By Staff
March 3rd, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
A Toronto based developer has announced a project that will feature homes priced at under $500,000.
This is a National Homes development in a highly sought after, family-friendly neighbourhood of Northshore, a contemporary mid-rise development.
Eight storeys of one, two and three bedroom units.
This community will offer one, two and three bedroom units.
The developer describes it this way:
In an area that boasts home prices averaging over $1M, this is a rare opportunity for those looking to purchase their first home or even for those looking to right-size their home.
Located on Plains Road East, this eight-storey building contains 153 residential units that are sized to just under 1,000 square feet plus over 5,000 square feet of amenities space.
Ensconced within southern Ontario’s Greater Golden Horseshoe, Burlington has become one of the most desirable places to live and the natural choice for those seeking a balanced lifestyle with modern conveniences. The Aldershot and Burlington GO Transit Stations are minutes away and offer fast and convenient transit west to Hamilton or east to Toronto and the downtown core.
“We’re thrilled to be launching Northshore in one of Burlington’s more desirable neighbourhoods,” says Jason Pantalone, president and managing partner with National Homes. “This area historically has been known for its picturesque homes. We have worked hard to deliver a community that allows first-time buyers to enter the market along with those who wish to downsize and remain in the same area they have lived in for many years.”
The Gazette is running a readership survey. You can link to the survey HERE
One of the oldest and westernmost neighbourhoods in Burlington, the Northshore area has recently seen a revitalization along Plains Road bringing a new vibrance to the area. The downtown core offers restaurants, nightlife, and various activities for all ages, while the surrounding areas offer some of the best greenspaces and outdoor amenities in the region.
In 2019, Burlington, Ontario Ranked Number One for Best Community in Canada and also ranked as the Best Place to Raise a Family by Maclean’s magazine.
The area has seen significant growth in the last few years; now just shy of 200,000 people call Burlington home, with a higher-than-average median household income of around $94,000. Northshore will deliver the highly coveted lifestyle in this growing urban centre and offer a balanced combination of urban fun and quiet family living.
The project promises balance throughout, with big city amenities that have been designed to blend with the backdrop of Burlington. Surrounded by nature, with Lake Ontario to the south, the Niagara Escarpment to the north, residents can truly enjoy an active outdoor lifestyle. Proximity to Burlington Beach, the Burlington Trail, and La Salle Park and Marina are part of the allure of living at Northshore.
The convenient location between Toronto and Hamilton is another draw of the area. Commuters will be able to get to Toronto in 35 minutes and Hamilton in 15 minutes. Both Lester Pearson and Hamilton airports are a short distance away. Burlington has made significant investments into local transportation and a sustainable future through over 48 km of bike lanes. Residents at Northshore will have local transportation at their doorstep, and be just mere minutes from the GO Train, QEW, Hwy 403 and 407.
About National Homes
National Homes is currently building on Brant Street site.
As a 5 year post university grad, I have been saving in hopes to buy my first place in the next year or two. While 500k doesn’t seem “affordable” to most people, it is reasonable considering the market… look at the other options out there. Similar developments are selling for much more and seemingly at lower quality from what I’ve seen. Everybody I know in the past few years have had to buy with their friends/siblings to make it work or move away from the city.
LOL.
Most of the proposed condo units in Burlington are about 500 SF. I suspect the Federal government will buy them and use them to alleviate over crowding of hotels’ in Niagara Falls, Cornwall and elsewhere where literally thousands of rooms are housing illegal migrants from Roxham Road being bussed to Ontario from Quebec because they don’t speak French according (though possibly not English either).
I am sure our under used hospitals and schools can use the extra business.
I understand that $500,000.00 sounds “affordable” if one is comparing it to the cost of a family home that costs 1 million dollars. However, remember that the $500,000.00 price is for 490 square feet. How many people do you think would be able to live in 490 square feet? One – barely.
As far as the cost of constructing an underground parking spot. Perhaps the cost would not be so expensive if the developers were not having to drill through rock etc. to be able to provide 5-7 levels of underground parking.
Most people living in Burlington do not work in Burlington. Public transit is minimal at best and the weather is not conducive to using cycling as a primary mode of transportation.
Anyone who is purchasing even a small unit should want at least one parking space – if for no other reason than it would be very difficult to sell a unit with no parking spot in an area that has no public lots.
My concern is that investors are purchasing these small units to rent out as Air BnB’s. The size is like a hotel room.
Can you imagine living next to a unit that is constantly being rented out for short term rentals?
“Anyone who is purchasing even a small unit should want at least one parking space.” Maybe they should. But do the people who are paying for the units get a say in what amount of parking they “should” have? Or do you think you should have the right to force them to buy it whether they need it or not?
Ideally new buildings would have bigger spaces that are more affordable and would be able to accommodate more cars. But with the cost of land, labour and taxes it’s sometimes not possible to get everything. Tradeoffs must be made. If people believe they can make a go of it in a community like Burlington without needing a car, why are people so adamant that we must prevent them from trying?
The rule of thumb was a mortgage at 4X your salary.
So you need to make around $125,000 to afford the $500,000.
With a median household income of $94,000 how is this affordable?
I was able to find out the information that I asked for in my previous comment from a sales representative for this new development.
For $500,000.00 you will get a studio or 1 bedroom unit that totals about 490 square feet. This does not include a parking space, but will include a locker.
The price of a parking space can be $37,000.00. In reality $1,000.00 per square foot with no parking space.
Not exactly a family unit.
Is this what is considered affordable at this point of time
Not “affordable” by any stretch of the imagination. But as homes go, more affordable than $1 million to $1.5 million for a single-family home in Burlington with a driveway.
We also need to keep in mind that this is new construction. New is going to be more expensive than old. Problem is that inventory of less expensive, older multi-family housing is also in very short supply. In time these builds will age and become more affordable. Not only do we need these builds, we need a lot more to be constructed over a long period of time before we see prices moderate.
Builders won’t do that – as lower prices mean less profits and there just isn’t enough competition for homebuilding in Ontario. They also can’t do that even if they wanted to, because the labour pool to build the houses isn’t there, and costs too much (since the people who build the homes need to live somewhere too).
I’ve seen costing data that shows underground parking construction at about $100K per spot, so relatively, $37K is either subsidized or very much on the low end. A typical parking space, including the entry aisle, takes up 288 square feet,
about 2/3 the size of a $500K unit in this building. Forcing people to spend extra for parking just makes the affordability issue worse. This builder is doing the right thing by making parking optional for the buyer.
Never mind the median household. Take a household earning in the top 10%, which would be over $271K per year. This is approximately $85K more than the Mayor of Burlington’s salary. With a 20% downpayment, this amount would be just enough to afford the average home at $1.06 million, but not enough to afford the average detached home at $1.4 million. This is based on 2021 numbers (in the 2021 Housing Needs and Opportunities Report: https://burlingtonpublishing.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=52974 ).
While the price has come down 10-20% since then, interest rates have increased significantly making housing even less affordable.
We live in a city where even its top political leader would be stretched beyond afffordability guidelines to own a home if they didn’t have resources and support behind them. And we wonder why our young people are moving away?
Amazing isn’t it…and the worse part is, many of those who voted for Meed Ward, did so knowing she wants to protect home owner equity in Burlington by not being supportive of new development within region. Remember, most these council members voted against boundary expansion. Hence why province had to step in and change that. Also, it’s not just young people moving away…it’s low income people. It no longer makes sense for people within certain professions to live here…they simply can’t afford it.
I wouldn’t confuse opposition to boundary expansion with opposition to development whatsoever. These do not overlap completely.
From what I’ve seen, the council members that voted against boundary expansion are in favour of new development, but are very selective about where and how that development occurs (tall buildings near the GO station and far away from existing residential neighbourhoods). So they are looking to ensure regional policy doesn’t undermine the change that is necessary at the local level.
The kind of development that Burlington would see from boundary expansion would largely be low-rise sprawl development, along with new roads and sewers, etc. to make it all work. Building these would not help with affordability because scarce labour would be devoted to this and not to the infill that we desperately need here in Burlington, in addition to destroying precious landscapes valued by residents.
Even the Ontario government’s own housing task force has acknowledged that there is sufficient land already available for development in the region.
Meed Ward campaigned on no new development in Burlington for next 20 years. And the scarce labour…absolutely, they have no where to live in the GTA. I’m a facts based guy…I look at the data and forecasts…how many homes need to be built to bring the pricing of homes down significantly…what that number is should be presented by government and that would be based on how much debt should the average income earner carry. You mentioned enogh space to build without boundary expansion…if you are going to sat that, then you mean 1.5 million new homes can be built without breaking into protected land. And don’t say we don’t need 1.5 million new homes…all 3 provincial parties acknowledged we do.
I have only 1 question – how many square feet is the unit that is being sold for $500,000.00? Does it include any indoor parking space or locker?
When we have the answer to these questions that will indicate just how “affordable” this option really is.
Mr. Thomas – I suppose that desirability, like beauty, is entirely in the eyes of the beholder, or developer. Turning up a bit of well seasoned mud, is this not the same developer that brought us 2100 Brant St., that was given virtually every concession by our current Mayor (and planning staff) without challenge (despite promises otherwise to a well-informed local opposition) and that uses threats of litigation to quiet vocal adversaries? I wonder how easily the passage of this particular project will go. People should follow this development carefully. It will be a bell weather of the Meed Ward administration. I also wonder where our Deputy Mayor responsible for the affordable housing portfolio will position herself on this one.
Taking interest rates and supply into consideration, it’s likely over the next few years, pricing will make it’s way back down to normal levels. The question is…will we see rental prices come down? With so few rental buildings in the works, this will become a real challenge for lower income residents. Currently 2kish/month for a one bedroom apartment.
I’m interested to purchase in this project.
How about the drag racing along Plains Ed coupled with a dozen traffic lights?? Want to hear tricked out pick up trucks and modified pimped out Honda Civics, you’ve come the right place. Don’t worry, you’ll be able to litter with impunity if you move here as Burlington doesn’t enforce their bylaws. Just walk along Plains Rd, especially between Mapleview and Francis and you would think you were in a third world country with all the plastic waste.
Can you please mention where Macleans ranked Burlington in 2022, instead of constantly dwelling on this 2019 stat. We dont want to mislead and newcomers.