Glen Westbrook recently tore down the home he owned for 20 years in a downtown 琉璃神社 neighbourhood and started building four others in its place.
He is, like dozens of property owners throughout 琉璃神社, capitalizing on an infill housing program that allows previously single-family home lots to quadruple in capacity.
鈥淲e decided to come out of retirement and build it ourselves,鈥� said Westbrook, while taking a break from construction on the Wilson Avenue home. 鈥淭he market value soared and I have the skills, so we said 鈥榣et鈥檚 do it.鈥欌��
Each of the units will be 1,400 square feet and come with a roof-top patio, the latter detail makes up for what will be lost in yard-space. The previous single-family home and adjacent carriage house had 1,950 square feet of housing.
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All will be sold individually, and then managed through an ownership strata, like at least half a dozen others on his street, significantly changing the appearance and character of the neighbourhood.
鈥淚 was happy when I heard the city would allow for this,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lack of housing and it鈥檚 a great idea. These are modern and have rooftop decks that are fantastic.鈥�
While there鈥檚 a lot of clatter and dust from construction, his neighbours are also mostly in favour of the changes, if not capitalizing on them also.
鈥淩ight next door, he鈥檚 about ready to demolish and this one across the street is starting in June鈥� Dave, he鈥檚 happy to see new growth in the neighbourhood and some of the older structures gone鈥� said Westbrook gesturing to his neighbours鈥� homes as he explained.
鈥淭hese places have seen better days and when you look at Cawston, the changes that are happening are fantastic. In the time I鈥檝e been working here 鈥� you see so many people using that corridor, biking and running and going to the beach.鈥�
Another woman, who lived a few doors down from Westbrook, was slightly less enthused. She noted that she鈥檚 lived in the neighbourhood for 10 years and was pleased when her property value sky-rocketed. What she was less enthused about was how the density from a seemingly non-stop supply of four-plexes and new apartment buildings may change a neighbourhood she loved, let alone living in the middle of a construction zone.
That鈥檚 something the city is aware of as well.
James Moore, the City of 琉璃神社鈥檚 long-range policy planning manager, was one of the drivers of the community changing program. He said as time wears on its parametres may have to be tweaked, but its main aim was to increase the residential capacity of downtown 琉璃神社, and so far it鈥檚 working.
The area that the RU7 zoning applies starts around Clement Avenue and extends across Highway 97, with pockets between Sutherland Avenue, Rose Avenue and KLO Road.
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Since it was created in March 2017, there have been 20 home demolitions in the area, 17 development applications and 11 building permits, according to Moore, 鈥淚t鈥檚 a bit on track with what we anticipated 鈥� maybe a little bit higher because of the market 2017 to 2018 so we had a bit of a first-year bump,鈥� said Moore, adding somewhere between 10 and 15 permits a year would be a healthy level of growth.
While creating four homes where there once was one is not required 鈥� it could be two or three 鈥� Moore said that has been the preference of most who have decided to take advantage of the program.
What鈥檚 been more remarkable, however, is the format of the properties that have been cremated.
Some use a duplex and two single-family home model, others are fourplexes, and there have been four individual homes squeezed onto one property.
On Cadder, between Ethel and Richter streets, there鈥檚 an example of two of these different formats facing one another.
Throughout these neighbourhoods, apartment buildings and other density-rich housing projects are also going in. All of which are aimed at increasing the housing capacity of an ever-growing neighbourhood.
The population of the Central Okanagan grew 8.4 per cent between 2011 and 2016, with 194,882 people now living in the region.
Metropolitan 琉璃神社 was the sixth-fastest-growing region in Canada over the past five years. The growth rate between 2006 and 2011 was almost 11 per cent.
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