Bill Keay

Duplex Information Guide-Process for City of Kitchener

bill — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 20:40:08 +0000

On the City of Kitchener’s website there is information available to KW Real Estate Investors who would like to know how to Duplex a property and invest in Kitchener rental property. Potential landlords would need to supply drawings for a building permit, pay the cost of a permit and have building inspections completed after the work is done. The requirements include: exiting and egress, separation between suites for fire safety, laundry facilities, fire safety equipment and CO2 detectors, minimum room areas, natural lighting requirements and other building code and construction requirements. The cost of the permit is $0.39 per square foot with a miniumm charge of $183 and there is an additional charge of $250 which is refunded automatically after the final building inspection has been passed.

Here is the link on the City of Kitchener’s website:

http://www.kitchener.ca/en/livinginkitchener/resources/BuildingDivision-DuplexInformationPackage.pdf

Building Division, City Hall, P.O. Box 1118, 200 King St.W, 5th Floor, Kitchener, ON, N2G 4G7 519-741-2433 Blogged by Bill Keay

Citizens have concerns over Waterloo Rental Licensing By-Law

bill — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 04:33:50 +0000

The controversial Rental Licensing By-Law in the City of Waterloo is getting lots of bad press lately and much of it is inevitable and deserved. The City of Waterloo told landlords several years and months ago that there was going to be rental licensing and it was just a matter of when and how. Well, the when was on April 1st 2012. The how is being investigated by the Ontario Human Rights Commission. Last May, Jim Berry presented the final draft of the Rental Licensing By-Law the City to City council aand after that the City council heard 20 or so delegations where almost each one highlighted negative aspects of the By-Law like: increased rents, less choice of style of rental buildings, cash grab legislation, redundant legislation, reduction of land owners’ rights, and finally human rights violations. Even after hearing a delegation from the Ontario Human Rights Commission (at the same final draft proposal meeting) the City of Waterloo went ahead and approved the by-law anyway. The City declares that the by-law will create safer rental housing in Waterloo because of HVAC and electrical inspections and police background checks on landlords. However, critics believe that the by-law is more about control over Waterloo Investors than safety. The City of Waterloo is not allowed to only license student housing (the major cause of By-law complaints) so they gambled that a blanket licensing system is the best way to go. Shortly after the rental licensing by-law was passed, the Real Estate Investment Network based in British Columbia downgraded Waterloo from the number one place to invest in Ontario to fourth, but at the same time left Kitchener and Cambridge at number 2. Currently, Waterloo is the 12 best place to invest in Canada and Kitchener and Cambridge are at number 6. The larger investment properties in Waterloo are exempt from the by-law and so are condominium apartment buildings. The costs of the rental license are high and that is a mistake too. KW Landlords and KW investors don’t like the rental licensing by-law and do not believe that it is fair and are starting to voice these concerns to the local press.

Here is the full story in the Waterloo Chronicle On Wednesday April 18th, 2012 by Paige Desmond: http://www.waterloochronicle.ca/community/tidal-wave/

Also, here is another related article from the Record on Tuesday April 17th, 2012 by Jeff Outhit: http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/706740–landlords-attack-waterloo-bylaw-on-rental-housing

