Private rooftop patios give spacious Summit townhomes the ?wow? factor

Shawn Conner
The Vancouver Sun

Project: Summit

Project location: 14058 61 Ave., Surrey

Project size: 89 units with rooftop patios

Residence size: 1,770 — 2,046 square feet

Price: starting from $639,900

Developer: Hayer Builders Group

Architectural design: Focus Architecture

Interior design: Kleen Designs

Website: hayerlifestyle.com

Sales centre: 14058 61 Ave., Surrey

Contact: sales team; Phone: 778-591-6685

Hours: noon — 5 p.m., Sat — Thurs

Completion date: March 2017 onwards

A private rooftop patio is one thing. But a private rooftop patio with a hot tub?

“This is our ‘wow’ factor,” says sales manager Erin Vance of the Summit townhome development in Surrey.

Each of the 89 homes in Summit, a project from Hayer Builders Group, has its own rooftop patio, facing north with a view of the mountains. Vance calls the patios, which range from 250 to 327 square feet, “the ultimate entertainment space.”

Besides being structurally engineered to hold a hot tub — buyers will have to supply their own — the patios feature a gas connection for barbecuing and are wired for TV and audio. Six-foot-high privacy screens provide privacy and a storage room protects patio furniture and the like.

The rooftop deck isn’t the homes’ only notable feature. All three floor plans, which include three bedrooms, a flex room and 3.5 baths, are split level.

The development is built on a sloping hillside facing north, and the structure follows the contours of the ground. This means that levels are at different heights; for example, the family room, on the north side, is at a lower level than the kitchen, on the south. The result is a spacious family room with an 11-foot ceiling, and a kitchen that faces out and over the family room.

“They feel like single-family homes, with the different spaces and separations,” said Brandon Trent, senior project manager for Fifth Avenue Real Estate Marketing.

“I’ve even heard comments along the lines of, ‘Wow, this space is so big.’ You almost lose your sense of where you are in the home. It’s a home that keeps on going and going and going.”
In addition, each unit has either a south-facing ground-level patio off the kitchen or a front yard. The D plans, which are along the street, have a front door and yard. Both the C and C1 plans have walk-out rear yards, but the C plan is wider. The extra space in the C plan has been utilized for a larger flex space, walk-in pantry, a walk-in closet in the main bedroom and a master ensuite that includes a soaker tub/shower combination.

The townhomes went on sale in December. As of earlier this week, 25 had been sold.

“We’re getting a wide mix of people,” Trent said. “There are executive couples, young families, move-up buyers, and downsizers.”

They all have their own reasons for buying in, he says.
“For the people moving up, it’s more space. And they see an adult entertainment area. For downsizers, they are limiting the amount of yard work, but with the same amount of space. For executive couples, there’s enough room for entertaining.

“And it comes with all the conveniences a single-family home would: yard space, side-by-side car garage, a large enough dining room for a table to fit eight to 10 people. And then the bonus, the rooftop patio.”

Kitchens have quartz countertops, marble tiled backsplashes, soft-close cabinetry (in light or dark, the homes’ colour scheme options), undermount kitchen lighting, gas stove and concealed hood fan, and an island with built-in wine fridges, and floor-to-ceiling windows.

Master bedroom ensuites have double sinks and quartz countertops and oversized porcelain floor tile.

Other features include double-wide garages, with extra storage space through a “bump-up” (heightened ceiling) near the back. Amenities include building lounge with kitchen and a viewing rooftop deck above the amenity building, as well as an outdoor playground area.

Summit is close to King George Highway, 15 minutes from the SkyTrain and border, and 45 from Vancouver. Nearby shopping meccas include Panorama Village and Southside Centre.

Buyer Rudi Ciccia, who bought a D plan, was the first to move into the development. Previously, he and his wife had been renting a townhome in the area.

“We took our time, did our research and waited for the right development to come around,” he said.

After seeing that Summit was going up, he and his wife researched further. “We found out who the builder is (Hayer), and the value of their name. That added more incentive to our drive to purchase.”

