[maestro]

He has read too much about small condos in toronto. That's not what this is sir. Affordable housing is VE'd development but it is also the older apartment that someone moves out of to move into a more expensive newer apartment. Problem in Calgary is we don't have a lot of the latter so we need to do the former.

As expected, This forum leans heavily on the pro development side.

We are not building ourselves out of the affordable housing crisis. Supply is not a root cause or a solution developers will get behind. The CAP rates despite the high rental rates are shit. The threshold to build without burning oneself is incredibly high giving older apartments leeway to raise rents while maintaining a competitive discounted rate from new construction.

Density does come at a premium price and that gets further boosted by an insatiable investor market that cashes in on blanket zoning changes. It's neither exclusive to Toronto or it wont stay exclusive to Toronto that a single family home on a property zoned for 5 units will sell for the price of the 5 units with Calgary being the latest population rush. The likeliest resolution to attempting to build ourselves out of the home affordability crisis is less square footage than cheaper prices per square foot. It won't take long at this sustained growth to become like those Toronto condos.

Low density housing is a part of sprawl but, it gets conflated as being sprawl. Introducing multi-family to sprawl isn't going to reverse the design decisions that created the sprawl. It just means more people have to live in that shit and with a lower standard of living.

I'm hopeful a change in Ottawa will address the root causes of the affordability crisis. However, there's so much money and power behind it. I don't have a solution beyond that. It's unfortunate Toronto has becoming so crushingly expensive and it appears Calgary is the next hot bed. See in 2035.

 

[CalgaryTiger]

It won't take long at this sustained growth to become like those Toronto condos.

I'm not so sure the investor class that created the conditions to build those now unsellable condos exists here. There are people who buy condos as an investment, I'm not saying there are not but the bloom already seems to be off the rose here a bit. I'm seeing rents fall, higher inventory on the market, and longer days on the market.

The CAP rates despite the high rental rates are shit. The threshold to build without burning oneself is incredibly high giving older apartments leeway to raise rents while maintaining a competitive discounted rate from new construction.

As you say the CAP is not there for investors.

We are not building ourselves out of the affordable housing crisis. Supply is not a root cause or a solution developers will get behind

I couldn't agree more, but you still need more supply for the population growth we're seeing. There are tens of things that need to be done to help affordability and more supply is one. Its benefits are likely being oversold a bit. And personally I think the affordability cat is out of the bag.

a change in Ottawa

We're 50 years of government housing construction away from something resembling affordable housing and that's hot happening.

This forum leans heavily on the pro development side.

Personally, development excites me because of its renewal and overall better use of space. I think the city-wide zoning will stick (even through the court challenge) because every land-use was being granted anyway so its just saving time. Some people took it as an apartment is going to be built next to your suburban home in Lake Bonavista, that wasn't happening. These things are so poorly communicated and do not outline what changes they'll actually have.

 

[CalgaryTiger]

New actions announced to encourage building of secondary suites, more homes in Canada

The federal government introduced a number of measures related to housing on Tuesday, which include measures for homeowners wanting to add a secondary suite, taxing vacant land and building homes in place of underused federal properties.

www.ctvnews.ca

The second measure announced was the launch of consultations on the taxation of vacant land, a measure which the federal government argues will incentivize landowners to build homes.

"The federal government is seeking feedback from provinces, territories, and municipalities that are interested in implementing their own vacant land taxes," the press release said.

C'mon parking lot tax... In all seriousness they need to give this some teeth. Because what really is vacant land, it isn't a parking lot. I cannot really think of much "vacant" land in the city. Help me out here.

 

[trtcttc]

New actions announced to encourage building of secondary suites, more homes in Canada

The federal government introduced a number of measures related to housing on Tuesday, which include measures for homeowners wanting to add a secondary suite, taxing vacant land and building homes in place of underused federal properties.

www.ctvnews.ca

The second measure announced was the launch of consultations on the taxation of vacant land, a measure which the federal government argues will incentivize landowners to build homes.

"The federal government is seeking feedback from provinces, territories, and municipalities that are interested in implementing their own vacant land taxes," the press release said.

C'mon parking lot tax... In all seriousness they need to give this some teeth. Because what really is vacant land, it isn't a parking lot. I cannot really think of much "vacant" land in the city. Help me out here.

