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Federal funding for affordable housing
#16
(10-28-2020, 09:13 PM)plam Wrote:
(10-28-2020, 04:36 PM)tomh009 Wrote: Why would a reduced tax rate devalue property? In fact, it should make the property more attractive -- just like lower condo fees make a condo building more attractive, and high condo fees tend to make it less attractive (and thus reduce the selling prices).

Except inasmuch as high price is perceived as high value, which is an important part of human psychology. Not sure it applies to high taxes though. We seem to have decoupled the selling price from the assessment price everywhere.

(10-28-2020, 08:42 PM)tomh009 Wrote: Once you strip out the hotel fixtures you are pretty much left with an empty apartment shell. Assuming you keep the bathroom as is, you need to add a kitchen(ette), rework electricals, do flooring, paint and ceiling. A double unit could be made, window configuration permitting, into a 2BR apartment but would be more complex. Oh, yes, electrical meters would need to be added. Still, it's all interior work.

It's also interesting how a lot of NZ motel rooms have kitchens (efficiencies is what they were called when I was travelling in North America with my parents as a kid). Haven't seen them as often in the North American hotels I stay in more recently. Well, not this year, but generally. Bonus tidbit: NZ hotel rooms often come with fresh milk for your tea. Like a carton of it.

If you say "oh look, if you buy a house near affordable housing, the taxes are lower" that seems to reinforce that pre-existing belief in devaluation. Again, this is different because the tax benefit is not arriving as a result of BUILDING the affordable housing, merely being near it.

As for condo fees, I do find it funny that people are so up tight about them, ultimately, the money being spent is to maintain the building you live in, I would rather live in a well maintained building than a building that is poorly maintained but cheap. That being said there are obviously differences in ammenities, as well, my experience shows there is certainly differences in efficiency...some of the nonsense we've shut down in our building is frustrating...

I've had a few hotels here with milk for tea, not a carton, but the little containers.
Ironically, I find you get more of these niceities at hotels like Best Western, rather than expensive hotels.
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#17
(10-28-2020, 09:52 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: If you say "oh look, if you buy a house near affordable housing, the taxes are lower" that seems to reinforce that pre-existing belief in devaluation. Again, this is different because the tax benefit is not arriving as a result of BUILDING the affordable housing, merely being near it.

As for condo fees, I do find it funny that people are so up tight about them, ultimately, the money being spent is to maintain the building you live in, I would rather live in a well maintained building than a building that is poorly maintained but cheap. That being said there are obviously differences in ammenities, as well, my experience shows there is certainly differences in efficiency...some of the nonsense we've shut down in our building is frustrating...

What I proposed was not to lower taxes in an area with affordable housing, but to lower taxes for actual affordable housing units: an inexpensive house or apartment would attract a lower tax rate. This is basically the same concept as progressive income taxation, which is generally accepted.

The very high condo fees (such as 276 King St W and 64 Benton St S) are primarily due to a maintenance backlog, which results in very high reserve fund contributions to catch up. And that drags down the selling prices.
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#18
(10-28-2020, 09:52 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: As for condo fees, I do find it funny that people are so up tight about them, ultimately, the money being spent is to maintain the building you live in, I would rather live in a well maintained building than a building that is poorly maintained but cheap. That being said there are obviously differences in ammenities, as well, my experience shows there is certainly differences in efficiency...some of the nonsense we've shut down in our building is frustrating...

I've had a few hotels here with milk for tea, not a carton, but the little containers.
Ironically, I find you get more of these niceities at hotels like Best Western, rather than expensive hotels.

I mean, I'm also in favour of playing taxes. It's the same thing at a different scale. I am not in favour of paying for things in a condo that don't bring sufficient value for the amount paid, like a swimming pool, but I can simply not buy a unit in a place with a swimming pool.

There's a kind of phenomenon where really cheap hotels don't provide services at all, midrange hotels provide all the services for free, and expensive services provide the services for (large amounts of) money.

(10-28-2020, 10:05 PM)tomh009 Wrote: What I proposed was not to lower taxes in an area with affordable housing, but to lower taxes for actual affordable housing units: an inexpensive house or apartment would attract a lower tax rate. This is basically the same concept as progressive income taxation, which is generally accepted.

The very high condo fees (such as 276 King St W and 64 Benton St S) are primarily due to a maintenance backlog, which results in very high reserve fund contributions to catch up. And that drags down the selling prices.

Yeah, progressive taxation of property would also make sense but is not allowed by legislation... Maintenance backlogs are terrible but sometimes people are cheap.
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#19
(10-29-2020, 05:46 AM)plam Wrote:
(10-28-2020, 10:05 PM)tomh009 Wrote: What I proposed was not to lower taxes in an area with affordable housing, but to lower taxes for actual affordable housing units: an inexpensive house or apartment would attract a lower tax rate. This is basically the same concept as progressive income taxation, which is generally accepted.

Yeah, progressive taxation of property would also make sense but is not allowed by legislation...

