Built without permitting, some of them, and at a time when material costs, labour and building code requirements were much, much lower.
And it’s not about an economic outcome, it’s about something that is viable and something that is not viable.
IPH, when you go to work you expect to get paid. When a developer goes to work, they too expect to get paid. You won’t work where you don’t get paid, and developers are no different. But what you’re saying to developers is you don’t care if they get paid as long as you get what you think is best for you. If your boss told you that, you’d be gone from your job and looking for better work elsewhere, wouldn’t you?
Conversions don’t happen like you are saying they should happen because they’re fraught with difficulty, serious risk and impediments to viability. And because of that lenders are not keen to lend money for those projects unless there is other collateral to make the whole thing viable. And if it were so easy, as you might assume, everyone would be converting their Fairfield homes and making out like bandits.
Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to come across as rude, but everyone thinks they’re an expert development risk assessor when it’s not their money on the table.
I'm a resident of a unit within a Fairfield house conversion that was done in 2006 (the house was originally built in 1915). There are quite a few house conversions that have been done in Fairfield, James Bay, Gonzales, and Rockland; a smaller number exist in North Jubilee, Vic West, Fernwood, and other locations. My suspicion is that House Conversions are most economically viable in the 'southern' sections of the city proper; for example, the newest house conversion on the market (the old Albion Manor B&B in James Bay on Superior Street) has units for sale between $799k - $950k plus GST (see https://www.greaterv...roperty/856414/ ). What I'm saying is that house conversions in the 'south' neighbourhoods can command almost as much as entire single family homes in 'north' neighbourhoods.
That said, certain other market factors might increase the popularity of conversions everywhere in the city. For one thing, most conversions result in units that are legally *townhouses*, so every unit has an outside-facing door (this has become popular in the pandemic and may maintain popularity post-pandemic). Also, conversions generally have much lower strata fees than many similar units in larger buildings, and with the ongoing strata insurance issues they are generally maintaining this advantage (i.e. conversions have generally seen lower increases in insurance premiums this year vs. the increases in larger buildings).
Edited by Kapten Kapsell, 16 October 2020 - 12:17 PM.