The location and the architectural design “were the first things we fell in love with,” he said. The exterior is West Coast modern, with flat planes and sharp horizontal lines.

Now, they love the kitchen, and the ensuite. “It feels like you’re staying at a resort,” he said.

The split-level layout is perfect for hosting, he says.

“It’s nice to have those 11-foot ceilings. Everything feels more open. Not to mention, you can wash dishes and look down and see what’s on TV or look straight ahead and see the mountains. Doing the dishes has never been better.”

Of course, the rooftop deck was a big part of the appeal.

“Everything is becoming more micro these days,” he said. “You don’t have that much of a yard. To be creative and have more space where you can relax, not to mention the spectacular view — that was a huge selling point.”

He’s not quite ready to install a hot tub, though. 

“With time,” the 32-year-old said.

“Last year, we had the arrival of our first child, and we also got married, so there were a few expenses. As soon as we get caught up, we want that hot tub on the rooftop.”

© 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.

Vancouver to get unique ‘soft skyscraper’ in West Georgia corridor

Kevin Griffin
The Vancouver Sun

Vancouver’s skyline is about to get a unique addition: a ‘soft skyscraper’, clad with shingled panels to create soft, blurred reflections expected to make the building look ephemeral.

The 43-storey tower at 1550 Alberni is designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma.

Kuma described his tower’s shape as organic and unique. On the north and south sides, it will look as if two big scoops have been taken out of the traditional rectangular cuboid form of a tower.

He said that while its shape isn’t based on anything particularly western or Japanese, it is inspired by traditional Japanese buildings that create covered outdoor spaces. He described the tower as an example of a “soft skyscraper” because of the way it takes into account its setting, which includes the street and nearby towers as well as Stanley Park and the North Shore mountains.

“It’s creating semi-outdoor space,” Kuma said. “It creates dialogue between neighbours and the buildings. In that sense, it is a building of relationships not a building of form making.”

The tower — called Alberni by Kengo Kuma — will have 188 condominiums and a ground-floor Japanese restaurant designed by Kuma’s firm. Six levels of underground parking will provide space for 271 cars and 248 bike parking spots inside and out.

Alberni is being built by two Vancouver-based firms Westbank Projects Corp and Peterson.

Westbank president Ian Gillespie said that as a tower, Alberni isn’t about shouting out ‘Here I am.’

“It’s about the building blending into and embracing the natural environment rather than try to push against it,” he said.

Gillespie described the building’s form as expressing a feminine side of architecture as opposed to a masculine one.

“When I see that building, that’s what comes to me,” he said. “There is so much testosterone in the real estate business that the last thing it needs is more of that.”

Kuma said the scoops out of the building’s form bring natural light into suites and give more of a view of Lost Lagoon to the west. As well, for someone standing further east on Alberni and looking west, the scoop on that side will frame the lagoon in Stanley Park.

“We’re trying to create a new flow on (Alberni) street,” he said.

“In that sense, we’re not designing the volume — we’re designing the flow. That scoop is creating a natural flow between the buildings.”

On a sunny day when Kuma could see that a dusting of snow had fallen overnight on the North Shore mountains, he said Vancouver’s proximity to nature makes it unique compared to other cities.

His design for Alberni, he said, is one solution to the challenge of providing an experience of nature to people living in a city.

 “In the 21^st century, Vancouver can be the model of the environmental city,” he said.

Kuma said creating a dialogue with nature has been one of the most important elements in Japanese architecture.

“There is I think a new definition for architecture: it should be a bridge between nature and artifact,” he said.

“We should design the bridge — not the wall. In Japan, it is always a bridge.”

Kuma, author of the Anti-Object: The Dissolution and Disintegration of Architecture, is considered one of Japan’s hottest architects. His design has been chosen for the Tokyo Stadium for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Kuma is a founding principal of Kengo Kuma & Associates in Tokyo.

Kuma’s work is part of an exhibition called Japan Unlayered, currently on at the Fairmont Pacific Rim. The exhibition includes pop-up stores by Japanese retailers Muji and Beams Japan. Because of demand, free entry to the Muji pop-up is by reservation only. Japan Unlayered continues to Tuesday, Feb 28.

