| real.est. |
sit empty (Shame on our city council – you have allowed developers and foreign investors to build ugly monster houses which sit empty for months on end while local young families have no other choice but to leave their hometown and seek more affordable housing elsewhere. • Andrew Chang did an interesting episode of About That (CBC, June 25, 2024) to discuss the question of why so many condos are sitting empty. He brings up some great points which are salient here. The province wants the city to zone for density, but it's ultimately the developer who chooses what to build. Developers build for what the market demands to minimize risk, and in recent history, the market was dictated by investors. Investors demand lowest cost of entry with maximum potential for returns. Developers said, that sounds like small studio apartments! The market became disconnected from what people actually want for their homes. Cities ended up with lots of tiny studio apartments which are too expensive for a single income to afford, yet too small for roommates to share. (burnabynow.com) ART Vancouver); sit vacant (It’s a big decision to let an investment sit empty after you’ve put hundreds of thousands of dollars into it—or even millions. But it might make financial sense to some, says Kuester. “If it’s sitting, it’s because the owners believe there’s a higher and better use associated with waiting.” The giant building on Broadway that used to house Mountain Equipment Co-op, for example, has sat vacant for several years while owner Jon Stovell waited for the city to come out with its Broadway Plan, which will allow him much more density for the site. (bcbusiness.ca) ART Vancouver) |
