Harrison

@donkeyDdevelops Feel free to send me a DM, based in Ottawa

Does anybody know anything about RE development in Canada and how it differs from that in the US (if at all)? Randomly will be working on something in Ottawa and curious if there's anything hugely different I should know about.

Been heads down the last while. Here’s a couple infill projects we've been working on in the past year:

@bobbyfijan Would love to! Send me a DM. We have 3 active townhouse projects with slight variations for each.

@bobbyfijan Ottawa, Canada. Getting ~ $2.70-$2.80psf. I was hesitant as well but we've never had negative feedback and they lease well

Current iteration of ground floor of a ~1500sf rowhouse project I'm working on ... Thoughts?

@bobbyfijan We've done as small as 1280 ft2 but usually around 1400-1500 ft2 max.

@harrison_ott That's awesome. And whats the overall size?

@mattbaran Awesome projects! We use it a lot on our projects as well

Corrugated Metal. A Love Story One of my favorite materials (that might not be very well regarded) is galvanized corrugated steel. It’s inexpensive, durable, and can act as a rainscreen, protecting the overall life of a building. I also really love how it reflects the surrounding light and colors, ranging from bright white, to blue sky, to a moody gray. Changing the orientation will allow the material to pick up different conditions, creating a dynamic variation. I think it works well for our projects that are in more industrial infill areas like Bordertown (top left) and Willow (top right). But when done correctly it can work in residential neighborhoods as well. Valley Street in Berkeley (bottom left) and 51st Street are good examples. The last is our own development deal, if that says anything about my belief in the material. Interestingly, all of these projects have either been published (Domus, Arch Daly) and nominated or have won design awards (AIA East Bay). I was excited to see such a basic, utilitarian material celebrated in this way.

@integerhomes Awesome. Looks like a great product.

@harrison_ott That area is pretty upscale and one train stop from downtown. All couples to date. It does translate to lower cost communities

So much more info needed here: How much actual cash out of pocket do you need to buy 7 properties? How do you fund these mortgages, I don't think a regular bank will be your friend here, unless you have millions in cash already. Buying 7 properties just to buy 7 properties is the worst thing to do. Did you make sure they pencil and can make cash flow?

@integerhomes These look awesome, ~1000 sq ft 2bed/2 bath each? What's the tenant profile of these? Are you getting young families?

@GrulkeLamonte @contractorkeith I like simple shape, double ensuite program with integrated front patios. If you can find a long corner lot of maybe 150 feet you can drop 6 of these in and very reasonable cost to build, and maintain long term.

@freighttraintri Thank you!

@harrison_ott Appreciate it! Agree on land & rent (land maybe marginally higher cost). Definitely seeing over 300 for hards here. Goodluck! Really love what you're doing!

Framing underway on our 8 Unit project (4 townhouses & 4 garden level 1-bedroom apartments). CMHC financing, Built to 25% above energy code and 1 affordable unit. Bringing much needed family sized housing to a 0% vacancy submarket

@freighttraintri Land & rents I'm assuming are similar, we're building in the mid-high 200s psf, soft costs are relatively small for projects under 10 units in Ottawa

@harrison_ott SW Ontario, Guelph/Hamilton/KWC

@freighttraintri Thanks... What's your market ?

@harrison_ott This is great! Would be very interested in your land & hard numbers. In our market we haven't been able to make under ~20unit projects feasible.

@ToasterStutzle Thank you !

@Yyzcapital Thanks! Hintonburg area

@harrison_ott Great project. Where in Ottawa are you building

@PierreSav4 Thanks! Yes 100 points, combination of affordability & energy efficiency

@harrison_ott Nice project Built to 25% above energy code Do you have 100 points for the reductions over current performance? Thanks

@markskovorodko Thanks Mark! I'll send you some photos next time I'm on site.. the lot slopes at the back so the sunken patios are almost at grade, they look great.

@harrison_ott Dude let’s go Harrison!!! So great seeing this coming to fruition after first seeing the design last year. Do you have any current photos of the sunken patios in front of the garden units?

@khzny Was the reason we decided to stay with concrete. Definitely a cool product, hope those guys can figure out a way to get insurers on board for operational insurance. Assume insurers cop out is "yeah but water damage is actually what we're concerned about post occupancy".

@harrison_ott Exactly. 50k in operational insurance savings is 1 mil in value to the building. It is a proven technology to reduce fire damage.

@dima_nomad Yes, the government already provides this to the private sector, and it is profitable. Taxpayers are not subsidizing anything

@harrison_ott this is about providing low-interest loans to build student housing though

Kind of insane that taxpayers now have to subsidize very successful industry. Some of the universities have billions of dollars in endowment funds.