The city improves accessibility as the area becomes increasingly residential

Sun

VANCOUVER – Increasing residential density in the southeast corner of downtown Vancouver is behind the switch of three streets from one-way to two-way traffic, effective this weekend.

The longest stretch of new two-way will be Homer Street, with seven blocks between Pacific Boulevard and Georgia Street opening up. Homer was previously northbound only.

Five blocks of Beatty Street between Nelson and Pender — also previously northbound only — will become two-way, while four blocks of Cambie Street between Dunsmuir and Nelson — previously southbound only — get the two-way treatment.

Signs noting the upcoming changes were posted April 29 and will remain in place until Aug. 31.

Downtown transportation engineer Doug Louie said Monday the changes are part of the city’s downtown transportation plan, and are aimed at improving the livability of the area.

“More people are living downtown, so the streets are becoming more residential,” he said. “Because of that, it’s not simply the fast movement of vehicles across these particular streets that is necessarily key to the health of the area.

“If you have friends coming over, they should be able to get to you as conveniently as possible, and two-way streets would do that for them.”

Last year, three Gastown streets — Cambie, Abbot and Carrall — were converted to two-way use, and Louie said no problems or accidents ensued.

“It was well-received, and things went smoothly,” he said. “We expect the same thing this time around.”

He said the city has been getting the word out with advertising and the increased signage to alert motorists, cyclists and pedestrians to the changes.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

Brian Morton
Sun

Apartment construction costs are going up across Canada, with Vancouver leading the way, Statistics Canada reported Monday.

“Labour costs are rising because of the competition and demand,” said Peter Simpson, CEO of the Greater Vancouver Home Builders Association. “And steel prices were up dramatically, but it seems to have flattened out.”

The Statistics Canada report noted that the composite price index for apartment building construction rose 6.4 per cent in Canada‘s leading cities from the first quarter of 2004 to the first quarter of 2005.

In Vancouver, the price index rose 7.7 per cent from the first quarter of 2004 compared to the first quarter of 2005.

The report noted that Edmonton recorded the highest quarterly change [+0.9 per cent] from the fourth quarter of 2004 to the first quarter of 2005, followed by Calgary [+0.6 per cent] and Vancouver [+0.5 per cent].

Simpson said the higher costs are reflected in higher construction costs.

“The supply of labour is tight and costs are rising right across the board,” he said.

Simpson also said there is a high level of residential construction in Vancouver and that construction activity will only rise with the 2010 Olympics coming to the city.

Leon Comeau, of Statistics Canada’s price division, that another reason for the city’s higher construction costs is because Vancouver’s housing market strengthened in the second half of 2004.

“This led to slightly higher costs in Vancouver,” he said.

Comeau agreed that the higher prices of construction materials were a factor. “We found the cost of steel products over the last year increased.

“And construction costs rose a little more in Vancouver.”

Simpson said that only lumber prices have softened in the Vancouver area. “But everything else is going up.”

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

But a near-record number of housing units will still be built this year

Brian Morton
Sun

The total number of housing starts in the Greater Vancouver area has been revised downward by more than 1,000 units for 2005 and 2006, according to statistics released by Canada‘s national housing agency Monday.

However, Peter Simpson, CEO of the Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association, said the survey by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. means little because near-record numbers of housing units will still be built this year.

“That’s about where we thought we’d be anyway,” said Simpson in an interview. “Last year was the best year in a decade and this will still be on par with that. There are still a lot of projects to come on stream.”

According to the survey, the total number of housing starts forecast for the Vancouver area has been revised from 20,000 units to 19,400 units in 2005, and from 19,000 units to 18,500 units in 2006.

The survey noted that the new forecast is a result of a downward trend in single detached housing starts, which are forecast to fall 15 per cent from 5,614 units in 2004 to 4,800 units in 2005. Next year, single family starts will fall an additional five per cent to 4,600 units, the survey said.