Northdale Land Use and Community Improvement Plan

bill — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 15:09:33 +0000

Northdale Land Use and Community Improvement Plan Study

bill — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 15:08:11 +0000

On April 3rd, the City of Waterloo presented the Northdale Land Use and Community Improvement Plan Study to a large audience at the Waterloo Inn. The content of the study can be found on the City of Waterloo’s website and I will leave a link below for readers to go to because it is too big to cover in my blog. Overall, I was impressed with the plans that call for mixed use land development with high quality buildings and community ammenities. Also, the plan describes how the buildings, parks, trails and greenways mesh and integrate together. The study calls for buildings Northdale Mixed Use or NMU-3, NMU-4, NMU-6, NMU-12 and NMU -25. The number stands for number of storeys and they range from 3 storey to 25 storey. The lower density housing types are Townhouses, Low Rise Apartments, Semi-Detached homes, Duplexes and Triplexes with 150 bed/ha ratio. The mixed use in Columbia and Lester will permit a max of 6 storeys, 450 beds/ha. There is bonusing for low and mixed use. For example, if developers go above and beyond their work with streetscapes and building quality then bonusing will allow up to 8 stories. The Med. High Density near University and Lester will allow 3 to 12 storeys or 150 to 600 beds/ha. High Density zoning near Phillip and Spruce to King will allow 6 to 25 storey buildings and 150 to 750 beds/ha. There is no bonusing for the Medium High and High Density areas and Mixed Commercial. Furthermore there will be other incentives to developers for building higher density building that are sustainable in the forms of reduced development charges, tax increment grants and loan forgiveness. The minium parking requirement will be 0.25 spaces per bed. The Study boasts that it will add 17,000 bedrooms to the area in a ratio of 2:1 students to permanent resident and that the buildings will be more energy and environmentally friendly. The bonuses and incentives will last between 5 and 10 years and the overall goal of the Northdale Land Use and CIP will be achieved by 2029. The residents in attendance at the meeting believed that the technical aspects of the presentation were fine but lacked elements of the human aspect. Several residents were upset because the study from their standpoint benefits developers and leaves out the current wants and needs of the permanent residents in the area. The residents along Hickory Street would prefer to be zoned mixed use so that they would be allowed to build up to a 6 storey building and seek the higher and best use of the land rather than a 3 storey building. There is more information on the website about Heritage zoning and the use of Waterloo Collegiate Institute (WCI ) and other institutions in the area. The plan will go to council for an informal discussion in May and then onto formal discussions in June 2012. Blogged by Bill Keay. http://www.waterloo.ca/desktopdefault.aspx?tabid=2577

KW 10 Year Ave Price Comparison

bill — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 01:16:08 +0000

KW Average Price 10 Year Comparison Chart.

KW Housing Market Sales are Steady in March 2012

bill — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 01:13:50 +0000

There were 453 residential sales in Kitchener-Waterloo in March 2012 which is down 1.5% over March 2011. Single Family-Detached home sales were up 3.8% to 271 in March 2012 compared to 261 in March 2011. Also, there were 44 Semi-Detached homes sold, 31 Freehold Townhouses and 104 Condominium units and 8 Multi-Family properties sold in March 2012. Overall, sales are starting to heat up just like the thermometer. The Average Sale Price for Sgl Family-Detached homes was $355,170 up 2.9% over March 2011 and the Median Sale Price was $327,000 up 7.2% over the same month last year. The Average Days on Market was 45 days in March and the Sales Price to List Price was 98.2%, so Sellers were getting close to asking price. There were more reports of multiple offer situations in the $200K to $300K price range and sales between $275, oo0 to$499,000 were very hot as well. Blogged by Bill Keay

Northfield Station

bill — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 18:53:37 +0000

An artist's rendering of the Northfield Station.

Proposed Waterloo Office Project locates near LRT Station

bill — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 18:50:41 +0000

Chuck Howitt from the Record wrote an interesting article in Saturday March 31sts, Record about a proposed office project in Waterloo on Northfield Drive near the Conestoga Parkway and future Light Rail Transit Line. The article reports that the Zehr group has started construction of a $9 million office building near the future light rail transit line and it will be called Northfield Station. The office will be 66,000 square feet and consist of 3 storeys and will be located at 139 Northfield Drive. Don Zehr, owner of the Kitchener based Zehr Group chose the site because of its proximity to the transit line and the Conestoga Parkway. Don said, “There won’t be a more accessible site in the region” and he added that he expects “the area will attract more developments and become an office node”. The site will be located next to the new Nissan dealership that was also built by Zehr Group. Zehr mentioned, “The aim is to capture some of the appeal and character of the popular Tannery and Breithaupt Block projects in downtown Kitchener”. “There will be units as small as 2500 square feet and these should be attractive to high-tech sector startups coming out of the nearby Accelerator Centre business incubator” said Zehr. The Zehr Group is a combination of companies that are comprised of project management and construction. Lester Zehr, is Don’s father and he co-founded the Zehrs grocery store chain with Clifford Zehr. The Zehr Group has been involved in other projects like the Lang Tannery building, Breithaupt Block, a condo project across from the Bauer Buildings, and a new student residence on Seagram Drive. Blogged by Bill Keay. Here is the full story in the Record:

http://www.therecord.com/news/business/article/696703–waterloo-office-project-spurred-by-light-rail-line

Toyota will invest $80M in Woodstock Production Plant

bill — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 01:40:05 +0000

The Canadian Press has announced today on March 28th that Toyota will invest $80M to increase production at its Woodstock, Ontario assembly plant. It is estimated that this investment will create some 400 new jobs. Currently, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc. builds 150,000 RAV4s and now it will have capacity to build up to 200,000 vehicles at the plant.

