Income from rental suites incorporated to a new condominium project in Vancouver offer mortgage help to families and affordable housing for young singles and seniors.
"It's been a long-time practice to build rental basement suites in houses, but suites in condos are a new idea."
Michael Geller, President of the UniverCity project at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, heard from disgruntled students who said that the new condos would only be affordable to high income residents. In response, the developer incorporated three-bedroom condos, with one of the bedrooms designed as a self-contained suite -- either to be rented out, or occupied by another family member who wanted some independence.
"Each 22.3-square-metre room has its own entrance off the main corridor, with a bed, bathroom and kitchen."
"Geller said the model could work around the Lower Mainland of B.C., where housing prices are among the highest in the country. 'The idea could apply everywhere,' he said. 'Lots of people would buy a three-bedroom apartment, if maybe they could rent out that third bedroom for a while, until such time as their household is big enough.'"
"SFU students, who had been living around the campus in basement suites, snapped up the units."
FULL STORY: Condos with "mortgage helpers" may be answer to Vancouver's housing crunch
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
New York City School Construction Authority
Village of Glen Ellyn
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions