It may not appeal to every property owner, but land assemblies could be an avenue for sellers to get a decent price and for the city to add much needed housing.
They dot the real estate landscape in several Kelowna neighbourhoods. Realtor Clifford May has an assembly of seven properties at Richter Street and Rose Avenue a block from Kelowna General Hospital (KGH).
“There’s no denying we’re currently in a housing crisis,” May said. “We have a complete lack of housing available in areas with large employers and other pockets where retirement-aged individuals would love to see other options that allow them to downsize.”
May believes there is an increasing appetite for land assemblies from property owners and developers.
“We need the numbers to be economical so we can have a strategic exit for current owners to allow for the further development growth of the City of Kelowna. That way we have a proper economic entry strategy for developers.”
Homeowners getting together to build value in their properties, potentially making them more attractive to a developer, is occurring in locations where the city would like to see it happen according to Divisional Director of Planning and Development Services Ryan Smith.
“Close to the college, if you drive around some of those blocks…there is all sorts of land assembly in good spots. The more land for infill projects the easier it is to design a project to meet city bylaws. We don’t force land assemblies because sometimes property owners don’t want to sell.”
May notes that incentives for developers to build are also important, particularly for Kelowna’s rental market.
“Purpose-built rentals seem to be the most favourable,” he added. “They would yield probably a better solution to what we are experiencing.”
Smith said the city provides several incentives for purpose-built projects, covering density, height, parking and taxes. Other avenues are available through the provincial and federal government including the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
In 2023, the federal government introduced legislation to remove the GST on new purpose-built rental housing, such as apartment buildings, student housing, and senior residences built as long-term rentals.
“It takes multiple layered incentives to make even market rental projects happen in this environment,” Smith explained.
The rental market in Kelowna has been challenging over the past 20 years, with a persistent and severe shortage of purpose-built rental housing over that time according to the city’s Long Range Policy Planning Manager, James Moore.
“The best evidence of a healthy rental market is when your vacancy rate sits between three to five per cent,” he said. “We have hit that target once or twice in 20 years.”
He added that for the last 10 years, the vacancy rate has dropped below one per cent and sometimes fell to zero.
“In an under-supplied market, there are a lot of people fighting for very few units and prices go up. It also means people start making tough compromises about what they can afford to live in.”
Moore said supporting more purpose-built rental housing is a key priority for the city. As Kelowna grows, he expects there will be more land assemblies and similar development opportunities in the central areas of the city.
“That is a reality and much more common in cities that mature. Development starts to see the opportunities in existing areas and how important they are to the evolution of a healthy community.”