Toyota has recently faced production problems because of last year’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan and flooding in Thailand that cut parts supplies leading to decreases in global production. However, sales have begun to spring back and Toyota Canada reports that sales rose 31 percent year over year in the month of February and that 12,384 Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles sold.

Brad Duguid, the Ontario Minister of Economic Development and Innovation said, “This is great news for the auto industry in Ontario and shows the strength and diversity of the sector in the province. This expansion demonstrates that Ontario made the right decision by supporting the development of Toyota’s manufacturing presence here in Ontario”.

In 1986 Toyota began its Canadian operations in the southwestern Ontario City of Cambridge. Currently, Toyota employs about 6,500 Canadians at the two plants in Cambridge and one in Woodstock where the Corolla, Matrix, RAV4 and Lexus RX350 vehicles are manufactured.

Here is the full story at CTV:

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/SWOHome/20120328/woodstock-toyota-20120328/

Rental Housing By-Law Reality Check

bill — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 05:50:49 +0000

Recently, in The Record on March 14th 2012, Luisa D’Amato proclaimed that the new Rental Housing By-Law will help students the most. The new rental licensing by-law begins on April 1st, 2012 (Ironically on April Fool’s Day). Ideally speaking this would be the main benefit of this law and her statement reiterates the City of Waterloo’s explanation for the Rental Housing By-Law in the first place. Moreover, this is what the current Lodging House By-Law is/was intended to do as well. Will a larger scale Rental Housing By-Law actually aid students? Luisa is making a big assumption that a bigger by-law will be better than the status quo and the current Rental Tenancy Act.

In my opinion, it may not benefit the students as much as Luisa expresses it will. This by-law will have many unintended consequences. First, the costs of the license will be passed onto the tenants. Luisa’s estimate of the costs of the license in the article were inaccurate and she said, “It requires all landlords to get a license costing at least $200 a year”. The cost of licensing is on the City of Waterloo’s website and the average cost of the license is closer to $400 to $500 per suite plus additional costs of the HVAC, ESA, police background check and application fees when combined move the total cost up to around $800 to $900 per suite. Second, some smaller mom and pop landlords will leave the business in favour of the larger corporate apartment style operations because apartments are exempt from this By-law. This means less choice for students. Moreover, the student vacancy rate that is around 1.2% is likely to go down even further if the supply of apartments does not keep up with demand. The benefits of the system are to improve safety, however, the City of Waterloo was unable to enforce the Lodging House By-Law effectively so why does anyone think the new by-law will be any different? It is debatable that the properties will be safer. Fire safety inspections will not be completed by the fire department according to Paige Desmond from the Waterloo Chroncile’s article on March 21st.

Overall this by-law will punish landlords who (many but not all) have been complying with the previous Lodging House By-Law. All landlord’s costs across the city will be raised by this by-law that was really designed to change tenant behaviour around the Universities. In fact, the money from landlord’s licenses from around the City of Waterloo (that all tenants will have to absorb) will be used to help pay for by-law enforcement around the Universities and College campuses in Waterloo and the cost of the rental licensing program. This is where the majority of By-Law complaints and infractions were made.

Unfortunately, the Rental Housing By-Law is flawed in my opinion. The Ontario Human Rights Commission is investigating it because the By-Law restricts the number of tenants in a property and therefore is discriminating against larger sized families who cannot afford to purchase a property. Also, if a landlord is given the ultimate sanction and gets their license taken away the City of Waterloo will not be able to evict the tenant if they have signed a lease. The unintended consequences of this by-law are higher rents, lower vacancy and less choice (especially for larger families) in the City of Waterloo. I think the City of Waterloo could have done without this massive by-law and red tape that it is going to create. The benefits of this new by-law remain to be seen. In a letter to the editor that appeared in the Record on March 17th, Mike Milovick V.P of Waterloo Regional Apartment Management Association (WRAMA) says, “This bylaw is not about safety. This by-law is about control.” So when the conversation turns to the Rental Licensing By-Law and its main goal of public safety; please do not let Luisa D’Amato or the City of Waterloo fool you!