We do already tax parking lots. For example, 500 6th Ave SW is assessed at $12.6M and the Chevron building just north of it (500 5th Ave SW) is assessed at $18.7M. Obviously there's still a gap there but $12.6M of assessed value isn't nothing. I'm all for developing on these parking lots, but the reality is the economics needs to be there. Toronto and Vancouver's surface parking has all but vanished in the last 10-15 years not because of some tax but because landowners see more economic uses.
These policies are useless in the big cities, as you point out, there isn't some magical pile of vacant or unused federal land in major cities. One of those sounds good in theory until you take a look at the details.

 

[Beltline_B]

We keep seeing rumours of our proposal involving tall towers near the Stampede. I don’t know about you guys, but I believe in the old saying of “where there’s smoke there’s fire “ .

 

[RolleyMakr_168]

We keep seeing rumours of our proposal involving tall towers near the Stampede. I don’t know about you guys, but I believe in the old saying of “where there’s smoke there’s fire “ .

With the project to renovate Victoria Park/Stampede Station now completed, I wouldn't be surprised if we see more activity in that area for sure.

 

[Albertasaurus]

New DP in for the big vacant lot on the SE corner of 4 ST NW and 16 AV NW. Looks like Rosedale Cleaners will be demolished as well to accommodate this one. 6 storey residential building with a Shoppers Drug mart taking up much of the main floor along with a couple more CRU's. I see this as a big win, both as a nearby resident and generally for 16th.

 

[Thrillhou]

New DP in for the big vacant lot on the SE corner of 4 ST NW and 16 AV NW. Looks like Rosedale Cleaners will be demolished as well to accommodate this one. 6 storey residential building with a Shoppers Drug mart taking up much of the main floor along with a couple more CRU's. I see this as a big win, both as a nearby resident and generally for 16th.

View attachment 606111

That's a good addition to 16th. That site must have some significant soil contamination from the old Rosedale cleaners which was on that site pre 16th ave refurb (judging by the pipe farm there now).

 

[Surrealplaces]

New DP in for the big vacant lot on the SE corner of 4 ST NW and 16 AV NW. Looks like Rosedale Cleaners will be demolished as well to accommodate this one. 6 storey residential building with a Shoppers Drug mart taking up much of the main floor along with a couple more CRU's. I see this as a big win, both as a nearby resident and generally for 16th.

View attachment 606111

Agreed. Big win for 16th ave.

Any idea on the architect or developer?

 

[DiscoStu]

Woo, can’t wait to fill that empty lot. The only thing better would be if it had a London Drugs instead of Shoppers.

 

[Albertasaurus]

Agreed. Big win for 16th ave.

Any idea on the architect or developer?

Yes, architect is NORR and the developer is, interestingly, Morrison Homes.

 

[Surrealplaces]

Yes, architect is NORR and the developer is, interestingly, Morrison Homes.

Thanks!

 

[CalgaryTiger]

Found an update from the beginning of September on RiverWalk West

Where history meets modern design: A new vision for RiverWalk West

RiverWalk West's redevelopment project aims to enhance vibrancy and accessibility, improve the pathway system, and create areas for people to gather. It will connect East Village to downtown while harmonizing flood mitigation.

www.calgary.ca

The RiverWalk West project team is now working to refine the conceptual design before construction can begin. An updated timeline is expected to be shared with Calgarians in late 2024.

I assume we'll get a VE'd design at some point over the winter too. I assume construction in Spring '26?

 

[Golfing guy]

With interest rates dropping another 50 basis points today wonder if that will kick start some more dormant projects?

 

[trtcttc]

Found an update from the beginning of September on RiverWalk West

Where history meets modern design: A new vision for RiverWalk West

RiverWalk West's redevelopment project aims to enhance vibrancy and accessibility, improve the pathway system, and create areas for people to gather. It will connect East Village to downtown while harmonizing flood mitigation.

www.calgary.ca

The RiverWalk West project team is now working to refine the conceptual design before construction can begin. An updated timeline is expected to be shared with Calgarians in late 2024.

I assume we'll get a VE'd design at some point over the winter too. I assume construction in Spring '26?

Looks like it was published (or republished today), the timeline is now early 2025 for the full concept. There's a mention for "a municipal pool in a way that you could experience water in the river throughout the year, day and night". I assume this means an indoor pool?

Design selected for Bow River's riverwalk in southwest Calgary

The City of Calgary says work is moving ahead on a new public space along the Bow River with details of the project's design being released on Wednesday.

calgary.ctvnews.ca