© 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.

Sold data ruling expected

Justin da Rosa
REP

The ongoing battle between the Toronto Real Estate board and a popular real estate website may be nearing its conclusion

“The process continues and there’s no telling how long the three judge panel will take to make their decision but normally it’s within two months,” Fraser Beach, an agent with Select/Plan Real Estate and the publisher of torealestatesold.com, told REP. “(Hearing within the next few weeks) would be my hope.”

A hearing between the Competition Bureau and TREB regarding the publication of sold data was heard in late 2016, and a decision is expected in the near future.

The subscriber-based website torealestatesold.com became popular among Torontonians because it published sales prices for homes in the hot housing market, as well as recently listed homes.

However, a cease and desist letter from the Toronto Real Estate Board in September of last year forced Beach to suspend the sold data portion of the website.

A similar letter led to a suspension of the data in March of 2015 as well.

The publication of sold data in Toronto – which is compiled from the Multiple Listings Service available exclusively to members of the real estate board — has been an ongoing controversy.

Last June, TREB was ordered to open its sold data to the public following a competition tribunal ruling. In July, the board said it was appealing that decision.

The case was heard on December 5 and 6.

Beach as well as industry player across the city patiently await the decision of that hearing, which may come in any day now.

“We are expecting a favorable decision from the Federal Court of Appeal any day now that will allow us to resume publishing the Just Sold report,” torealestatesold.com says on its front page. “In the meantime we are doing specific or area sold property searches for subscribers on request.”

Real Estate Professional has contacted the Toronto Real Estate Board for comment.

Copyright © 2017 Key Media Pty Ltd

Justyna Polaczyk
other

Mark Zuckerberg is probably one of the most beloved leaders in the business world. With a whopping 99% approval rating from his employees, he seems to be more of a superhero than a regular boss.

But the thing is that he looks just like an “everyday normal guy.”

If you didn’t know that he’s the Mark Zuckerberg, you wouldn’t suspect that this 32-year-old is one of the most influential and well-known CEOs on Earth. Oh, and also the 36th richest American and 25th most powerful person on the planet, according to Forbes.

What’s his secret to being one of the most popular and admired bosses in the world? Here are the qualities of a good boss that we can learn from Mark Zuckerberg.

He is humble

“I wear the same outfit or, at least, a different copy of it almost every day. “

One of Zuckerberg’s traits is that he doesn’t seem to be different than his employees. He wears gray t-shirts and black hoodies, and his hair is always in a mess. He’s just an ordinary guy, approachable for all his employees.

He’s not into a traditional hierarchy, and he’s far from slotting people into roles. He values every feedback, even from the entry-level employees and appreciates every idea. It’s different from many top-down corporations, and the employees are happy with the balance between Zuckerberg being a boss and a co-employee of the company.

He’s a fearless decision-maker

“Founding a company is hard. Most of it isn’t smooth. You’ll have to make very hard decisions. You have to fire a few people. Therefore, if you don’t believe in your mission, giving up is easy. The majority of founders give up. But the best founders don’t give up.”

Zuckerberg is well-known from the surprising (shocking, for some people) decisions he made in the past. Before he went to Harvard, he built a program that was learning your music taste. Microsoft wanted to buy it for $1 million, and you know what?

Zuckerberg turned them down.

Another great offer that was rejected happened when Facebook was two years old. It was still a site with roughly nine million people on it. Facebook was making $30 million in revenue, but it was not profitable yet.

Zuckerberg received two acquisition offers from Viacom for $1.5 billion and from Yahoo for $1 billion, but they were not accepted. But these are not the last huge opportunities that Zuckerberg rejected; he also didn’t accept Microsoft’s offer to acquire Facebook for $15 billion.

This boss has the guts!

He has a clear vision of the future

“Facebook was not originally created to be a company. It was built to accomplish a social mission – to make the world more open and connected.”

