Quote:
Originally Posted by Horsell
The next big development, what will, or SHOULD, it be?
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The next big development should be affordable, high-density housing. This would be on the order of $800 POU for a two-bedroom apartment in a mid-rise building, and $1200 POU for a three-bedroom apartment or townhouse, not the luxury apartment buildings and seniors' residences that have been popular with developers lately. Northern Property REIT has been trying to get approval for some new buildings in existing subdivisions in St. John's, but the NIMBY's don't like them. A better option would be to build high-density housing on surplus municipal or provincial properties in walkable neighbourhoods in the city, such as site of the former Metrobus garage or some of the closed schools in St. John's.
A P3 development model, where the city or province leases land to the developer at no up-front cost, and the finished buildings include a mix of social housing and private-sector apartments (e.g. through a condo corporation with units owned by the city and private investors) could spur construction on the vacant properties and avoid the ghettoization seen in current NL Housing estates. There are a lot of people living in sub-standard housing in St. John's that would jump at the chance to move into a new, energy-efficient building with proper ventilation and good access to transit if they could get it for the prices I mentioned above. I'm one of them, having struggled with mould, high heating costs and assorted wildlife in every place I've rented in St. John's.