It’s interesting this was released right before the city released a motion to change its multiplex zoning to align better with neighborhood character.
Permit timelines remain at 12+ months for the type of housing being proposed here (when the goal is 3), and city council wants to add more rules on regulations on things they don’t really understand. Character assessments under the old RS zoning for SFHs could add up to 6 months to permit times.
The reason a lot of these homes look the same is the setback rules and building code guidelines are so restrictive it’s extremely difficult to build something that looks interesting while balancing affordability + the environment.
The villages plan here itself is sound, although I do worry about a lot of these apartment complexes being treated under part 3 of the building code (ie the same way you’d treat a large condo building with 30+ stories) without any sort of relaxations, as that will dramatically eat at the cost structure + make them very difficult to pencil out (especially for the 4 story buildings).
Thanks Jason, it's always informative to hear from someone who's actually building things! The motion on multiplexes (like the rejection of the East Village project in March) suggests that ABC thinks they're running out of political capital and need to retreat. I hope they're still willing to back staff on the Villages Plan. We'll see shortly.
It looks like the transition to part 3 imposes significant fixed costs that are difficult to absorb for a small project. Another example of economies of scale resulting in large projects.
There's a recently formed think tank, the Center for Building in North America, that looks at the cost impacts of building-code requirements: https://morehousing.ca/mid-rise-regulation
It’s interesting this was released right before the city released a motion to change its multiplex zoning to align better with neighborhood character.
Permit timelines remain at 12+ months for the type of housing being proposed here (when the goal is 3), and city council wants to add more rules on regulations on things they don’t really understand. Character assessments under the old RS zoning for SFHs could add up to 6 months to permit times.
The reason a lot of these homes look the same is the setback rules and building code guidelines are so restrictive it’s extremely difficult to build something that looks interesting while balancing affordability + the environment.
The villages plan here itself is sound, although I do worry about a lot of these apartment complexes being treated under part 3 of the building code (ie the same way you’d treat a large condo building with 30+ stories) without any sort of relaxations, as that will dramatically eat at the cost structure + make them very difficult to pencil out (especially for the 4 story buildings).
Thanks Jason, it's always informative to hear from someone who's actually building things! The motion on multiplexes (like the rejection of the East Village project in March) suggests that ABC thinks they're running out of political capital and need to retreat. I hope they're still willing to back staff on the Villages Plan. We'll see shortly.
It looks like the transition to part 3 imposes significant fixed costs that are difficult to absorb for a small project. Another example of economies of scale resulting in large projects.
There's a recently formed think tank, the Center for Building in North America, that looks at the cost impacts of building-code requirements: https://morehousing.ca/mid-rise-regulation