Natalie Obiko Pearson
REP

Real estate brokers who engage in misconduct may face as much as a 25-fold increase in penalties in British Columbia, where its biggest city, Vancouver, is one of North America’s  hottest housing markets.

The maximum fine on a brokerage should be increased to C$500,000 ($384,000) from C$20,000, said an independent group tasked with finding ways to better regulate an industry that’s been accused of fomenting the run-up with unethical practices. The cap for an individual agent should be raised to C$250,000 from C$10,000, the group said.

“Penalties and sanctions are simply not credible,” Carolyn Rogers, the Canadian province’s top financial regulator and chair of the group, said at a news conference in Vancouver Tuesday. “They’re not deterring misconduct.”

The group’s final report is the result of an examination of the industry that began in February after a local media report revealed how some brokers were earning multiple commissions by helping a property trade hands repeatedly before a deal closed, inflating its price in the process.

The findings paint a “troubling picture” of the real estate industry, provincial Finance Minister Michael de Jong said in a statement. The government plans to announce actions to strengthen consumer protection on Wednesday, he said.

 

Whistle-blower Programs

 

The report contains 28 recommendations targeting both the industry self-regulator, the Real Estate Council of British Columbia, and the provincial government. They include:

Prohibit agents from representing both the buyer and seller Require that half of the self-regulator’s members aren’t from the industry. Currently, only three of the 14 members are from outside the sector. Set up whistle-blower programs so that brokers can more confidently report misconduct without fear of retaliation Give the Superintendent of Real Estate, the industry watchdog, more powers to strengthen oversight of the self-regulator.

Robert Fawcett, executive officer of B.C.’s real estate council, said the self-regulator was reviewing the recommendations with trade associations and the government, and pledged a “swift implementation” of the proposals. It plans to appoint an implementation panel with three weeks.

Public pressure for a crackdown has been mounting amid a rapid surge in Vancouver home prices, where the price of a detached home rose 37 percent in the past year to top C$1.5 million.

Rogers said the group expected a follow-up report within 18 months to see to what degree the recommendations are implemented.

Copyright © 2016 Key Media Pty Ltd

REP
REP

British Columbia is ending the self-regulation of the real estate industry in a move Premier Christy Clark says is aimed at protecting consumers.

Clark says the province will hire a new superintendent of real estate, who will take over the rule-making authority held by the B.C. Real Estate Council.

The announcement comes the day after an independent advisory group tasked with restoring consumer confidence in the industry released a report with 28 recommendations, including hefty fines for misconduct.

Clark says the report shows that self-regulation of the industry must end because consumers are being put at risk and the reputations of honest agents are being tarnished.

She says the government will also implement many of the recommendations made by the advisory group, such as prohibiting a single agent from acting for both the buyers and sellers in a transaction.

The government will also revamp the B.C. Real Estate Council and replace a majority of the members with people from outside of the industry.

Copyright © 2016 Key Media Pty Ltd

Naoibh O’Connor
Vancouver Courier

The B.C. government is ending the real estate industry’s right to self-regulate a day after a scathing report was released about practices within the sector — a report Finance Minister Mike de Jong called “illuminating and troubling.”

Premier Christy Clark and de Jong made the announcement at a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

Clark has been under increasing pressure to introduce measures to address realtor misconduct, as well as take actions that might cool the red hot market.

Tuesday’s Independent Advisory Group (IAG) on the conduct and practices of the real estate industry featured 28 recommendations — seven for government — aimed at improving governance, oversight, transparency and accountability.

“The point of regulation is to protect people, it’s to protect consumers. It is not a right when it comes to self-regulation. Self-regulation is very much a privilege that’s granted on behalf of the public by government to professions that say they can do the job and prove that they can do the job,” Clark said. “Well, the real estate sector has had 10 years to get it right on self-regulation and they haven’t. So we are going to end the right of the real estate sector to self-regulate.”

Clark said the government accepts the IAG’s recommendations and will take immediate action on all of them.

It will establish a dedicated superintendent of real estate to do what’s necessary to “increase public confidence” in the sector. The superintendent will take over the real estate council’s regulation and rule-making authority and have the power to take away commissions from those who break the rules. The public will have easier access to make complaints about shady practices, including through a whistleblower line.

Clark said, as per the IAG’s recommendation, the government will “dramatically” increase fines for those who break rules to $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 as a maximum for brokerages, and change the composition of the Real Estate Council so it has a majority of public-interest, non-industry members.

Realtors will also no longer be able to represent both a buyer and seller.

“It is primarily important that we protect consumers, but the role of the Real Estate Council and regulator is also to protect the vast majority of realtors who are honest, hardworking people from having their reputations tarnished by a few shady operators,” Clark said. “So we want to make sure, with these changes, we’re able to put consumers first and make sure we are protecting the vast majority of agents who are doing a good job.”

Clark said more actions will be taken in coming weeks that are informed by six principles — a focusing on increasing supply, linking communities together through transit, supporting first-time home buyers get into the market, protecting consumers from shady practices and increasing the rental supply across the Lower Mainland, in particular, but across the province.

“And, most importantly, making sure the dream of home ownership remains in the realm of possibility for the middle class,” she said.

The announcement comes a week after Mayor Gregor Robertson announced the City of Vancouver will implement an empty home tax with or without the help of the province. Robertson met with de Jong on Monday to explore the possibility of such a tax.

When asked what the province will do to make cities more accountable for increasing supply through measures such as zoning, Clark said the municipal, provincial and federal governments all have a role in addressing the affordability problem.

“There are things we can do in supporting rental supply, the federal government can do that through tax changes as well, and obviously on zoning the municipal government can do something,” she said. “It’s a matter of finding ways to work cooperatively.”

© 2016 Vancouver

Ephraim Vecina
Mortgage Broker News

Speaking to reporters last week, Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson announced his resolve to tax vacant residential properties and treat them as business investments instead to cool down the out-of-control price growth in the city’s housing sector.

In a report by Reuters, Robertson stated that the city will wait until August 1 for the provincial government to respond to the new (and as of yet undefined) tax rate that would be slapped upon the nearly 11,000 empty housing units in Vancouver.

The city will go ahead with crafting its own regulatory regime for empty investment houses should the British Columbia government not provide any backing for the initiative, according to Robertson.

“We are going to make sure that those who treat housing as a business are treated and taxed accordingly for that use,” Robertson said.

Such a tax would make it more expensive for foreign buyers who are parking their wealth in Canada’s already overheated housing markets, observers noted.

B.C. Premier Christy Clark said in a message on social media that provincial authorities are already in the process of reviewing the proposal.

As Canada’s most in-demand real estate market, Vancouver has seen home prices swell by 46.9 per cent over the last half-decade. Over nine out of ten single detached properties in the city are now valued above $1 million, grossly inflated from the 19 per cent proportion a mere 10 years ago.

Copyright © 2016 Key Media Pty Ltd

But some on the Drive are still spinning over bike lane

? MATT ROBINSON
The Vancouver Sun

After years of consultation, the city has released a revised area plan for Grandview-Woodland that again calls for more density, but at a lower level than what sparked a neighbourhood revolt a couple years ago.

The plan, which was one of the most controversial in recent memory, sets out a vision for the next 30 years that includes 10,000 new residents, towers as high as 24 storeys, $800-million in public benefits and more than 7,000 new homes.

And while the newest iteration, released last weekend, has toned down the tall towers that heightened community concerns and reduced overall residential growth by 25 per cent, it touches on two proposed projects that have become significant flash points in recent months — a controversial bike lane and the proposed Kettle Boffo development, both on Commercial Drive.

For some residents and shopkeepers in the area, these small pieces will be the focal points for conversation about the much larger plan, which covers an area that stretches from Clark Drive to Kamloops Street, and from South Grandview Highway north to the port.

For Domenico Bruzzese, a co-owner of the family-run Commercial Drive specialty food store La Grotta Del Formaggio, the influx of 10,000 new residents could be good for business, but it may be decades before they come. Far more pressing is the bike lane he and other business owners along the Drive fear will put an end to visits from destination shoppers.

“How are they going to fit parking? How are they going to fit loading bays? They are basically going to create havoc,” Bruzzese said. “It’s not just lines painted on the street — they’re actually building and eliminating driving lanes. I just think it’s going to be hard for people to stop and shop. They’re just going to drive through and continue on to the next area.”

Kent Munro, an assistant director of planning with the City of Vancouver who briefed reporters on the plan Monday, appeared reluctant to address the bike lane, which only fleetingly appears in the area plan. Mention that two vehicle lanes could be lost to cycling space is made about halfway through its 250 pages.

“The goal of the plan over the next 30 years is to get Commercial Drive to be a more complete street. That can, and will mean improvements to the public realm for pedestrians, for walkers, but also for bikes — the details of which have not been worked out yet. There’s 30 years to do that. It will happen through the life of the plan,” Munro said.

City staff had much more to say about the Kettle Boffo project — a proposed 12-storey building at Commercial Drive and Venables Street. The city’s vision for that development is notably different than the one residents saw in renderings recently released by the non-profit Kettle Society and Vancouver’s Boffo Properties. Instead, it envisions a shorter building with its tallest section drawn back from the Drive to keep the height of its facade in line with buildings to the south.

But that vision has a drawback. The proponents put forward a “self-financing” model where the renewal of the Kettle Friendship Society would be financed by market density, said Andrew Pask, a city planner. The model put forward by the city would leave “a financial gap” that would need to be filled some other way.

Barbara Cameron, a member of the No Tower at Venables and Commercial coalition, said the group “really approved of the notion of four storeys along Commercial” as appeared in the plan.

“We’ve always said keep the Drive under five and that’s a really positive thing,” she said, but noted the group still had concerns with the project.

When the city’s plan for the area first went to public hearing about two-and-a-half years ago it was panned by residents who decried a lack of consultation over the long-range vision to dramatically boost density in the area. It would be difficult for residents to take that same position this time around. So despised was the plan that staff sparked a citizen’s assembly to help guide the redrafting process rather than go at it solo.

By this point, staff members claim there have been a total of 85 open houses, workshops, meetings and walking tours and nine questionnaires during the planning process.

“We’ve done a lot of listening,” Munro said.

For Dorothy Barkley, a member of the citizens assembly and the head of the Grandview-Woodland Area Council, the plan seemed to reflect that.

“I thought it was a very balanced and reasoned response to the competing interests,” Barkley said. “I think most people … certainly in the residents’ community will think that it’s a fairly reasonable response.”

But she said some points could remain controversial, including a call for buildings of 10 storeys or more on Hastings and 1st Avenue and towers up to 24 storeys at the Safeway lot east of the Commercial-Broadway SkyTrain station. Meanwhile, there is no new green space for residents.

The city is holding three open houses on the plan this and next month and receiving comment through an online questionnaire. Details are on the city website. 

© 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.

Q1 2016 saw housing prices rise in 31 ? out of 45 ? housing markets in the world

Juwai
other

Which country reigns as the strongest housing markets right now? We analyse the latest GPI Report using inflation-adjusted figures, and shed light on which housing markets went up or down in the first quarter of the year.

According to the latest GPI Report, housing prices worldwide are still heating up, with most of Europe and North America spearheading the global housing boom, while Asia, Middle East, and Oceania markets are experiencing a slowdown.

Home to six out of the ten strongest housing markets, Europe retains its dominance with 18 out of 22 housing markets charting housing price increase.

Turkey leads the pack as the strongest performer this quarter, thanks to strong foreign investment and growing population that has surged despite its currency woes and border turmoil with Syria and Kurdish Iraq.

In North America, both the US and Canadian markets are rallying from strength to strength as real estate demand remains robust in both countries. Over at the Pacific Ocean though, the Australian and New Zealand markets are slowing down.

Meanwhile, housing markets in the Middle East and most of Asia – save for China, Japan, and the Philippines – charted weak performances of minimal growth or market deceleration.

European markets trailblazing ahead

• Turkish housing prices skyrocketed at 19.05% – clocking a y-o-y growth of 11.61% and q-o-q increase of 4.99%.
• Sweden surged an impressive 12.10% – housing prices rose due to strong economic growth, shortage of housing supply, and the negative interest rates of its central bank.
• Romanian market sustained strong growth of 11.55% – motivating factors include its robust economic growth combined with the government’s focus on rebuilding public trust.
• Ireland remains robust with a 7.74% increase – this sustainable, albeit slower-paced, rise is thanks to its healthy economic growth rate, which is currently ranked first in the EU.
• Germany’s housing market rose 6.25%  – strong economic fundamentals and housing supply shortages are behind this healthy boost in property prices.
• Other European countries showing strong performances – the Netherlands (+6.09%), Iceland (+5.10%), the UK (+4.78%), Lithuania (+3.56%), Macedonia (+3.29%), and Portugal (+3.18%).

 

European markets undergoing feeble growth or decline

• Russia struggles as weakest housing market – plagued by an economic crisis due to falling oil prices, currency woes, and international economic sanctions, Russian housing prices plunged -13.04% y-o-y, and this is following last year’s decline of -9.65%.
• Greece housing market remains stagnant – battling social unrest and its continued economic crisis, property prices slid -4.39% y-o-y before charting a slight q-o-q growth of 1.71% in Q1 2016.
• Ukraine shows marked improvement – having concluded its conflict with Russia, although housing prices in Kiev dropped -2.97% y-o-y, it was a dramatic development from its -36.52% decline the year before.
• Montenegro property prices tumble once more – following a 6.91% growth last quarter, housing prices dropped -1.06% y-o-y.

 

North American markets riding a healthy momentum

• US real estate market stays robust despite economic slowdown – S&P/Case-Shiller seasonally adjusted national home pricing grew 4.29%, driven by strong housing demand and lower mortgage interest rates.
• Canadian market strengthens despite repeated cooling measures – housing prices in 11 major cities still grew 5.67% y-o-y, which was higher than the 3.57% charted last year, and is the biggest annual increase since Q2 2010.

 

Pacific Ocean/Oceania markets slowing down

• Australian housing prices decelerate – while property prices rose 6.80% y-o-y, housing prices in its eight major cities grew at an increasingly slower pace.
• New Zealand housing market slows sharply – bogged down by a weakening economic growth, nationwide median housing prices grew a mere 3.63% y-o-y, compared to the 7.85% growth charted last year.

 

Middle East markets languishing

• Qatar housing market flags – while still retaining its presence as the fifth strongest housing market in the world, Qatar housing prices only grew 9.27% y-o-y, a dramatic decline from the 27.81% increase the year before.
• Israeli property market wanes – dragged down by an economic downturn and dwindling housing demand, its nationwide average housing prices only rose 4.52% y-o-y, compared to 8.5% the previous year.
• Dubai housing market slump continues – lower oil prices, an economic slowdown, and ebbing investor confidence have seen property prices plunging -9.26% y-o-y, a performance worse than the -2.72% recorded in Q1 2015.
• Egypt market stays sluggish – an economic slowdown projected this year and weakening tourism sector has seen its nationwide average housing prices drop -9.49% y-o-y, a stark contrast to 2.07% growth charted the year before. 

 

Asian markets delivering robust results

• Japan housing market upswing continues – despite a weak economy, housing prices grew 5.50% y-o-y thanks to strong housing demand and the appreciation of the Japanese Yen.
• Philippine market charts healthy growth – housing prices in the Makati CBD grew 3.9% y-o-y, thanks to rapid economic growth and a robust economic growth rate projected for 2016 (6%) and 2017 (6.2%).
• Other Asian countries showing modest growth – Vietnam (+1.93%), South Korea (+1.81%), and Thailand (+0.42%).

 

Asian markets weakening further

• Mongolia the weakest Asian housing market – a serious economic recession sees its housing market tumbling down -11.93% y-o-y.
• Hong Kong market slips into surprise decline – waning tourist arrivals and retail sales has led to a subdued economy, prompting property prices to fall -9.91% y-o-y, which is a drastic contrast from the 14.62% growth marked the year before.
• Singaporean market continues its slump – the combination of a economy downturn, weak housing demand, and the government’s continued cooling measures has seen it deliver its eleventh consecutive quarterly decline in housing price of -2.35%.
• Indonesia property market drops slightly – housing prices fell -0.16% y-o-y, however, the government has unveiled a plan enabling foreigners to invest in luxury property in Indonesia, which may prove a boon.

 

Other housing markets of note

• South Africa’s housing market declines – the depreciation of the rand, coupled with its economic uncertainty amidst softening foreign investor sentiments led to medium-sized apartment price index dropping -1.3%, compared to the increase of 1.52% in Q1 2015.
• Brazilian market depression continues – its prolonged political crisis and economic recession has resulted in a deteriorating housing market where property prices plunged -7.59% in its sixth consecutive quarterly decline.
• Mexican housing market strengthens – Brazils market slump is a boost for Mexico, whose housing prices grew 5.26% y-o-y, thanks to its eye-catching economic performance and a rise in foreign property buyers.

2016 © Juwai

Garry Marr
The Vancouver Sun

They are exactly the type of mortgages the government banned for about half of the borrowing Canadian public, but loans with 30-year amortizations, as opposed to 25 years, are slowly becoming the norm for consumers with a down payment of 20 per cent or more.

That segment of the market is often referred to as the less risky, low-ratio mortgage market: Since the loans have more equity, it takes a more pronounced housing downturn before they are underwater. But what is becoming clear is that consumers in what is called the uninsured mortgage market — those with loans not backed by federal government guarantees — are taking advantage of financial institutions letting them stretch out their amortizations.

The result is a smaller monthly payment that allows the consumer to borrow more in heated markets like Toronto and Vancouver, where resale home prices rose 16 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively, in May, from a year ago.

In its June Financial System Review, the Bank of Canada said the percentage of uninsured borrowers with an amortization of more than 25 years had climbed by almost 10 per cent from 2014 to 2015. In total, 58 per cent of new uninsured loans in 2015 opted for an amortization length of more than 25 years.

“To help lower the large mortgage payments typical of higher loan-to-income ratios, an increasing proportion of uninsured mortgages have been amortized over more than 25 years,” the BoC said. “The resulting slower repayment of debt leads to a higher aggregate level of household indebtedness.”

In 2014, 42 per cent of loans in the uninsured mortgage segment had an amortization of more than 25 years. That number climbed to 46 per cent in 2015 and is likely to grow again this year.

The Bank of Canada said that despite an increase in mortgages with high loan-to-income ratios and longer amortizations, arrears rates remain very low and are actually falling in British Columbia and Ontario.

But if longer amortizations sound familiar, it’s because that’s exactly happened with the insured market before the financial crisis in 2008. Canadians with less than 20 per cent down must buy what is called mortgage default insurance. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., the largest provider of such insurance, charges as much as 3.6 per cent of the value of a mortgage for insurance, which protects the banks in case of default.

Before the Great Recession, when U.S.-backed mortgage default insurers tried to elbow their way into the Canadian market, amortization lengths crept up to 40 years. It took three separate crackdowns before the insured market was scaled back to the mandated 25 years, where it stands at today.

The numbers are meaningful when it comes to longer amortizations. Rob McLister, the founder of ratespy.com, says that based on a five-year fixed-rate mortgage at 2.49 per cent, it takes about $174,000 of income to qualify for a $1-million mortgage. Stretch the amortization to 30 years and you only need income of about $157,500; based on an amortization of 35 years, you would need only $145,500 in household income.

“The big banks won’t do 35 years,” says McLister, adding that some minor lenders will go to 35 years for uninsured mortgages, but it’s a “small percentage” of the market. “The payment difference is material, it’s not huge. Any mortgage broker will tell you there is a small percentage of people that need to use longer amortizations to qualify.”

CMHC’s own data for low-ratio mortgages shows the average amortization was 25.1 years in the first quarter of 2016 — down from 26.1 per cent in the last quarter of 2015. Still, in the first quarter of 2016, 38.6 per cent of the mortgage loans it tracked were for an amortization of between 25 and 30 years, and 3.7 per cent opted for between 30 and 35 years.

In British Columbia, easily the most expensive province in which to buy a home, the average amortization length was 26.8 years for a low-ratio mortgage.

There are reasons to go for a longer amortization other than just trying to barely qualify via a lower monthly mortgage payment. Consumers with high-interest credit card debt are much better off paying that down first, and a lower monthly mortgage payment gives a homeowner more flexibility with most mortgages allowing consumers to bump their monthly payments by as much as 20 per cent.

“Most of the reason is people are trying to qualify,” says one economist, who asked not to be identified. “But when we say ‘qualifying,’ what are we talking about? It’s a starvation rate. What do you have left after 40 per cent of your gross income goes (towards housing costs). Add in tax — what’s left?”

Barry Gollom, vice-president, mortgages and lending with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, says the 30-year amortization is becoming a more popular structure, but his bank continues to encourage customers to go with the lower 25 years.

“What it comes down to is a strong real estate environment and home prices,” says Gollom, adding that, in many cases, people will pay their mortgage over a much shorter period than 30 years because of accelerated payments.

© 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.

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Sole Downtown features small, affordable condos in city centre

? MICHAEL BERNARD
The Vancouver Sun

Project: Sole Downtown

Project location: 1350 St. Paul St., Kelowna

Project size/scope: 40 condos on top three floors of a six-storey concrete and wood-frame building, with three floors of commercial/retail space below. In Kelowna’s downtown district, an easy walk to restaurants, theatre, Waterfront Park and Rotary Centre for the Arts.

Residence size: Studio suites 389 sq. ft.; one- bed and one-bed-and-den 623/662 sq. ft., and two-bed 742/771 sq. ft.