However, multiple housing starts are expected to increase six per cent from 13,816 in 2004 to 14,600 in 2005.

CMHC noted that the revised forecast of 19,400 total housing starts in 2005 equals the 19,435 units in 2004 and close to the record 21,834 starts of 1989.

Monday’s CMHC survey follows one released by CMHC last week that said housing starts in the Greater Vancouver area were down by nearly half in April over the same month last year.

Simpson said he isn’t surprised that the largest downward trend is in single family housing, adding that the limited availability of land is contributing greatly to more expensive houses.

“When you’re looking at the amount of developable land, we have a lot of geographic constraints. So, the average price rises significantly and fewer people can buy [single family homes] and they’re turning to townhouses and condos.”

Cameron Muir, senior market analyst for CMHC, said in a news release that the numbers show that the Vancouver housing market is benefiting from pent up demand and economic growth.

“Increasing job growth, rising wages, and historically low mortgage rates are provoking confidence in the Vancouver housing market, locally, from across the country, and from around the world,” Muir said in the news release.

Nationally, CMHC forecast that housing construction will fall 7.3 per cent this year to 216,400 units and another 7.5 per cent in 2006 to 200,000 units.

However, all areas of housing activity will remain at what are still historically high levels, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said.

“The outlook for housing starts remains upbeat for this year and next,” said CMHC chief economist Bob Dugan. “However, a slight rise in mortgage rates, eroding pent-up demand, slower employment growth, and waning spill-over of buyers from the existing home market are some of the factors that point to a gradual slowing in the pace of new home construction.”

Sales this year will slip 4.3 per cent to 441,000 units but that’s still the second-best year on record, and remain well above the 400,000 mark in 2006, it said.

The steady price increases of the past three years and an expected rise in mortgage rates will push mortgage carrying costs higher and cool the housing boom, it predicted.

Prices will rise 6.8 per cent to an average of $241,700 this year

COOLING DOWN?:

CMHC has revised its forecasts for housing starts in Vancouver for next year and 2006. Residential construction is to taper off slightly in 2005 in Vancouver, while overall housing starts in B.C. are expected to rise in 2005 but fall in 2006:

2004 2005* 2006*

Total starts (Vancouver) 19,435 19,400 18,500

Single detached homes (Vancouver) 5,614 4,800 4,600

Multiple housing starts (Vancouver) 13,816 14,600 13,900

B.C. total starts 32,925 33,600 31,600

Canada total starts 233,431 216,400 200,200

* Forecast

Source: CMHC

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

COVER: West Van’s Water’s Edge is as exquisite as it is expensive

Jeani Read
Province

The Park Royal Hotel was a West Vancouver legend, so it’s hard not to reminisce about the place, creaky floors, weird Faulty Towers rooms, old-world-unlimited ambience and all.

Not to mention the restaurant. What a restaurant! Supercilious servers, exquisitely crowded seating, lots of knick-knacks, and tons of English country-garden charm. What was not to love? The acreage was enchanting. A river ran through it. But it’s all academic now, history rather than just historic. The river is preparing to run past something completely different: the luxe new Water’s Edge condominium development going up on the site.

It’s always a bittersweet moment when the past defers to the future, which is right now: a symbol of old West Van razed, new West Van not yet built. Although we’re pretty sure a select few will be utterly persuaded to love this new legend, too.

There’s the great location, which was clearly the point. And although the lovely old grounds are — ouch! — toast, just basically gravel and dust, new grounds will be created. The plan is for a tasteful blending of West Coast and classical garden themes, carriage-style crescent driveway, gracious porte cochere, cobblestone waterside pathways, clipped yew hedges, stone seating circles — you get the picture. Nice plan. Nice picture.

Water’s Edge will be exquisitely toney, composed of three thoughtfully artistic five-storey residences, clearly a creme-de-la-creme type of place. If the hotel had everything quirky and atmospheric, Water’s Edge is slated to have everything elegant and expensive. It’s all about detail. Just one look at the astonishing stainless-steel kitchen upgrade (including stainless counters), with special drawer inserts for all your utensils, Meile and SubZero appliances, an eating bar deep enough to set big comfortable leather stools under and an (ooh-la-la!) stainless built-in cappuccino machine, and you get a very good idea of the heady territory we’re venturing into here.

Where once we ordered Eggs Benedict or, even better, a steak and kidney pie (best in town), lucky owners now will be serving their own homemade martinis to the envious Joneses, reclining in front of large fireplaces with stone-slab surrounds and marble mantles under nine or 10-foot ceilings with crown mouldings while they admire their herringbone hardwood floors. Or they’ll bask in gorgeous luxury soaker tubs in bathrooms with marble tile floors, they’ll sing in frameless glass showers and brush their teeth in square, undermount basins set in marble-slab counters. When the common areas boast coffered ceilings, concierge desk, library and health spa with his and hers sauna and steam rooms — hey — not too common.

Special features — as if all these features weren’t special enough — include crown mouldings in entry foyer, gallery, living and dining room and master bedroom; neo-classical pilasters in the gallery, overheight wood baseboards, air conditioning and heating using a natural-gas central system, elegant cabinetry and two lovely, understated symphony-of-neutrals art collection-ready colour schemes. Gracious floor plans — many of which have both river and garden views — are the norm.

To die for? We think so, especially with all the amenties of West Van retail shops, restaurants, parks and beaches so nearby — and yet so far. Just off the beaten path, Water’s Edge promises to be a haven from the hoi-polloi. And at the very least, it’s quite the way to downsize from bigger digs without making a lot of sacrifices. The market here, as with most West-Van condominium properties, is mostly West Van buyers — the place is famously clubby — but strangers may also apply.

QUICK FACTS

WHAT: Water’s Edge is 79 condominiums in West Vancouver.

WHERE: Clyde Avenue at 6th St.

DEVELOPED BY: Millennium Park Royal Homes.

SIZES: One-, two- and three-bedroom homes, 726 sq. ft. to 3,145 sq.ft.

PRICES: $505,000 to $3.16 million

OPEN: Noon to 5 p.m. daily except Fridays, 1846 Marine Dr., West Vancouver, 604-974-0059.

© The Vancouver Province 2005

REAL ESTATE I Strong employment and low interest rates are among factors fueling the boom

Fiona Anderson
Sun

Home prices in Greater Vancouver continued to post records in April, with the cost of an average home climbing to $412,830, said statistics released by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) Friday.

The average price for a home in the area, which includes apartments and attached and detached houses, increased 9.3 per cent from last April. The $412,830 price-tag is 20-per-cent higher than an average home in second-place Toronto, where the cost was $342,000.

Lower interest rates are pushing people to buy more expensive homes, said Gregory Klump, chief economist with CREA.

“What’s happening is the higher end of the market is showing remarkable strength,” Klump said in an interview.

“And with recent price increases in the lower end of the market, there is a growing shortage of listings of lower-priced homes.”

In Vancouver, the lower end of the market refers to homes under $300,000, which, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, is the average price of a local apartment. A detached house costs, on average, $555,000.

Georges Pahud, president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, said these numbers are nothing new.

“Employment is strong, confidence in the economy is high, interest rates continue to be low so prices are going to reflect that,” Pahud said. “And there is a fair amount of pent-up demand.”

Local realtor Bruce Ward says the market is very hot. Last week he wrote an offer of $750,000 on a house listed at $729,000 at Main and 16th and his clients were still outbid by one of the other seven offers. To get a house now, Ward says, the offers have to be “clean” — not subject to financing or inspection.

“We’ve been in a hot market for so many months there are people in the business now that are selling that don’t even know what a normal market is,” said Ward, who has been a realtor for 17 years but has bought and sold houses for more than 35.

With the Olympics coming to Vancouver he sees an even hotter market ahead.

