Unlocking Housing Supply on Public Land
Colliers Strategy & Consulting | Canada
Accelerating success.
Unlocking housing supply in land constrained urban centers is a daunting challenge for planners and government decision makers. Infill development in the form of gentle densification of mature single-family neighbourhoods is necessary, however the current housing supply challenge cannot be solved solely by demolishing single family homes to make way for medium density ground-oriented housing. Larger land assemblies are often too costly for redevelopment given their current improved values (i.e. existing buildings don’t make sense to be demolished given their current condition, age, and rent rolls).
When you look at a map of major Canadian cities and ask yourself, “where is the good land left?” or in other words: land that doesn’t require major infrastructure investment (i.e. near existing amenities like transit), land that doesn’t require displacing existing residents (i.e. demolishing homes), land without major development encumbrances (e.g. steep slopes, environmentally sensitive areas, heavy industrial contamination, etc.) you’ll find the majority is already publicly owned: public golf courses, parking lots, under-utilized government lands, under-occupied government buildings, etc. You’ll also find that the book value of this land (i.e. what it was purchased for) is often very low relative to current market values making development viable even in our current challenged economic climate.
There are many examples here in Metro Vancouver where the public sector is taking bold action to develop housing on underutilized public land. Colliers Development Advisory team is providing support on many of these innovative projects for organizations like the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, Ministry of Citizen Services, Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, TransLink, City of Vancouver (Housing Development Office), and City of Surrey (City Development Corporation) but what we require is that more levels of government, and in more cities, take this type of action.
For instance, most transit stations in Metro Vancouver (and elsewhere throughout Canadian cities) still have large surface park and ride lots beside them that could easily be replaced with housing. Imagine people living close to train stations rather than driving daily to them, supplemented where needed with underground parking for commuters. One example of this is the Moody Centre Park and Ride in Port Moody. Colliers is proud to be supporting the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure on development of this site which will supply nearly 650 purpose built rental homes geared toward families in addition to childcare facilities, public and commercial services, and employment.
Many provinces and municipalities have surplus properties and buildings in transit-oriented areas. Colliers is proud to be supporting the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure on development of underutilized lands in Saanich along the Trans Canada Highway, redeveloping into a large integrated transit development with hundreds of new homes. Colliers is also supporting the Province of BC on redeveloping the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia’s head office site in North Vancouver, supplying housing in one of the most sought after locations in Metro Vancouver next to the Lonsdale Quay Seabus terminal.
If all levels of government are going to address the housing supply shortage, they should start by considering what they can do to increase housing supply on land they already control. Chances are, they have inexpensive land available to them that would be ideal for housing development. Colliers Development Advisory team can support in assessing the development potential of these properties and determining the optimal deal and financing structure to suit their specific needs. Colliers can leverage its industry relationships to create strategic partnerships with other public and private sector partners to co-locate uses and generate the capital investment required to develop. For example, matching “land rich, cash poor” and “cash rich, land poor” partners often leading to a project sum greater than its parts as compatible uses can be combined to create exceptional mixed use projects.
For more information on these projects and to learn more on how Colliers can support your organization, contact us today:
Shad Mayne, MCIP, RPP
Director, Development Management
News Releases
Port Moody Transit Oriented Development:
Saanich Integrated Transit Development:
ICBC Acquisition:
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3moVery strong insights. I agree especially with the matching. At this point we also need to go taller. 50 stories+