Zuckerberg rejected many lucrative proposals for one reason: he believed that Facebook was something more than just a business. He believes that Facebook can change the world for better and his life ambition is to create more open and connected world.

Sure, sometimes he makes mistakes, but, as he says: “the biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.”

He’s a charity donator

“We (…) begin the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to join people across the world to advance human potential and promote equality for all children in the next generation. Our initial areas of focus will be personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities. We will give 99% of our Facebook shares — currently about $45 billion — during our lives to advance this mission.”

What’s more awesome than a good boss with a vision? A good boss with a vision and mission.

In 2010, Zuckerberg donated $100 million of his money to Newark Public Schools and in December joined Bill Gates and Warren Buffett in signing “The Giving Pledge,” a promise to donate to charity at least half of their wealth over time.

In 2013 when he donated 18 million shares of Facebook stock to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and became the biggest donor of 2013.

In 2015 he and his wife Priscilla had opened “Chan Zuckerberg Initiative”, a program “advancing human potential and promoting equal opportunity” and promised to give away 99% of their Facebook shares during their lives.

Just how awesome it is?

He has a sense of humor

“I updated my grilling app, iGrill, today and it now has Facebook integration that lets you see what other people are grilling right now around the world. Awesome.”

Apart from being a humble genius with a great brain and a heart, Zuckerberg also proves that he’s got a great sense of humor.

If you saw “The Social Network,” you probably remember the way Zuckerberg’s hiring process. He divided the whole number of applicants into groups of 5 or 6 and gave them a difficult hacker job (they were asked to get root access to Python web server, exposing its SSL encryption and intercepting all traffic through a secure port, all in 10 minutes).

The plot twist was that they had to drink a shot every tenth line of code, whenever server detected intrusion, when someone of them was the last to close the pop-up window and additionally, every 3 minutes.

I haven’t heard about such a crazy recruitment process in my life!

You might also remember the joke Zuckerberg made in collaboration with H&M on April’s Fool.

H&M came up with the Zuckerberg collection: a gray round neck t-shirt and basic blue jeans. The collection pack features seven t-shirts and one pair of jeans, perfect for the whole week.

He is definitely able to laugh at himself!

Oh, and speaking about the sense of humor, this Jarvis “commercial” is also a must-watch!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmxoGmQAajc

Qualities of a good boss

Every manager, a team leader or a decision-maker would like to be seen as a good boss and a great leader. Looking at Mark Zuckerberg qualities, it might seem to be the simplest thing ever.

You just have to be close to your employees, be self-confident when making decisions, have a clear vision and a clear mission and be able to joke about yourself, right? We all know that it’s not that simple, though.

I think that one of the most important Zuckerberg’s traits is that he’s honest and transparent about his actions. Whether it’s a chat with a low-level employee or with an investor, he’s not afraid to be himself and treats other people with respect.

So as soon as you remember that qualities of a good boss are in fact very easy to implement in your daily routine, you will be able to work on becoming a better version of yourself, and you won’t ask yourself how to be a good boss anymore.

other

China’s escalating crackdown on capital outflows is sending shudders through property markets around the world.

In London, Chinese citizens who clamored to purchase flats at the city’s tallest apartment tower three months ago are now struggling to transfer their down payments. In Silicon Valley, Keller Williams Realty says inquiries from China have slumped since the start of the year. And in Sydney, developers are facing “big problems” as Chinese buyers pull back, according to consultancy firm Basis Point.

“Everything changed’’ as it became more difficult to send money offshore, said Coco Tan, a broker at Keller Williams in Cupertino, California.

Less than a month after China announced fresh curbs on overseas payments, anecdotal reports from realtors, homeowners and developers suggest the restrictions are already weighing on the world’s biggest real estate buying spree. While no one expects Chinese demand to disappear anytime soon, the clampdown is deterring first-time buyers who lack offshore assets and the expertise to skirt tighter capital controls.

“If it’s too difficult, I’m out,’’ said Mr. Zheng, 66, a retired civil servant in Shanghai who declined to give his first name to avoid attracting regulatory scrutiny. He may abandon a 2.4 million yuan ($348,903) home purchase in western Melbourne, even after shelling out a 300,000 yuan deposit last August. He’s due to make another big payment next month.