Realtor Jay Peterson says the Commercial Drive area is “really crazy.”

“There are a lot of houses that are going $60,000, $70,000, $80,000 over the asking price in the Commercial Drive area because that’s where everyone wants to live,” Peterson said.

Klump expects interest rates to creep up, slowing market activity but not lowering prices.

“We expect price increases to continue throughout this year and it is the effect of these higher prices that will dampen activity later in the year,” Klump said.

As prices went up, the actual number of units sold fell one per cent in April to 4,174. But the value of those sales increased by 8.3 per cent from last year to $1.7 million as a result of the higher average prices.

The number of new listings went up 1.2 per cent to almost 6,000.

For those willing to relocate, homes can still be bought for less than $125,000 in four cities in Canada: Mauricie (Trois-Rivieres) and Saguenay-Lac Saint-Jean in Quebec, Saint John, New Brunswick, and Thunder Bay, Ontario.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

Bob Ransford
Sun

When you look for value in a place to live you probably look at price first. Value can also be measured in terms of the intangible commodities like community character and neighbourhood appeal.

The first-ring suburbs on Vancouver‘s eastside provide good value in all these areas.

Lower price stands out as the most glaring measure of comparable value in eastside neighbourhoods as there has always been a disparity in Vancouver between westside and eastside residential prices.

I recently checked a few real-estate listings to compare prices in two of my favourite eastside neighbourhoods and prices for comparable homes in westside neighbourhoods.

The eastside properties were between 10 per cent and 35 per cent less in price.

I compared three eastside homes with three westside properties.

Two of the eastside homes were in the Burrardview neighbourhood; one in the Grandview-Woodlands neighbourhood. Two of the westside homes were in West Point Grey; one, in the Dunbar neighbourhood.

These neighbourhoods are all what are known as the first-ring suburbs. If you don’t want to live downtown, but still want to be in the city, these first-ring suburbs are your next choice.

The success that Vancouver has experienced in attracting people back to the heart of the city as a place to live has pushed downtown housing prices to levels that few ever expected.

The spillover effect is also felt in what are these first-ring suburbs — on both the eastside and the westside. But the geographic price disparity continues to exist.

The first-ring suburbs predate the automobile and still have the kind of character that is devoid in further-out suburbs built after the Second World War. Many first-ring suburbs grew up parallel to and radiating from the first form of mass transit — the streetcar lines.

Shops and higher-density housing were originally built along the main streetcar routes, serving as high streets or social centres for these first-ring suburban neighbourhoods. That historic development pattern with a main shopping street, neighbourhood schools and parks, continues to characterize many of these neighbourhoods today.

There are some neighbourhoods among the first ring suburbs, both on the westside and the eastside where you can find real value measured in community character and neighbourhood appeal.

The character seems more ingrained and genuine, though, in my two favourite eastside neighbourhoods — Burrardview and Grandview-Woodlands.

Perhaps it is the diversity of housing in both neighbourhoods that makes them so attractive. Not only is there diversity in the age of the housing stock, but there is real diversity in the type of housing.

In Grandview-Woodlands — the area on either side of Commercial Drive, between Venables and Grandview Highway–there is a mix of historic single family housing, old and new apartments and newer in-fill, higher-density townhouses.

The same holds true for the Burrardview neighbourhood–an enclave tightly contained by the high traffic arterial routes of Hastings Street on the south and Renfrew and McGill Streets on the east. The neighbourhood overlooks Burrard Inlet on the north.

It includes a mix of high-end view properties along the north escarpment, a range of older and newer apartments around Wall Street and some in-fill townhouses, as well as a whole range of single-family homes of almost every era scattered throughout.

Burrardview residents enjoy the eclectic Hastings Street shopping district concentrated for a few blocks either side of Nanaimo.

Both neighbourhoods are within five to seven minutes’ drive of the downtown core, which frames the main westerly view from the higher points in both communities.

