Office vacancies have reached a record level while residential ones are crawling under an ant. The government should be throwing money at office building conversion projects.
Updates from May, 2021 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
-
Kate
-
Kate
Saturday the Canadiens were going to play without a single Quebecer on the ice for the first time in their history, but then Alex Belzile was told to dress. But Monday evening, it has finally happened: a match, this one against the Oilers, will see no Quebec-born player on the ice for Montreal.
Update: even though the Canadiens went down 4-3 to the Oilers, they gained enough points to make it into the playoffs.
-
Kate
I predicted a little while ago that Quebec would pull the plug on the blue line, and while they haven’t quite done that yet, they’re moving toward the socket with a demand that the city reduce the ballooning cost somehow.
Impossible not to think that if previous Quebec governments had stopped dragging their feet, the thing would be done and dusted by now.
DisgruntledGoat
The blue line extension may be done for, the STM takes 10+ years to figure out Ottawa-style express bus service on a single artery, but apparently running elevated rail on a median on pedestrian-hostile R-L between six lanes of traffic is an issue?
Kate
DisgruntledGoat, whoever you are, you’re certainly a one-man cheering section for the REM.
Walk along Crémazie for awhile. There are tall office buildings, check. Elevated transport, check. Is it nice? Is it pleasant? Do you want this experience to be duplicated in the heart of downtown?
Daniel D
I’m positing here, but we’ve seen with REM 1 how they’re not fans of competing services. My understanding is bus routes between REM catchment areas and Downtown will be curbed, so as to drive ridership (and consequently money) onto the one system.
Since if both the REM 2 and the Blue Line extension went ahead, there would be an interchange between the two. Perhaps it’s be beneficial to the REM and its supporters to ensure there was just the one way of getting Downtown, removing the competition and ensuring the fares flow into the REM rather than the STM.
Either way, the most tragic thing about all this is there’s a golden opportunity to build a connected transit network, and it seems the powers that be are pulling towards a fragmented one.
Ephraim
I went out to the West Island this weekend (Mom wanted to go out to the countryside for Mother’s day). In fact, all the way to end of the REM, not far from MDA. And honestly, even if it is the West Island, it’s ugly as hell. Are they going to grow trees around it, so that it sort of disappears in part? I’d rather look at the trees on the side of the road that that awful white concrete block.
And why the hell did they end it where they ended it? Shouldn’t they have taken it all the way to John Abbott/McGill?
DeWolf
Kate, to your point about Crémazie – the main reason why it feels hostile and unpleasant is the ground-level environment, not the elevated structure. The elevated highway is noisy, but no noisier than any six-lane road with heavy traffic. The problem is that Crémazie is treated not as a street but as a collector road with high speeds, crummy sidewalks and no greenery.
You could make it infinitely better by narrowing and traffic-calming the roadway – there’s no reason for cars to go more than 30 km/h until they get on the highway. Widen the sidewalks and plant trees. Convert the space underneath the highway into sheltered, all-weather recreational facilities like basketball courts. Then you’d have a much more pleasant environment that is pedestrian-friendly and permeable – a real link between Villeray and Ahuntsic, rather than a barrier.
Daniel D
The debate around aesthetics aside, and from reading what people have to say about the proposed elevated trackway along René Lévesque, the common theme is this is an incursion onto public space for a project which likely won’t bring any direct benefit to most who live and work Downtown.
In my opinion, this in itself is enough reason to push back on it and make the CDPQ Infra consider alternatives.
The question is whether anyone in a position of power is willing to really go for it and carry the torch for preserving the Downtown environment. If the CDPQ really want to build this, they’ll do it even if they’re forced to build it underground.
Blork
The more I think about it, the less I’m bothered by the elevated REM on RL. The REM is happening, so we ought to make the best of it. Going underground is out of the question (too expensive) and going level is also pretty much out of the question (would slow down the REM and slow down other traffic). Also, its main purpose is to speedily bring people in from outside the city centre, not to shuffle them slowly around within the city like a regular tram line does.
So it’s sort of inevitable. And maybe it won’t be as much of a blight as I fear it will. I’m thinking about Seattle’s silly monorail (which basically shuttles tourists between downtown and the Space Needle). It runs along 5th Avenue and doesn’t really affect things at street level (see Street View: https://goo.gl/maps/bDYMKquTWwPWzbRR7 )
Sure people who just hate everything will wail that OMG I HATE CONCRETE or OMG THE SKY IS OBSCURED or whatever, but if you ever find yourself in Seattle, just walk a few blocks one way on 5th Ave and then come back on 4rd or 6th and tell me if the experiences were really so different.
Comparisons with Cremazie are unfair, for reasons DeWolf has already explained.
My biggest disgruntlement (aside from the whole boondoggle of how the REM happened) is the disruption as they build the thing down RL, which will likely increase traffic on all the parallel streets and will make getting around downtown a very painful experience for yet another year. But once it’s done I suspect it won’t be any worse than 5th Ave. Seattle.
Blork
@Daniel D said “this is an incursion onto public space for a project which likely won’t bring any direct benefit to most who live and work Downtown.”
Mmmm. Not buying it. First of all, everything is an incursion into public space (buildings, streets, bike paths, sidewalks, delivery trucks, etc.). The important factor is how is that public space otherwise used? It’s not like it’s a park or a shopping street like Ste-Catherine. RL is a transit space; used by people getting from point A to point B (be it by car, bus, bicycle, whatever) that happens to be dotted with a lot of office buildings and residential towers. There are street-level shops, but that doesn’t make it a shopping street. (See 5th Avenue in Seattle, for example. Streetview link in the comment above.)
Also, the intention is to bring a lot of benefit to the people who work and live downtown. Namely, getting to and from work. Both people living towards the edge of the line who work downtown, and people who live in all those condo towers who might work elsewhere than downtown. The presence of dense building (both office and residential) is the number one flag that says “put public transit here.”
-
Kate
Police are unhappy about the hiring of Alain Babineau to advise the SPVM on matters of racism and systemic discrimination.
Babineau, who used to work for the RCMP himself, has more recently been associated with Fo Niemi’s CRARR. Bochra Manaï, the city’s commissioner on racism, who chose Babineau for the job, has had to defend her choice.
If someone were chosen whom the police would just love, that would mean someone prepared to turn a blind eye to police problems in this area. They need to have someone like Babineau who’s been a cop and knows the vibe inside and out, and is prepared to speak up, not someone prepared to maintain the status quo and deliver soothing clichés to the media.
Babineau also happens to be Black.
Ephraim
If they don’t like it, they are welcome to resign. No one is forcing them to work for the SPVM.
Jack
It is a real shame that these municipal organizations union structure evoke how fire, police and blue collar forces started …as shakedown organizations. The Unions play zero sum games always and are invariably led by the most thuggish of clowns. I have lived through the sacking of our City Hall, a night of a thousand fires, vandalism of equipment, policeman shooting many unarmed civilians, etc. So when they institutionally have an opinion I know it is self serving and wrong and I dont listen. Sadly our political class does.
Meezly
Yup, it’s a good sign when the police are not happy that choice.
Marco
@Meezly – 100% agree. Alain Babineau has nothing to apologize for.
-
Kate
A man was shot in the leg Sunday evening downtown. TVA has lots of pictures of cops at the scene and a brief account of another downtown incident Sunday, in which a man was stabbed in an altercation with several others.
-
Kate
A study by the CMM shows that rents increased by 4.6% last year, the biggest increase in years (and far beyond inflation).
Ephraim
Is there are rent calculator that includes heat and maintenance / contingency that landlords could use to see what a fair and equitable rent is? We definitely need a better system because we definitely don’t need the court filled with people contesting small amounts, but we also definitely need to help small landlords who may be underwater.
I mean, let’s be serious, the school boards didn’t even have the contingency calculation right and had buildings go into disarray. (Which suggests that we need auditors for public buildings, but that’s a whole different kettle of fish.)
dhomas
The rents may have gone up more than inflation, but I’m quite certain they are still below the increase in cost of real estate itself.
When I was in the market for a house a few years ago (I bought in 2014), I would come across houses which were selling for what seemed like the average price, but they were being sold by older folks who had paid much less for the houses than they were selling for (obviously). Therefore, it was ok for them to rent their apartments for 400$ for a 5 and a half, since their mortgage was paid off years ago and the rent is gravy. But there was no way I’d be able to cover my mortgage with that amount. I didn’t want to throw anyone out of their apartment, so I skipped out on those houses. Instead, I bought from a multi-generational household where the “propriétaire occupant” was “renting” to their son (no lease), so I could basically name my price based on the current market, once they all left.
