1571 replies to this topic

[Nparker]

I believe they are.

[Jackerbie]

Can someone tell me if these other buildings in the block are included in the redevelopment? (Buildings labeled 1-4 in this pic)

 

Yes, here are the development site according to the CALUC presentation: https://harrisgreen....2019-12-03).pdf

 

[zoomer]

Starlight strikes again in Winnipeg with a mall revitalization with residential towers. It’s too bad they weren’t involved with the Mayfair update which is a horrible clusteduck that’s already idiotic and dated by a couple decades.

Thread from SkyscraperPage: http://forum.skyscra...postcount=13582

[Kapten Kapsell]

The rezoning application is in now.  It includes a 96 page booklet and additional details for this project:  https://tender.victo...Number=REZ00730

[Nparker]

In terms of the timeline, the development program anticipates commencing construction of the first phase as soon as possible following development approval and building permit issuance...

https://tender.victo...130143321572752

 

[Nparker]

More information available here: https://www.harrisgreen.ca/

[Rob Randall]

^Close up of the visioning board:

 

[Rob Randall]

^NParker strikes again.

[aastra]

Okay, so you don't want a long lowrise building with brick cladding?

 

No, that's what we DO want! We don't want another ugly highrise tower!

 

Sigh.

[Bernard]

But we need more highrise towers.   Everything that can be done to build more housing units is what we need.   Until rents and house prices start to consistently fall we need to remove as many barriers and costs to anyone wanting to build any housing units.   

[Mike K.]

Consistently fall?

 

I'm not sure you'd want to be living in an economy with consistently falling housing prices. Can you imagine the losses the government would incur if capital gains taxation suddenly ceased to exist? Or what would happen to people who are unable to renew their mortgages as their equity has eroded below the value of their real-estate? Who would build a $500,000 home (cost of materials, permitting, taxation, labour and bureaucracy) that upon completion was worth $475,000, with further reductions on the horizon?

 

What we need is a real-estate market that has sufficient supply. This is much easier said than done, as over-supply can have disastrous effects. At least with an under-supply the overwhelming majority of people figure out a way to make it work, whether its through illegal suites or living with mom and dad a little longer than one would like. But an over-supply has swift and far-reaching implications with few if any means to stay above them if you're indebted to a bank.

[RFS]

We would suffer but only because our entire provincial economy is set up as one big real estate speculation scam.

 

In an ideal world a house is supposed to be a commodity like milk or bread. It's supposed to be something you pay for to live, but not this insanely over valued investment thing you get rich off of.  

 

In the good old days the only way to get rich off real estate was to buy an empty lot and actually add value to it by building.

[aastra]

 

The rezoning application is in now.  It includes a 96 page booklet and additional details for this project:  https://tender.victo...Number=REZ00730

 

Lots to consume in there. So are they really committed to having a significant amount of variation not just between the two projects but among the different faces and towers within each project? That's what people said when we were reacting to those first images a few weeks back, right? That's why the images in the doc are called "Character Renderings"?

 

But some aspects (for example the layout of the parking levels) seem very specific.

 

If the character rendering of the View Street side shows a blank wall and some landscaping at the corner of View & Vancouver, is that a maybe or a sure thing at this point?

[Mike K.]

We would suffer but only because our entire provincial economy is set up as one big real estate speculation scam.

 

In an ideal world a house is supposed to be a commodity like milk or bread. It's supposed to be something you pay for to live, but not this insanely over valued investment thing you get rich off of.  

 

In the good old days the only way to get rich off real estate was to buy an empty lot and actually add value to it by building.

 

"If only nobody wanted to live here, I'd finally afford a house!"

 

If the real-estate market is a scam, does that make every property owner a crook?

 

And is the real-estate market in Port Alberni a scam? In Prince George? Smithers? Port McNeil?

[aastra]

 

In the good old days the only way to get rich off real estate was to buy an empty lot and actually add value to it by building.

 

These good old days were when.... prior to 1880?

[RFS]

"If only nobody wanted to live here, I'd finally afford a house!"

 

If the real-estate market is a scam, does that make every property owner a crook?

 

And is the real-estate market in Port Alberni a scam? In Prince George? Smithers? Port McNeil?

 

Don't take the word scam too literally.  Just that our provincial government is addicted to the revenues from our inflated housing. Alberta has oil, we have condos.

 

It's my personal opinion that a house is supposed to be for people to start families and raise kids in, not as an investment vehicle.  No one is starting families in 300 sq ft micro suites.  Ideally we'd have 50s or 60s style building booms keeping costs down.

 

For the record I have a house and I like the appreciation on a greedy personal level

[RFS]

These good old days were when.... prior to 1880?

 

Don't take good old days too literally either

[Bernard]

Most people do not own houses so for most people a falling market has no direct impact.   Also, by falling market, realistically we would never see more than a 1% drop per year, but over a decade that will make housing affordable.  House prices tend to be rather sticky.  Housing also provides very little in capital gains taxes to the government.

 

As to rents, we need to have the average monthly rent for a bachelor suite to fall to $700 a month and for a 1 bedroom to $900.   Rents are not likely to fall much or quickly but a decade of no rent increases will bring incomes up enough to make the current averages close to reasonable.

 

Local governments could do a lot more for housing affordability if they removed all barriers to building more housing units.   Right now most of our local governments somehow think they need to interfere with every project including demanding affordable housing even though they are the ones that are a major cause of the problem

[Mike K.]

Most people do own a home, though.

70% of homes in Saanich are owned. 30% are rentals. Victoria has a 60% ownership rate.

Municipal governments also need income, like DCC’s to improve infrastructure, permit fees to pay for staff. And so on.

[Kapten Kapsell]

Don't take the word scam too literally.  Just that our provincial government is addicted to the revenues from our inflated housing. Alberta has oil, we have condos.

 

It's my personal opinion that a house is supposed to be for people to start families and raise kids in, not as an investment vehicle.  No one is starting families in 300 sq ft micro suites.  Ideally we'd have 50s or 60s style building booms keeping costs down.

 

For the record I have a house and I like the appreciation on a greedy personal level

 

Well, I think Alberta's provincial treasury is more reliant on oil royalties than BC is reliant on real-estate related taxes for one reason:  the energy industry represents about 27% of Alberta's GDP whereas real estate represents just 17% of BC's GDP.  Both provinces would benefit form additional diversification, but BC's economy is already one of the most diversified in Canada.

 

In terms of houses that are "supposed to be for people to start families and raise kids in", keep in mind that 'traditional' nuclear families (two parents at home with at least one child) represent about 26% of all households nationally, whereas in the 1950s this percentage exceeded 50%; the growth of multifamily developments (which include some 300-sq-ft condos) partially reflects the fact that many adults today are single parents or don't have children at all, and many couples defer having children until much later in life when compared to earlier generations.

Edited by Kapten Kapsell, 31 January 2020 - 01:38 PM.