Quote:
Originally Posted by waterloowarrior
My understanding is that the problem with highrise costs in the suburbs is while there is some savings in land in suburbs vs core, land is a relatively small component of high rise development costs when compared to construction costs and soft costs.... construction costs, consultants, development fees, in core vs suburbs will be quite similar, although for a downtown site there are issues with neighbours, using streets/sidewalks etc....
People expect a lower price due to the availability of cheap lowrise housing nearby, and don't want to pay downtown prices for something in Orleans or Barrhaven... so developers may do higher quality in order to increase their margins and/or appeal to a certain demographic.
There's also a higher risk for the developer... it's harder to market condo living in the suburbs, since people are giving up the space and comforts of detached living but not getting the shops, entertainment, and restaurants of Westboro or the Byward Market. A townhouse can be a much better value for money, especially for a family. The condos in the suburbs will take longer to sell than Westboro or the Market, and if many are unsold when registered it will add more costs and decrease the developer's returns.
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Good analysis, but I think that the main draw for aging boomers who have spent their working lives in a place like Orleans is proximity to grandkids*. This generally trumps all of the urbane pursuits you mentioned and which are appealing to people like SSP forumers.
Yes, I think the Brigil towers are very expensive by Orleans (and general Ottawa suburban) standards but there are more than enough fish in the sea in Orleans to fill them out... eventually.
*For an altogether unexciting suburban area, Orleans has a staggeringly high retention rate of its young people who grew up there and who settle there as young adults. I would estimate that upwards of 80% of the people I went to high school with are still living in Orleans as adults. When we have reunions, it's almost as if there was something wrong with you if you've settled in Kanata, downtown Ottawa, Gatineau, Montreal, London, Toronto, Paris, Boston or Tokyo instead of Orleans.