A Vancouver-based developer is accusing the MLA for Port Moody–Coquitlam of trying to derail the city's largest-ever redevelopment project just as it heads to a public hearing for rezoning on Tuesday, Oct. 3.
Brad Jones, the senior vice-president of development for Wesgroup Properties, says a suggestion by Rick Glumac that the number of parking stalls being proposed in the redevelopment of the Coronation Park neighbourhood could be reduced to pay for the construction of affordable housing units is "disappointing," especially since an earlier proposal by the company for the 14.8-acre site had included 175 below-market rental units.
But, in 2021, councillors nixed those to rein in the project's density and keep the maximum height of its six condo towers to 31 storeys.
Glumac made his suggestion in a letter to Port Moody Mayor Meghan Lahti and council that was also copied to the Tri-City News.
He said providing more than 2,800 underground parking stalls for the 2,587 residential units in Wesgroup's plan seems a little rich given Coronation Park's proximity to the Inlet Centre SkyTrain station across Ioco Road.
"I have spoken to many young people and I know of so many families that are hoping to find homes that are affordable and close to transit so they can avoid the high cost of car ownership," Glumac said.
Instead, he added, Wesgroup has an "incredible opportunity" to shift construction costs for some of those parking stalls to build affordable housing and move Port Moody toward fulfilling a provincially-mandated requirement to provide 238 affordable below market rentals in the next five years. That number is part of an overall target of 1,674 units set for the city by BC Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon in an announcement on Tuesday, Sept. 26.
But in a rebuttal letter, Jones claimed the math isn't quite so simple.
He said the reduction of parking stalls doesn't result in a financial windfall equal to the value of those stalls multiplied by the construction costs of each one.
"Each stall is sold or rented with a home, which generates revenue that covers the cost of the stall," Jones said. "It's important to consider the impact of all variables together instead of changing just one."
As well, Jones added, reducing the amount of parking would create other cost pressures to conform to the project's transportation demand plan that the company developed with the city, like the purchase of additional car-share vehicles or transit passes for residents, further reducing the amount of money to fund affordable units.
And, the addition of those units could throw the project out of whack with Port Moody's official community plan for the neighbourhood, triggering the need to secure an amendment and cause more delays and expenses.
"Every month of delay for this site comes at a direct cost of over $780,000, meaning that every delay will directly take away from what can be provided in amenities."
Still, Glumac said, developers need to be mindful of the province's housing and affordability crisis.
"Opportunities like this are limited and should be carefully considered to ensure housing supply meets the full spectrum of housing needs."
Jones said Wesgroup is continuing its efforts to do just that as part of its plan for Coronation Park. He said the company has submitted a letter of intent to the city to work together to "explore options to add density and affordable housing to the site after the approval of rezoning, given the anticipated 15-year build-out of the community."
Jones said moving the project forward will also allow the company to explore funding opportunities for affordable housing units from senior levels of government.
"Many opportunities for government funding are not open for projects that have not achieve completion of rezoning," he said.
Moreover, Jones said, since the first residents wouldn't be expected to move into the redeveloped Coronation Park neighbourhood until late 2028 or early 2029, the project's residential units wouldn’t count toward the housing targets set by the provincial government anyway.
Rick Glumac's letter
Att: Mayor Lahti and Port Moody City Council,
Yesterday the province released its housing targets for the first 10 municipalities selected as part of the Housing Supply Act. The Province understands the importance of tackling the housing crisis and creating more opportunities for building housing, especially affordable housing, for the people of BC. Given the number of housing starts, development approvals and in-stream development applications, we recognize the city of Port Moody is already well on it’s way to meeting its overall target of 1694 units over the next 5 years. Importantly, this target is broken down to a number of different housing types including 238 affordable below market rentals.
The Coronation Park development is a major development application of 2,587 units being considered by the city for rezoning and currently does not include any affordable housing units. This large development also has over 2,800 parking stalls even though it’s located right next to Inlet Centre skytrain station. I am writing this letter to council to raise awareness of an incredible opportunity, as has been shown in many other transit hubs, to reduce the number of parking stalls in order to create more affordable housing, reduce emissions, and facilitate more walkable transit-oriented communities. I have spoken to many young people and I know of so many families that are hoping to find homes that are affordable and close to transit so that they can avoid the high cost of car ownership. Construction costs for building underground parking stalls could be shifted toward creating affordable housing and supporting meeting Port Moody’s affordable housing targets.
While expediency of housing approvals is critically important we also know that opportunities like this are limited and should be carefully considered to ensure housing supply meets the full spectrum of housing needs.
At the provincial level we are taking many steps to help make housing more affordable for all British Columbians and we know that in order to be successful we have to work together at all levels of government. We look forward to continuing to work together in this effort.
Sincerely,
Rick Glumac
MLA for Port Moody–Coquitlam
Brad Jones' letter
Mr. Glumac,
Just two days following the release of your government's housing targets under the Provincial Housing Supply Act, the letter you sent to the City of Port Moody outlining concerns with the redevelopment of Coronation Park came to us at Wesgroup as a surprise. Given your expressed interest in providing affordable housing for the community, I would have expected this letter from you in January 2021, when the previous City Council voted to eliminated 175 below-market rental units from an earlier version of this proposal.