So, adding it all up, there is real value in a home located in what I consider these eastside “gem” neighbourhoods.

That value comes from their proximity to the downtown, the strong community character defined by an historic neighbourhood shopping street, defined neighbourhood boundaries, a diversity of housing types, as well as by prices that are comparably less expensive than similar westside neighbourhoods.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

Kim Davis
Sun

With spring in the air and summer just around the corner, many of us are spending more time outside enjoying the sunshine and fresh air. Despite this call to the great outdoors, however, research indicates that most people spend approximately 90 per cent of their time indoors. While we often consider our homes havens from the haze of smog created by car exhaust and industrial emissions which even Vancouver suffers through during warmer months, a growing body of research suggests that the air we breathe indoors is often more polluted than the outdoor air of large, industrialized cities.

Our contemporary energy-efficient, draft-free homes exacerbate indoor pollution problems by reducing the rate at which outdoor air replaces indoor air. When there is little infiltration (little cracks that let in drafts) or insufficient natural or mechanical ventilation, the air exchange rate is low. This, coupled with the numerous emission producing sources in our homes, makes indoor air particularly susceptible to high pollution levels. Nearly everything we do or bring into our homes contributes to indoor air quality (IAQ). The following are just a few of them.

TOXIC HEAT

While we all enjoy toasty rooms, crackling fires and hot meals on cold winter days, the combustion equipment creating our heat — unvented kerosene and gas space heaters, chimneys and furnaces, and gas water heaters and stoves — can contribute to increased levels of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and air borne particulates in the indoor environment.

INTERIOR FINISHES

There is nothing like the look and feel of freshly painted walls, new kitchen cabinets, or a recent furniture purchase. Unfortunately, these interior products and many others can contain and emit formaldehyde including: particleboard, hardwood plywood paneling, medium density fiberboard (MDF), permanent-press textiles, many glues and adhesives, and some paints and coating products.

SPIC AND SPAN

Your air freshener is “mountain breeze,” the dish soap is “lemon fresh,” and the toilet bowl cleaner claims “great bleaching action.” Smells squeaky clean, but your indoor air is now a veritable soup of volatile organic compounds (VOC), or organic chemicals. Used as ingredients in many household products — paints, cleaners, cosmetics, and hobby products — VOCs are released not only when you use a product but also when they are stored. In the absence of adequate ventilation, high pollutant concentrations can remain in the air long after these activities are finished.

THAT ‘M’ WORD

Moisture — water-damaged materials, wet surfaces, and high relative humidity — can serve as a breeding ground for biological contaminants such as molds, mildews, bacteria, and insects. Microscopic arachnoids and house dust mites, which thrive in damp, warm environments, are responsible for one of the most powerful biological allergens.

RADIOACTIVE ROCKS

Absent from B.C.’s coastal regions, radon concerns many homes in the Interior and east of the Coast Mountain range. Radon gas, which comes from uranium-bearing soil or rock, enters homes through cracks in walls and floors, floor drains, and sumps. Studies indicate that from one to five per cent of all homes in the interior of BC may have unacceptable radon levels.

CLEARING THE AIR

A number of symptoms can result from poor indoor air quality including irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue. Repeated and long term exposure has been linked to serious conditions such as respiratory illness, heart disease, and cancer. Fortunately, there are changes you can make that directly affect and improve indoor air quality.

SOURCE CONTROL

Eliminating or reducing individual culprits is generally the most effective (and cost-efficient) way to improve indoor air quality.

– Have central air handling systems, including furnaces, flues, and chimneys, inspected annually and promptly repair cracks or damaged parts.

-Insure that you have a CO monitor for your combustion furnace.

-Carefully consider everything you bring into your home — use non- and low-VOC paints, glues, and other products; switch to natural cleaners such as vinegar and baking soda.

-Ask interior decor retailers about the materials used in their products.

-Properly dispose of partially full containers of old or unneeded chemicals.