The change spooking Zheng and his compatriots came in a statement from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Dec. 31, hours before the reset of Chinese citizens’ annual foreign currency quotas. Among other requirements, SAFE said all buyers of foreign exchange must now sign a pledge that they won’t use their $50,000 quotas for offshore property investment. Violators will be added to a government watch list, denied access to foreign currency for three years and subjected to money-laundering investigations, SAFE said.

“A lot of clients are worried and have started hesitating,’’ said Wang Ning, vice president of the international department at Fang Holdings Ltd., China’s most popular property website. While the regulator has long banned the use of foreign currency for real estate, its call for additional documentation was seen as a signal that the government is serious about cracking down.

At The Spire in London, a 67-story tower with sweeping views of the River Thames and flats starting at 595,000 pounds ($751,901), prospective buyers were caught off guard by the new rules. Less than 70 percent of clients who signed purchase contracts last year have made their initial payments, with the rest now facing “problems,’’ a press official at Greenland Holdings Corp., the project’s Shanghai-based developer, said on Jan. 12. The official asked not to be named, citing company policy.

While Beijing’s policy tweak may appear symbolic on the surface, it’s likely to cause a “notable reduction” in Chinese purchases of Australian property, according to Christopher Todd ‘CT’ Johnson at Basis Point, a consulting firm that specializes in business relations between the two nations. Australia approved A$24 billion ($18.1 billion) of real estate investments from China in the fiscal year ended June 2015, the most recent figures available, making the country by far the biggest source of foreign buyers.

Even with tightened capital controls, brokers say motivated Chinese investors can usually find ways around them. In any case, many already have money parked offshore, according to Michael Finger, the head of Ray White Double Bay, a real estate agency in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. Just before Christmas, he sold a multi-million dollar home to Chinese citizens who had moved money to Australia before the clampdown. Finger says he’s seeing more e-mail inquiries from buyers eager to buy offshore assets before authorities clamp down any further.

A more complete picture of Chinese demand may only emerge after the Lunar New Year holiday, when wealthier buyers often combine overseas property hunting with sightseeing. Agents surveyed by Chinese property portal Juwai.com say they’re expecting a busier holiday season than in 2016.

Still, broad measures of China’s capital flight suggest government curbs were having an effect even before SAFE’s Dec. 31 rule changes. For the first time since the yuan’s devaluation in August 2015, Chinese banks last month registered net inflows under the capital account, the currency regulator said on Jan. 19. Offshore payments in yuan have also moderated, while the currency has strengthened 1.2 percent against the dollar since touching an eight-year low on Dec. 28.

“There will certainly be an impact,’’ Eric Lam, chief executive at the overseas broker unit of Shenzhen World Union Properties Consultancy Inc., China’s largest realtor for new-home sales, said by phone from Hong Kong.

For Zheng, the decision on whether to walk away from his Melbourne property or risk breaking China’s foreign-exchange rules is fast approaching. He’s scheduled to wire another 800,000 yuan to Australia in late February to cover the rest of his down payment.

“I can probably meet future mortgage payments with rental income from the villa, but a more imminent problem is whether to wire money abroad now,” Zheng said. “I’m not too sure about that. It’s safer not to stick my neck out.”

Copyright Bloomberg 2017

Ephraim Vecina
Canadian Real Estate Wealth

The steady entry of foreign money is chiefly responsible for the continuous growth in Toronto and Victoria residential real estate prices, according to the Bank of Montreal.
 
“We have enough history now to distinguish the clear divergence between Vancouver (down) and Toronto (still straight up),” BMO chief economist Douglas Porter wrote in a January 24 client note, as quoted by BuzzBuzzHome.
 
Porter stated that sufficient time has passed to make a proper evaluation of these leading markets, as it’s been approximately half a year since the B.C. government’s implementation of the 15 per cent foreign home buyer’s tax in its jurisdiction.
 