Prices: $155,900 — $329,900

Developer: Sole Squared Developments

Architect: MQN Architects, Vernon

Sales centre: 1290 St. Paul St.

Sales contact: Maureen Cousins, Epic Real Estate Solutions, Kelowna

Hours: By appointment

Telephone: 1-866-679-3742 Website: soledowntown.ca

Occupancy: September 2017

After languishing for a few years following the 2008 financial meltdown, Kelowna’s downtown neighbourhood is taking on a new hip look that is attracting younger professionals interested in a different, more sustainable form of housing, says the creator of the new Sole Downtown development.

“Sustainable” also means that the 40 suites in the six-storey concrete and wood-frame building are distinctly smaller than what has been built before in Kelowna, with homes ranging from a 389-squarefoot studio suite to a 771-squarefoot two-bedroom home.

“There is no question that there has been an acceptance of Vancouver-sized apartments in Kelowna,” says Kevin Edgecombe, whose company, Edgecombe Builders Group, has been building in the Okanagan Valley since 1989. “I think we are the pioneer of that to some degree.”

But while it’s not uncommon to see these size homes fetching $500,000 and up in Vancouver’s Yaletown, prices are much lower in Kelowna, with the studio suite going for less than one third of that.

Not that there haven’t been a few bumps in the road for Sole Squared Developments, which Edgecombe formed with three other partners. “We tried to launch Sole (the first building) in 2010,’’ he said, adding, “when we came up with a 389-square-foot studio suite, people shook their heads and said ‘Really, Are you kidding me?’”

After some tinkering with the design — it included converting the first three storeys into commercial office space — the concept gained traction, he said. Sole Downtown, which is almost a duplicate of the first Sole building, has been far easier to market, with about 70 per cent of homes sold to date. Part of the reason is that the Interior Health Authority building and the Innovation Centre under construction are expected to inject more than 1,200 permanent jobs into the downtown core, making urban-style housing attractive for workers.

The project’s name derives from a group discussion about branding that focused on concepts such as the size of the project footprint and the efficiency of the building, spawning the catchphrase “small footprint, big life,” Edgecombe says.

Ironically, his company, Edgecombe Builders Group, cut its teeth constructing luxury homes of 5,000 to 8,000 square feet in more luxurious settings, such as the Okanagan lakefront. But Edgecombe says he started looking at different approaches to housing after reading Garth Turner’s prophetic book 2015: After the Boom, in which the financial guru predicts a future glut of larger homes as baby boomers age.

“To me, the size of some of these houses is ridiculous, with just two or three people living in them,” Edgecombe says. “They are going to become our albatrosses.”

The look and design of the first building would easily fit into downtown Vancouver. The structure, an unusual combination of concrete on the lower floors and wood frame on the upper storeys, makes liberal use of modern materials, including vertical corrugated steel panels, aluminum-framed glazing and glass-plate balcony railings. A glass-sided elevator car gives the visitor a view of the neighbourhood as the car rises up an exterior glass column.

Inside the Sole Downtown homes, the sense of space will be enhanced by nine-foot-high ceilings, and 10-to-12-foot vaulted ceilings on the sixth floor. Walls can be painted in grey, “edgy blue” or “edgy green” while flooring is done in the highly durable vinyl plank.

The compact kitchens are equipped with quartz countertops and stainless steel backsplash. Cabinetry is Euro-style, reaching to the ceiling bulkhead for maximum storage capacity. Another notable feature is a custom-designed island with a built-in dining table in the form of a partial circle. Appliances are smaller but efficient with a 24-inch Frigidaire ceramic top electric stove, a compact Energy Star-rated dishwasher and a 12-cubic-foot Electrolux fridge with freezer drawer.

The bedrooms have large windows for maximum natural lighting and are set off from the living areas by sliding opaque glass doors. An innovative and practical feature is an elevated valance shelf at top of door height for handy and ample storage.

In the bathrooms, buyers can choose between a tile-surround walk-in shower with frameless glass doors or an optional bathtub. Cabinetry is the floating Eurostyle variety topped with quartz counters.

The common amenity spaces on the sixth floor include a fitness room and 1,000-square-foot balcony area, which faces south with a barbecue, fire pit couches and a dining table.

“We removed two units from the top floor and inserted the amenities,” Edgecombe says. “We picked a prime location, arguably too prime because we probably left money on the table there. However, we believe it adds to the cachet of the whole project. It is quite impactful.”

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun