Luxe apartments: should we have more?
Our media are conducting a civil, quiet debate on whether it makes sense to keep constructing high‑end residential units on the “trickle‑down” principle. Maxime Bergeron examines a luxe skyscraper going up in Griffintown where rent for a one‑bedroom is currently quoted at $1810 (possibly more by the time the complex opens). His doubt of the theory is apparent in the piece.
On the weekend, 24hres has a piece with the flat statement as a headline: Voici pourquoi construire plus ne règlera pas la crise du logement, with an expert saying nothing has proven that adding more units at the high end eventually benefits those who must find more affordable places to live.
You know what it is. No real estate developer wants to construct modest apartments – where’s the profit? So they have to put it out there that by developing at the luxe end, they’re effectively making more modest units available. It’s bullshit, but it’s convenient bullshit – for them.
bob 13:44 on 2025-07-07 Permalink
It kind of shows that something other than a free market is happening when the supply and demand curve no longer applies.
Blork 15:59 on 2025-07-07 Permalink
As I mentioned in a comment about this topic last week, the “trickle down effect” makes sense if you’re just constructing a simple logical syllogism, but in the real world there are many complications that throw wrenches into the logic.
Things like GREED and HUMAN NATURE and STUPIDITY all throw wrenches. And there is plenty of all those things going around. Yet the simple syllogistic logic endures, because it is simple and easy to understand, and easy to quote, even if it’s not realistic.
Such are the foundational bricks of neoliberalism laid. (Also for most “-isms,” really.)
DeWolf 17:40 on 2025-07-07 Permalink
This is why we need non-market housing. Not just for the destitute but for everyone who can’t afford a luxury apartment. More co-ops, more programs like AccèsLogis – which was cancelled by the CAQ in 2023.