own words, “raise the bar on
design and architecture in the
city and provide the highest
quality of development for
each project?”
“We have to be creative and
we have to look at opportuni-
ties that we haven’t focused
on before… We have to look
at sites that are ‘brownfield’
sites and we have to access
areas that are in transition…
There are derelict or vacant
blocks where there could be
an opportunity… Another fo-
cus is also smaller infill sites
along avenues accessible by
public transit and wood frame
structures as a more afford-
able form of housing. That’s
where I see the next wave of
development happening for
our industry.”
Bob believes that one of the
key housing market products
of the future of the city is in
“stacked, urban town-hous-
ing projects.” which are in de-
mand by “end-users.”
“There is a very strong de-
mand for that type of housing
for a few reasons. There is an
affordability factor. There are
cost savings in construction
to build wood-frame housing
over traditional condo con-
crete forms. Also, the turn-
around in delivering the prod-
uct is much quicker than the
cycle of a condominium, es-
pecially a tall condominium.
You can build them in phas-
es making them easier to fi-
nance… The affordability fac-
tor in dealing with things like
the city’s development charg-
es has been a challenge, but I
think that’s the next wave we
are looking at, and I think the
industry at large is looking at,
is sites of mid-rise housing.”
DECEMBER 2013
H
business elite canada
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