All that to say, it may sometimes be necessary to increase the rent (from a landlord’s perspective) not because the renters’ ability to pay it has gone up, but because the property itself has increased in value so much that the rent must also follow.steph
There’s a thorough Outil de Calcul online for landlords and tenants to use https://www.tal.gouv.qc.ca/fr/calcul-pour-la-fixation-de-loyer/outil-de-calcul . you can get your address’s tax information https://servicesenligne2.ville.montreal.qc.ca/sel/evalweb/index .
the recommended percentages are junk calculations – I have NO idea why they’re even published.
Ephraim
@steph – That’s a beginning, but I think there is a need for something like the building maintenance cost over time. They say that it’s 1% over time of the cost of the house, but that’s seems really low, we aren’t talking simple paint, we are talking furnace, roof, radiators, etc. And if you supply appliances, just a fridge is about $5 a month in cost. A elastomeric roof is $14 a square foot every 20 to 25 years. So on a duplex of 1600 sq feet that’s $22.5K/25/12/2=$37.50 a month. Radiators have a 25 year lifespan too. There should be a calculator for all of this so that landlords know what they need to really cover costs.
MarcG
Why are private individuals tasked with taking care of things that should obviously be collective projects? We seem to have grasped that health (medicare) and safety (err, police, sort of) are public goods but not the foundations of it (food and housing).
David63
Just noted this one, and might as well drop this here, as it is directly relevant to the rent increases:
https://direct.mit.edu/rest/article/doi/10.1162/rest_a_01055/100977/Local-Effects-of-Large-New-Apartment-Buildings-inKey finding: “New buildings decrease rents in nearby units by about 6 percent relative to units slightly farther away or near sites developed later, and they increase in-migration from lowincome areas. We show that new buildings absorb many high-income households and increase the local housing stock substantially.”
Mark
We bought a plex 10 years ago for 250k. Refinanced it to make some renos. The mortgage left is a bit over 300k. We had to move to another city for work so we rent it out to a family that uses both apartments for 1500 a month (stairs are inside). 7 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms. They have a big family and it works for them. We’ve had the same tenants for 4 years. It’s a win-win for both parties. I don’t completely cover my costs but we have a good relationship with them and don’t want to change anything. And I am fully aware that they are helping me get richer by paying a good part of my mortgage and building expenses.
If I sell for 750 or whatever it’s worth, that goes out the window. None of the numbers make any more sense. The new owners have to jack the rent unless they had a massive down payment.
So yes, all the costs have to be considered, but new owners buying at insane prices are dragging everything up. That being said, a lot of landlords bought a while ago, and are using this rise as an excuse to jack up their rents, despite their costs being relatively stable.
Raymond Lutz
Je suggère d’abolir simplement la propriété lucrative. 🙂
No, not _your_ car…cf cet entretiende Bernard Friot.
Ephraim
@Mark – Problem is that a lot of people remortgage based on current value so they can buy more property. So the numbers change all the time.
thomas 21:31 on 2021-05-10 Permalink
I am not an expert, but it is my understanding that office->residential conversions are very difficult due to the necessity to reconfigure the plumbing system.
david90 03:03 on 2021-05-11 Permalink
It’s a lot more than plumbing. The code requirements are different up and down. Would love to see a huge wave of office conversions, but the big problem is, of course, that you’re talking about pretty significant charges on converting a non-hotel commercial tower to residential use.
“Throwing money” isn’t probably a great idea either – it would probably work, but it’s not so efficient.
The thing the city should do is just lift regulations and charges to lighten the burden.
Ephraim 06:29 on 2021-05-11 Permalink
The city has no interest in that. Residential tax rates are significantly less per square metre than commercial rates.
Kevin 10:23 on 2021-05-11 Permalink
This type of conversion has been happening a lot over the past few years in Calgary — which has twice as much office vacancies as Montreal.
The design firm Gensler has a checklist, and their biggest issues are location, windows on all four sides, and the shape of the building. Because offices generally have thick floors, very high ceilings, and kitchenettes, the plumbing changes are not as much of an issue as you’d think.
It can happen a lot faster than building a new tower too, so in terms of bang for the buck, it could be the fastest way to get housing into a downtown core.