By Pepper Parr
August 2nd, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
What does this promotional bill board
Under construction and coming soon on Guelph Line just north of the QEW
Have to do with this web site announcement?
The Berkely at John and Maria – some very small units
In the world of residential housing they feed each other – they make each other possible
The apartment units now in the planning stage for the significant number of high rise towers that are going to be built in Burlington at some point – because the province said we have to grow the population.
Many of the units are small – very small – many in the 650 sq foot range.
Not much room in that amount of space for much more than a bed, a kitchen table and a stand for the big monitor that will stream movies.
The story the builders tell is that these units are just what a segment of the population is looking for – they will live alongside the GO station and will be living their social life in Toronto – and will just sleep in Burlington.
City Council wants to see more two and three bedroom units – there will be some – how many – no one is sating very much at this point.
What the public does hear from the developers is that they support the idea of affordable units – but again – nothing firm.
Carriage Gate promised a specific number of units in the Berkely development on John at Maria – that sort of didn’t happen.
Human beings need space – crowding families, even individuals into 650 sq. ft. boxes is just plain unhealthy.
Storage space is non existent. In the past developers offered a storage unit in the basement – it wasn’t much to speak of – but it was space.
The need for a place to put the ski’s or the summer play stuff became a market the storage people were quick to fill.
This part of the structure under construction tells you it is going to be a tall building.
Dymon Storage, an Ottawa based firm is building a very large storage facility on Guelph Line just north of the QEW. In their promotional materiel they tell a story that fits in perfectly with what those who buy small condo units.
This tell you the structure is going to have hundreds of storage units.
Think of Dymon Storage as an extension of your life. We do.
Here’s where we can help
Short-term storage for your renovation
Moving to a new home with less storage space
Storage for your seasonal items
Declutter your home for staging
Garment or wardrobe storage
Student move-out storage
Has any survey ever been done on the number of large houses in Burlington that are occupied by one person? I realize you cannot ask someone to surrender their home, but it would be an interesting fact to learn the percentage of these homes.
City Council wants developers to build 2 & 3 bedroom units, however, they don’t stipulate the minimum size in square footage for a 2 or 3 bedroom unit.
As a result a 2 bedroom, 2 bath unit in the Nautique Development by ADI is 794 square feet.
Prices starting for the 794 sq. foot unit is $894,900.00. Average price is $1,208.00 per square foot. Units in this development range in size from 519 to 749 square feet. ( This information comes directly from their website).
This reminds me of the how council and staff would indicate that a development for example would be 17 stories. This is extremely deceiving as some stories have 12 foot ceilings, some have 10 foot ceilings and the lobbies are the equivalent of 2 stories. Let’s not forget that the mechanical room and rooftop are not included in this measurement.
For those who were considering purchasing a unit in a new condo building and went to City Hall to determine what floor they would have to go up to make certain their view would not be impeded by the next development were told what the existing height requirement would be for any future development in the area( according to the outdated official plan).
The City never indicated that with community benefits etc. the 4 -8 floor limit on height for example for Christopher Court on Pearl Street when redeveloped could end up being 14 stories which is what happened for the development of the Pearl and Pine Retirement Residence.
Future buyers need to be very explicit when purchasing a new condo unit in Burlington. All the people purchasing units at Nautique will not be happy when the 2 proposed developments in the area known as “the football” are built right in front of their building and block out the waterfront views they paid so dearly for.
Real estate agents may not be forthcoming with this information. Have to wonder if they will tell prospective buyers about the POPS – Privately owned public space that could be part of these developments? Or if they actually own the heating system or if the builder has simply leased the system.
New buyers really need to use a condo lawyer to look over the condominium documents prior to purchasing a unit. They also need to look into exactly what services are being provided in the monthly condo fees. There can be a lot of surprises when the owners take over the running of the condominium building after the first year.
For example – the building provides 24 hour security service yet when checking into the money allocated for this service it only allows for 12 hours security. The builder has to make up the difference in what they budget for the condo fees for the first year. When the owners take over the running of the corporation decisions sometimes have to be made to either cut services or increase condo fees.
I will ask again just what citizen growth is the government or the developers targeting. It seems they are targeting single adults both young and old? As a 68 year old senior residing in Burlington with my spouse we have absolutely no interest in any of these high rise units for personal use or as an investment for a host of reasons. I suspect many others will agree that leaving our single family homes will be a last resort for the remaining spouse.
Canada’s birth rate is extremely low so do they expect an influx of single immigrants and refugees, or is this being driven by developers to sell these mostly small condo’s investment units?
There is nothing I have read to suggest that GO Train ridership will return to pre pandemic levels in the near or medium term.
Again how on earth will the infrastructure for health and transportation handle this? Lord knows not many want to spend their days commuting especially with a shortage of workers for the foreseeable future.
I am modifying our house to eventually house two families as this approach along with gentler intensification through the entire community makes a lot more sense to me. Why not eliminate single family residential zoning across the entire city including the Lakeshore?