BMO noted that after the tax took effect on August 2, Vancouver prices have seen a significant 3.1 per cent retreat by the end of the year. Many of the foreign buyers who have fled that market are now casting their lot with Toronto and Victoria.
 
“And, in case there was any doubt what force is at place, note that Victoria has tracked closer to Toronto’s behaviour then Vancouver’s,” Porter said, adding that the B.C. tax does not cover the city.
 
Over the final quarter of 2016, Toronto home prices rose by 3.8 per cent, while Victoria residential prices grew by around 2.5 per cent.
 
The growing consensus among industry observers is that the two cities are now the main contributors of strength and activity to Canada’s residential real estate sector.
 
Recent data released by Teranet showed that Toronto—which experienced 20 per cent growth in housing sale prices last year—was one of the only two Canadian markets that posted gains in the second half of 2016, along with Victoria.
 
Earlier this month, former Victoria Real Estate Board president Mike Nugent said that the province’s home prices might see a healthy upward climb this year as a result of inbound migration from other Canadian provinces.
 
“There’s more buyer demand than we can supply right now,” Nugent said. “In Victoria, because we’ve got so few places available — all our projects are sold out — and because of the shortage of inventory even though sales will be less, we expect prices to continue to keep inching up.”

Copyright © 2017 Key Media Pty Ltd

Steve Randall
REP

Affordability in Vancouver and Toronto, the rental market balance in Calgary, and levels of multifamily construction in four major markets; all highlighted as significant risks to the housing market by RBC Economics.

In its January Canadian Housing Health Check, economists highlight concerns about the market but say that overall there is “little indication that any major market faces a potentially destabilizing downturn in the near term.”

The report notes that Vancouver’s price rise have been moderated and that the 15 per cent foreign buyers’ tax appears to be adjusting the market; however, it says that Toronto’s housing market is showing signs of overheating.

RBC’s economists believe that the risk of government measures to tackle housing affordability remain “elevated”, especially for Toronto, and although there is a possibility that interest rates could be increased this is not expected in 2017.

The lender’s affordability measure for the third quarter of 2016 was 44.3 per cent nationally and it sees a reading above 45 per cent as the “danger zone.”

Copyright © 2017 Key Media Pty Ltd

 

Canadian Real Estate Wealth

Canada’s federal housing agency says strong evidence of problematic conditions continues to exist in the national housing market.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says the most prevalent issues it has observed in the 15 markets it monitors are overbuilding and overvaluation, which occurs when house prices outpace economic fundamentals such as income and population growth.

CMHC first raised its overall risk rating for the national housing market to strong last October.

It said there is strong evidence of problematic conditions in Vancouver, Victoria, Saskatoon, Regina, Toronto and Hamilton.

Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Montreal and Quebec City show moderate evidence of such conditions, the agency said.

CMHC’s housing market assessment is intended to be an early warning system to alert Canadians about problematic conditions developing in the country’s real estate markets.

“Price acceleration in Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto and Hamilton indicates that home price growth may be driven by speculation as it is outpacing what economic fundamentals like migration, employment and income can support,” CMHC’s chief economist Bob Dugan said in a news release.

“For this reason, homebuyers should ensure that their purchases are aligned with their needs as well as the long-term market outlook.”

Copyright © 2017 Key Media Pty Ltd

Steve Randall
Canadian Real Estate Wealth

HomEquity Bank has reported a 26 per cent rise in reverse mortgage sales with a total of $459 million in 2016.

The figures reflect a sharp rise in the firm’s mortgage broker business which increased 48 per cent year-over-year following the launch of its Mortgage Broker Direct service in September 2015.

“We are very proud of the growth we’ve attained in 2016,” said Steven Ranson, president and CEO, at HomEquity Bank. “At a time of remarkable appreciation in real estate values, we are privileged to help Canadian seniors access that equity. We look forward to continuing our track record of year over year growth for 2017.”

As well as its broker relationships, HomEquity has bolstered its referral partner relationships which includes several large chartered banks.

Copyright © 2017 Key Media Pty Ltd