Chris Markides

@Tim_Bousquet Older subdivisions. 2006 regional plan mostly did away with the ability to do subdivision like what is being affected today (there are a few yet to be built that are grandfathered though).

Building and zoning codes. Many people have said some of the subdivisions affected have only one exit point, which is obviously a problem (I thought this was outlawed, so maybe these are older? I don't know)...

Right now, obviously, the immediate concern is for people who have lost their homes and animals. So devastating. We need to do what we can for them in the immediate short term. Beyond that, however...

Dartmouth Harbour Walk is getting rocked right now!

@LUrbaniste While I agree the process takes way too long, nothing the province has done, from a chapter amendments standpoint, has actually sped up that process by more than 3 weeks (and only for certain applications).

Strange position. Everyone involved in development & planning in Halifax knows the process is way too slow, and that NIMBYs slow things down — & that this is terrible for housing. One can criticize Bill 225 & provincial overreach without denying reality. saltwire.com/halifax/news/n…

@harbourdischar1 @Tim_Bousquet Absolutely. Already seeing it.

"Welcome to The Wynwood, Halifax's newest building in central Halifax neighbourhood, located on corner of May st. & Agricola st. Close to trendy Shops, Salons, resturants (SIC), Pubs, Brewery's (SIC), Only minutes to Downtown!"

@Tim_Bousquet I’m not making any moral statement here, but w/o any subsidies, these rents are pretty spot on with the economic rents needed to achieve min viability (10% cash-on-cash return over 10 yes) for financing purposes. CMHC has some good research on this: assets.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/sites/cmhc/pro…

@Rossitus Rite of passage I think!

@tkcorbett10 @nsgov Having also worked on campus housing before, there is a lot of space on this campus, most of which is not directly on top of a well used trail system and perpendicular to prevailing winds. No need to cut out units, just some common sense site planning.

@bizmarkides @nsgov It looks bleak, but having worked on campus housing before this would have come down to difficult trade offs. The budget is fixed and costs are rising daily. How many units do you cut out to improve the long term appeal? No easy answers.

I know we need housing, but the proposed student housing at NSCC Ivany campus is just brutal. 6 storeys and 130m long. It could at least be broken up into smaller buildings. @nsgov

@downtownpaul @nsgov Yes, where a chunck of the existing parking lot is currently.

@bizmarkides @nsgov Is that right beside the waterfront campus (which looks lovely from the water)?

@Abolish_This @neil_lovitt @LUrbaniste From a labour compensation perspective, the shortage is certainly driving up wages. That’s both good and bad. I’ve seen projects recently cancelled because costs came in 60-70% higher than expected and financing falls through because of it. Everything exacerbates the situation

@Abolish_This @neil_lovitt @LUrbaniste It really depends on the project. Approval times can vary wildly depending on the nature of the application. What I’m saying is that it doesn’t really matter if an as-of-right approval takes 6 months if trades can’t start for 12 months (or won’t even bother to bid on a project)

This was, until recently, a whole neighbourhood of beautiful homes. We need a land value tax now, or the demolition of our city will continue.

@neil_lovitt @LUrbaniste Design consultants are also very busy! I keep saying the biggest reason housing can’t be built any faster is ~85% labour availability and ~15% financing difficulties.

@LUrbaniste With LVT you'll still probably see land remaining vacant for some amount of time. Especially these days, it's not always easy to line things. Demo and enviro contractors may be ready now, while construction could be a year or more in lead time.

@MoreHomesHRM We most certainly can’t. The limit at this point for new housing is not approvals, it’s person power to actually design and build units. Every single link in the chain of the design/development industry is at capacity in NS.

We could easily double 6.5k a year in new market-rate housing if we lifted these exclusionary, unjustified zoning restrictions.

This is absolutely not true. The city has not legalized building multi family units on single family zoned land, a necessary condition to solve the housing crisis. Your council has failed to legalize housing. #nspoli

@neil_lovitt @WayeMason @AudreyBB 6,500 seems high. I think this number might be for all of NS? Regardless, need to get it up to ~9000 a year to achieve “affordability” by 2030 according to CMHC.

@WayeMason @AudreyBB 6,500?

@LUrbaniste @Abolish_This This is specifically in ER zones. If they are not on separate lots then they would be considered a multi-unit building.

@LUrbaniste @Abolish_This They are not permitted to be stacked, but they are allowed to have “secondary suites”. Townhouses have to be on their own individual lots.

What do minimum side setbacks accomplish? Should the HFX Centre Plan have nixed them? Seems like many great historic communities have almost no side setback.

@neil_lovitt @kyleifax @LisaRobertsHfx Weirdly, permit fees for secondary suites are based on construction value but permit fees for backyard suites are based on gross floor area.

@kyleifax @LisaRobertsHfx Even for secondary suites? The lower density res fees are based on floor area I though.

Are we seeing any uptake of backyard secondary suites in #Halifax? I heard rumours of a company that was going to offer prefabs at lower cost points. Every time I walk in my neighbourhood, I see the spaces that should be #housing.

@LUrbaniste My hypothesis is that a sizeable portion of pre-1900 homes that are located in downtown or inner suburb neigbourhoods and benefit in resale based on location more than the actual home.

Early century homes sell for more today than mid-century homes, despite being older. forbes.com/sites/trulia/2…

@neil_lovitt @LUrbaniste @yousafmshah @dharrisonMCIP Egg on my face. Should have looked a little closer at the chart before adding my 2 cents!

@bizmarkides @LUrbaniste @yousafmshah @dharrisonMCIP Older home are probably smaller, so total price is still lower, but unitised prices (per chart) seem to be above replacement now. All else equal, looks like people are paying more for a foot of housing than it costs to build.

The Doubling is upon us.