06-02-2021, 10:27 AM
(06-02-2021, 10:18 AM)tomh009 Wrote:(06-02-2021, 09:46 AM)IronDev Wrote: Midrise is very hard for developers to pull off too.
Even if a developer wants to come in and do some cool 4 storey building, landowners don't care. If a landowner if remotely able to get highrise land prices, then that is all they will accept. So developers are forced to pay so much for land, that the only feasible project is a highrise.
Landowners will send the land and the developers will buy it, somewhere near market value for the land (market value, is by definition, the price that buyers and sellers agree to).
At the moment land very close to City Hall is quite expensive so most projects are tall, but both 345 King St W and Mayfair are mid-rise buildings. Further out there are many more mid-rise buildings (5-10 storeys) being built: Barra, The Scott, 66 Civic, Market Flats, Otis, Ophelia etc.
Very good points. However, the current market has become this cat and mouse game between land vendors and buyers. The winning bid is whoever is willing to take the biggest risk on having to receive bonus density. Vendors aren't selling based on what is allowed by the density, they are selling based on the maximum achievable density through bonussing/ZBA/OPA. It's a natural consequence of the market, but it forces developers to push density. Remember, a midrise is much cheaper to build than a highrise. Many developers would choose the cheaper, quicker option if it was financially feasible.