That's right, property tax rates must be fixed -- within a rate classification. For example, vacant residential land is a different rate than a residential property. I believe the city would be able to create a new classification for an "affordable residential property", or something similar, with a different tax rate. As long as it's not based on just the property value, but a fixed/long-term designation as affordable housing, it should be legally defensible to have a different tax rate.
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#20
(10-28-2020, 09:13 PM)plam Wrote:
(10-28-2020, 04:36 PM)tomh009 Wrote: Why would a reduced tax rate devalue property? In fact, it should make the property more attractive -- just like lower condo fees make a condo building more attractive, and high condo fees tend to make it less attractive (and thus reduce the selling prices).

Except inasmuch as high price is perceived as high value, which is an important part of human psychology. Not sure it applies to high taxes though. We seem to have decoupled the selling price from the assessment price everywhere.

(10-28-2020, 08:42 PM)tomh009 Wrote: Once you strip out the hotel fixtures you are pretty much left with an empty apartment shell. Assuming you keep the bathroom as is, you need to add a kitchen(ette), rework electricals, do flooring, paint and ceiling. A double unit could be made, window configuration permitting, into a 2BR apartment but would be more complex. Oh, yes, electrical meters would need to be added. Still, it's all interior work.

It's also interesting how a lot of NZ motel rooms have kitchens (efficiencies is what they were called when I was travelling in North America with my parents as a kid). Haven't seen them as often in the North American hotels I stay in more recently. Well, not this year, but generally. Bonus tidbit: NZ hotel rooms often come with fresh milk for your tea. Like a carton of it.

All-suite or extended-stay hotels.  It's in today's news in Ottawa that two all-suite hotels in Centretown are being converted to apartments (pretty easy to do, since they are already individual apartments).
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#21
Canada Announces Support for Rapid Housing in Waterloo Region


Quote:As part of its Investment Plan for the Major Cities Stream, the Region of Waterloo submitted two projects with two partners for a total of 42 affordable modular housing units. The proposal includes approximately:
  • 36 units of supportive housing at 1470 Block Line Road in Kitchener for women experiencing or at risk of homelessness

  • 6 one-bedroom units located at 127 – 161 Bechtel Street in Cambridge for applicants on the community housing waitlist
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#22
1470 Block Line is currently a gas station/car wash, it seems, unless they mean the apartments behind it (those enter off Kingswood).
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#23
(12-16-2020, 07:00 PM)KevinL Wrote: Canada Announces Support for Rapid Housing in Waterloo Region

Quote:As part of its Investment Plan for the Major Cities Stream, the Region of Waterloo submitted two projects with two partners for a total of 42 affordable modular housing units. The proposal includes approximately:
  • 36 units of supportive housing at 1470 Block Line Road in Kitchener for women experiencing or at risk of homelessness

  • 6 one-bedroom units located at 127 – 161 Bechtel Street in Cambridge for applicants on the community housing waitlist

So, it looks like this is a YW initiative -- or at least the Block Line portion is.

Very good to see this funding!
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#24
(12-16-2020, 07:02 PM)KevinL Wrote: 1470 Block Line is currently a gas station/car wash, it seems, unless they mean the apartments behind it (those enter off Kingswood).

Gas station is 340 Kingswood Dr.  1470 Block Line is just the self service car wash (and I think a water refilling place).  I assume there will be a new construction on this site.

Coke
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#25
(12-18-2020, 04:22 PM)Coke6pk Wrote:
(12-16-2020, 07:02 PM)KevinL Wrote: 1470 Block Line is currently a gas station/car wash, it seems, unless they mean the apartments behind it (those enter off Kingswood).

Gas station is 340 Kingswood Dr.  1470 Block Line is just the self service car wash (and I think a water refilling place).  I assume there will be a new construction on this site.

Coke
36 units of “modular housing”.
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#26
Huh, didn't realize they were separate properties. Will have to see what happens.
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#27
(12-18-2020, 05:16 PM)panamaniac Wrote:
(12-18-2020, 04:22 PM)Coke6pk Wrote: Gas station is 340 Kingswood Dr.  1470 Block Line is just the self service car wash (and I think a water refilling place).  I assume there will be a new construction on this site.

36 units of “modular housing”.

This is what they are doing in Vancouver.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgcrbmUITv4
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#28
Didn’t I see something a few months back about Cambridge agreeing to do a project with a local company that does modular housing?
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#29
(12-18-2020, 04:22 PM)Coke6pk Wrote:
(12-16-2020, 07:02 PM)KevinL Wrote: 1470 Block Line is currently a gas station/car wash, it seems, unless they mean the apartments behind it (those enter off Kingswood).

Gas station is 340 Kingswood Dr.  1470 Block Line is just the self service car wash (and I think a water refilling place).  I assume there will be a new construction on this site.

Coke

There is a Husky gas station there as well.

There is a lot beside everything that appears to be empty, so perhaps that's the location.
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