VENTILATION

If you cannot eliminate the source, be vigilant about ventilation. Bathroom and kitchen fans that exhaust outside remove contaminants from the room and can also help increase a home’s overall air exchange rate.

-Help control moisture by installing a humidistat that turns on fans when relative humidity goes above 50 per cent.

-Take heed when product labels call for a “well ventilated area.”

-Install a heat recovery ventilator (air-to-air heat exchanger), a mechanical system that increases air exchange rates without compromising energy efficiency.

AIR CLEANERS

Unfortunately these devices are generally not designed to remove gaseous emissions. While they can help reduce pollutants and allergens such as dust mites, pet dande and smoke, they should not be considered substitutes to efforts to eliminate or dramatically reduce emission sources and to improve air exchange.

Want some assistance clearing the air? Here are a few resources that can help.

CMHC, The Clean Air Guide

US EPA.

http://www.epa.gov/iaq/index.html

B.C. Ministry of Health Services

UBC School of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, Dr. Karen Bartlett

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

INDUSTRY NEWS I Developers get another source of mandatory coverage

Sun

An important arrow in the marketing quiver used by the development industry in B.C. to persuade new-home buyers that the leaky condo crisis was a yesteryear public tragedy, the home-warranty plan now has another insurance-provider.

Lombard General Insurance is the company’s name. Already in business in the province, either directly or through brokers, are St. Paul‘s Guarantee; National Home; and Willis.

The overseer of the warranty scheme is Ken Cameron, in his capacity of chief operating officer of B.C.’s Home Protection Plan.

“We’re working quite hard in an advocacy capacity to make sure those who do provide warranty insurance continue,” Cameron reports, in response to the latest news involving his agency.

”It’s important because it means there’s someone behind the house even if the builder is gone it is still backed by an insurance company. People can have confidence in the housing industry.”

Cameron’s agency was created in 1998 under the Home Owners Protection Act. The legislation was a response from government to a recommendation from former premier Dave Barrett, in his capacity as sole commissioner examining the leaky condo crisis in B.C. at the time.

Besides managing the home warranty system, Cameron’s agency extends financial assistance to owners of leaky condominiums and licences new-home builders.

In the last six years, 100,000 new residences have been brought to market with warranty insurance attached. It’s the law in B.C.

(Single-family residences built by their owners are exempt from the warranty-insurance requirement. About 3,000 of these homes are built annually, Cameron reports.)

”After the leaky condo crisis consumer confidence in the industry was in the tank. Now the industry is thriving. It’s an economic leader in the province. We’ve been able to rehabilitate the reputation of wood frame construction and that’s important for B.C.,” Cameron says.

The most common warranty insurance is known as 2/5/10, after its lengths in years of coverage — two on labour and materials, five on the building envelope and 10 on structural defects.

But Cameron notes some developers are going beyond 2/5/10 with “amazing customer- service programs.”

Residences in leaky buildings cost an average of $25,000 to $30,000 to repair, says Cameron. Some in concrete buildings, however, cost $60,000 to $70,000 to repair.

About 40,000 owners of 65,000 homes have received help from his office. Most of the $460 million in assistance has been in the form of loans.

Seventy-five per cent of the units affected have recovered 100 per cent of their value. A lot of units have recovered and paid off their loans,” he says. “It’s a case of government providing targeted and limited intervention to help people recover from the problem and move on with their lives.”

Cameron also reports his agency is now seeing more concrete residences with reports of leaks but “the cost of repairing those units is more and it’s going up. It’s well above $50,000.”

Asked how many units would be affected Cameron says he didn’t know the exact number but expects it would be “in the hundreds.”

He advises home-buyers to engage in deep due-diligence when they’re looking at a residence in a building constructed before 1998 and after the middle of the 1980s.

He recommends reviewing the strata minutes and engineering reports and asking, if repairs have been done, whether they were done by a licensed builder.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005