As almost everyone in this community knows, the Evergreen Line opened in 2016 and this site has been underutilized since that time. Interestingly, the area surrounding Inlet Centre SkyTrain station is the only part on the entire Evergreen Line to experience a population decline between 2016 and 2021. During a period of significant growth in our Province and in Metro Vancouver, areas on the Evergreen Line grew at an average rate of 14%, yet Inlet Centre declined by 4.1%.
This redevelopment proposal on underutilized lands across from Inlet Centre SkyTrain has been under consideration by the City since late 2019. Wesgroup have made 12 appearances at Council and received dozens of different amendments driving plan modifications, predominately from the previous Council. The extensive public consultation to-date has yielded support from a significant majority of the community. What will be presented to the Community and Council on October 3rd is a proposal that conforms exactly to the City’s Official Community Plan (OCP) and all of its policies. As a long-term master plan, it is unlikely that it will contribute to the 5-year housing targets in the City of Port Moody, as we do not anticipate the first residents moving into the community until late 2028 or early 2029. Further, at the request of the City of Port Moody, Wesgroup submitted a Letter of Intent to work together to explore options to add density and affordable housing to the site after the approval of the rezoning, given the anticipated 15-year build- out of the community.
Throughout the OCP and Rezoning process, the proposal has undergone three independent, third-party financial analyses on the site specifically, in addition to a City-wide analyses. These analyses are part of the City process and have unequivocally confirmed that the project is not-only over-delivering amenities, but, in order to provide below-market housing, significantly more residential density would be needed to subsidize the associated costs. Since the time of those analyses, interest rates have doubled, and Metro Vancouver has introduced a new Development Cost Charge which will increase the cost to deliver this community by $35.1 million. To put this in perspective, if the financial analysis were conducted today, the project would not have the ability to deliver the $30.8 million in direct amenity contributions that are proposed.
The delivery of housing in our Province is at a breaking point with high interest rates, high construction cost, limited construction labour and growing government taxes, fees and charges which, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), can make up more than 20% of home construction costs. Approval timelines are of equal importance, which not only delay the supply of new housing to the market, but significantly increase housing costs. Every month of delay for this site comes at a direct cost of over $780,000, meaning that every delay will directly take away from what can be provided in amenities.
The idea presented in your letter to significantly reduce parking to create savings for affordable housing is one that was also presented by Councillor Lurbiecki just two weeks ago. While at face value, this seems like a simple savings to create affordable housing, it comes with many compilations.
First, the proposal currently complies with all City of Port Moody policies, including the Parking By-Law. The parking ratio for the project is below the amount directed by Policy, at a ratio of 1.2 spaces per unit. As part of this parking reduction, in working with City Staff we have added Transportation Demand Measures (TDM) including car share space, comprehensive cycling facilities, communication and way-finding strategies, and enhanced transit shelters. Further reductions in parking would require significant TDM measures to conform with OCP requirements which will erode the cost savings from eliminating parking. These may include purchasing multiple car share vehicles and pre-purchasing transit passes for residents. As the OCP has been adopted, any additional residential density for affordable housing by way of parking reductions would mean the project no longer conforms to City policy, causing an OCP amendment and further delays.
Second, though the project is proximate to Inlet Centre SkyTrain and many people will be able to commute throughout the region using rapid transit, that does not mean that those future residents will not have vehicles to get their children to activities or to enjoy the other parts of Metro Vancouver and B.C.
Third, the multiple independent financial analyses relied on what are currently above-market residential revenues and below-market construction costs. The reduction of 260 parking stalls does not result in the value of 260 multiplied by the construction cost of that stall. Each stall is sold or rented with a home, which generates revenue that covers the cost of the stall. In the delivery of housing, it’s important to consider the impact of all variables together instead of changing just one.
The fact that the MLA for our community is stepping in at this late juncture to propose alterations to a plan that aligns with City policy, complies with the Official Community Plan (OCP), and is consistent with Provincial policy is disappointing. This is a proposal that has been shaped by residents of Port Moody through significant public engagement and process over the past nearly four years. Wesgroup has been at the table working with the City of Port Moody since the beginning of this process.
Long-term master plans require trust, mutual understanding, open communication, collaboration, and partnership. If the City of Port Moody moves this project ahead, it will create many opportunities and benefits for the City. It will commence the delivery of a new community across the street from Inlet Centre SkyTrain, including a range of housing for ownership which exceeds the City requirements for family housing, in addition to rental and seniors rental housing. The project will deliver over $30 million in direct amenity contributions and will include a new 2.5 acre public park with 4 acres of total open space. Moving this forward allows the City and Wesgroup to work in partnership to explore funding opportunities to improve on the proposal. At this moment in time, Senior levels of government are looking for shovel-ready projects and many opportunities for government funding are not open for projects that have not achieved completion of the rezoning. By suggesting reconsideration of this application, it closes the door on many of those opportunities, further delays the delivery of housing and significantly increases overall costs due to those delays.
Wesgroup is one of the largest recipients of financing in Canada from CMHC through the Rental Construction Financing Initiative (RCFi). In our master planned communities at River District in Vancouver and Brewery District in New Westminster, we have been able to work with CMHC, after the initial approval of those communities, to convert what would have been predominately market condo housing to more than 1100 units of rental and affordable rental housing.
We have made every effort to bring a spirit of partnership and collaboration to our work in Port Moody and we hope that that will be reciprocated.
Thank you,
Brad Jones
SVP Development Wesgroup Properties
