42 replies to this topic

[tjv]

Went to their contact page and it looks like Devon is the property manager. They're really going for these new suburban rentals.

< 1500 is their lowest price bracket in their application form while the smallest unit is just over 500 sqft. They seem to be going for a high end price tag.

Can you post the site with the price list please.  Thanks

[lanforod]

I live in Royal Oak. It's gotta be one of the most convenient yet quiet neighbourhoods in the core. I don't think Devon will have much issue keeping this place at no vacancy.

[Casual Kev]

Can you post the site with the price list please.  Thanks

Here you go: https://radiusroyaloak.com/contact/

 

They're just gauging interest for now but the way they setup the brackets (from < 1500 to 2400 >) is a good indicator of what they're thinking of charging.

[Mike K.]

Isn't it a slippery slope to start thinking rentals in the suburbs are worth as much as downtown, when really all they have is a higher ceiling?

Why does the pinnacle of something have to be located in downtown Victoria?

But that being said, one bedroom units in downtown Victoria within 20-30-year-old buldings rent for $1,500. At Radius you have a brand new unit with upper end finishings for which you’d expect to pay $1,650-$1,750 + parking in downtown, easily.

[tjv]

Well we are all just guessing at the rents as there is nothing concrete published.  It could be rents start at around 1500, but it could be much less.  "Under 1500" is a wide range

[sdwright.vic]

Why does the pinnacle of something have to be located in downtown Victoria?

Because that's how it is in any urban municipality in North America?

[Mike K.]

Because that's how it is in any urban municipality in North America?

 

The City of Victoria and its downtown core are the largest destination in the region for free or social housing.

 

And only a few short years ago downtown residences were, in fact, some of the most affordable in the entire region. Things can change and they can change quickly, and like the changes we saw in recent years where residents began flocking to downtown Victoria and thereby inflating prices, residents are now happily choosing alternatives to downtown Victoria where prices are also rising and in some cases are priced at or above downtown levels.

[spanky123]

The City of Victoria and its downtown core are the largest destination in the region for free or social housing.

 

And only a few short years ago downtown residences were, in fact, some of the most affordable in the entire region. Things can change and they can change quickly, and like the changes we saw in recent years where residents began flocking to downtown Victoria and thereby inflating prices, residents are now happily choosing alternatives to downtown Victoria where prices are also rising and in some cases are priced at or above downtown levels.

 And when you remove hundreds of units of market housing (or what could have been market housing) and replace it with social housing then it is only natural that reduced supply drives prices up.

[lanforod]

Because that's how it is in any urban municipality in North America?

 

I disagree on this. There are plenty of examples of urban areas where the highest rents and prices are not downtown, even for condos/apartments. Vancouver is one example. The pinnacle is arguable Coal Harbour (for condos and apartments, not SFH, which would be Point Grey). That ain't downtown.

Edited by lanforod, 06 June 2018 - 07:16 AM.

[Jackerbie]

^ Coal Harbour is downtown though, or comparable to the Songhees. Royal Oak is more of a River District, where rents are $1,500/mo for a 1BR, $2,100 2BR, $2,700 3BR

[Mike K.]

Up until the 00's there was a massive flood out of the inner areas of most North American centres. It's only in the last 20 years that cities have seen a resurgence of residents returning to the city centres.

 

Our concept of inner city living is a little twisted with Vancouver right across the pond from us, but even looking to Seattle you can see how the suburb remains king and only in recent years have more than just a handful of residences begun appearing among the city's office-based skyscrapers.

[sdwright.vic]

I disagree on this. There are plenty of examples of urban areas where the highest rents and prices are not downtown, even for condos/apartments. Vancouver is one example. The pinnacle is arguable Coal Harbour (for condos and apartments, not SFH, which would be Point Grey). That ain't downtown.

Sorry I don't see Coal Harbour as not being a part of downtown.

[Casual Kev]

Was going to post what Mike just wrote. Suburbanization wasn't as extreme as in the US but for decades Canadians didn't approach city centers as places to live, with an automobile oriented lifestyle considered a marker of middle class status. View Tower is a relic of a time where downtown high rises were associated with delinquency and poverty.

[sdwright.vic]

View Towers was because if the owner sticking it to the man though, not because it was not supposed to be something else.

[tjv]

Here is the reality for a developer construction, permitting, development, architect/engineering fees are exactly the same for downtown vs the suburbs.  The only difference is the cost of the land.  However downtown you would see a much taller building than Royal Oak so the land cost is spread out over more units.  Wood frame is also cheaper to build but that gap is closing with wood prices skyrocketing

 

So for a developer they pretty much have to ask similar rents of Royal Oak to downtown to have a similar return on investment

 

It will be interesting to see the price list when it does officially come out for rent

[Mike K.]

View Towers was because if the owner sticking it to the man though, not because it was not supposed to be something else.

View Towers wasn’t beautified but it was built as designed. We’re fortunate only one was built and not two.

There isn’t a Victorian over the age of 30 who doesn’t remember View Towers as the epitome of housing drama.

[Jackerbie]

Here is the reality for a developer construction, permitting, development, architect/engineering fees are exactly the same for downtown vs the suburbs.  The only difference is the cost of the land.

 

Not always the case. Every municipality sets their own Development Cost Charges, and Saanich's haven't changed since the 80's. Victoria's are $45/sq.m for multifamily construction. For comparison, Richmond's are $74/sq.m for multifamily construction (gotta pay for all the dikes and flood protection somehow).

[tjv]

ok, true, but in the overall picture DCC are minor.  Just like Langford building permit costs are less than Victoria's, its not like there are massive savings

[Citified.ca]

An artist's rendering of Radius at Royal Oak, a 66-suite condo-quality rental complex nearing completion along West Saanich Road in Saanich's Royal Oak community. The six-storey building is being developed to specifications and a level of interior finishing typically seen at up-market condominium projects. 

 

Radius at Royal Oak: Condo-quality apartment rentals coming soon to Saanich

https://victoria.cit...oon-to-saanich/

 

A condo-quality rental building under construction along the 4400-block of West Saanich Road and adjacent to Saanich’s Royal Oak Shopping Centre is creating a stir as it nears its spring 2019 completion, Citified has learned.

 

The six-storey, 66-suite one and two-bedroom Radius at Royal Oak promises to stand out among the south Island’s new wave of purpose-built rental buildings with a design mirroring an upscale condominium’s high-end finishings, top grade sound proofing, taller ceiling heights and amenities traditionally reserved for the ownership market.

 

The decision to pursue a rental project designed as a condominium, according to developer Travis Lee of Tri-Eagle Development Corporation, has already piqued the interest of downsizers, empty nesters and Saanich residents searching for quality rental opportunities in a market laden with mid-grade and entry-level offerings.

 

“What’s missing from Victoria’s new-build rental market are professionally maintained, higher-end residences that cater to the desires of individuals not necessarily interested in purchasing a condominium but who are in search of a turn-key, well apportioned apartment,” Lee says. “Our largest pool of pre-registrants are folks who no longer want the commitments that come with ownership, or who for a number of reasons would prefer renting in lieu of purchasing.” [Full article]

[tjv]

^I always thought that is what I would want to do if I built an apartment building, and that way I have the option down the road to sell all the units as condos when I am ready.  Construction costs right now are too high to pursue that type of project