Insatiable Demand For Purpose-Built Rental In Vancouver
That new rental stock is sorely needed and not just for high-income earners. Rents increased an eye-popping seven per cent in 2016, and short of supply, they’re set to increase again this year. And with 70 per cent of rental stock aged an average of 35 years or older, new construction is an obvious answer to our much-discussed affordability woes.
But breaking ground in the region continues to be a challenge. If the Lower Mainland’s municipalities want to bring about the level affordability that will keep employees in the city, they need to modernize their “archaic” zoning rules, said Andrew Grant, President of PCI Developments Corp.
The Regional Growth Strategy, which arbitrarily labels some parts of the city as ‘industrial’ and ‘residential’ does not reflect the reality of work today. “We have to get rid of the old modes of by-law thinking,” added McCauley.
And that means reassessing how we use the land around existing transit nodes.
“We need more mixed-use on transit,” said Grant. SkyTrain stations surrounded by single-family homes—at Rupert, 29thAve and Nanaimo—aren’t going to cut it.
And what about that word that’s proven so popular in press coverage of the industry; should we be concerned about ‘the bubble’?
According to Eric Carlson, CEO and founder of Anthem Properties, this year may be slower than last, but there will still be plenty of new Vancouverites looking for a place to live and a place to invest.
“Vancouver is a safe harbour in a dangerous world,” said Eric Carlson.
Buying power in the region is high, he says, and the wealth of newcomers, as opposed to their income, is a factor that is often ignored by the media.
There are still risks on the horizon. The spectre of trade tiffs could make building materials more expensive, pushing up the price of rebar and drywall. A raft of new infrastructure projects, from the Massey Tunnel replacement to the Site C dam, could stretch labor thin. And there might be changes we could see fewer multi-family units with the walls of glass we’ve become accustomed to.
Don’t, however, expect the cranes to disappear anytime soon.
