B.C., which suffered from a negative outflow of people to other parts of Canada in the late 1990s, had a positive inflow of about 5,200 people from other parts of the country during the first three quarters of last year.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005