McMaster Graduate Student Residence | ? | 31 & 10 fl | Complete

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by TheHonestMaple

yep. That area of downtown is a shitshow. We need police to enforce the law. Whatever happened to that idea?

I can't pretend to know what the solution is, but I have to imagine that a stronger police presence would be a small step in the right direction.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by TheHonestMaple

yep. That area of downtown is a shitshow. We need police to enforce the law. Whatever happened to that idea?

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/7443c07...1-53d6bc5dc350


I think we need the provincial and federal governments to step in and acknowledge that this isn't a city problem, and work on solutions (there won't be a magic bullet, but perhaps an array of policies and funding streams may help)

It's a widespread issue across all provinces in the nation. Hamilton is exemplary, but hardly unique.

[TheHonestMaple]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/7443c07...1-53d6bc5dc350


I think we need the provincial and federal governments to step in and acknowledge that this isn't a city problem, and work on solutions (there won't be a magic bullet, but perhaps an array of policies and funding streams may help)

It's a widespread issue across all provinces in the nation. Hamilton is exemplary, but hardly unique.

I agree. Can't wait for the Conservatives to get elected federally. They've made it quite clear that the drug/homeless crisis is a top priority for them.

[downtown_eddie_brown]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/7443c07...1-53d6bc5dc350


I think we need the provincial and federal governments to step in and acknowledge that this isn't a city problem, and work on solutions (there won't be a magic bullet, but perhaps an array of policies and funding streams may help)

It's a widespread issue across all provinces in the nation. Hamilton is exemplary, but hardly unique.

Since the problem fundamentally stems from the cost of housing being egregiously out of whack with wages in this country, I don't know how any problem could address homelessness long-term without a massive investment in affordable housing (to the extent that it actually has knock-on effects to make market-priced housing cheaper) or, worse, a complete housing crash to knock prices back to mid-2000's levels.

One of the reasons Hamilton became a regional hub for people on the margins was that comparatively cheap housing could be found. This led to a clustering of social and addictions services, and because of the lower-city/upper-city divide they're all clustered in the core instead of spread around the City.

Even with a tough love approach, without affordable places for people making minimum wage to live, very few people will be able to pull themselves up by their bootstraps into some semblance of an independent life. I don't see any solutions that wouldn't be massively expensive.

[ScreamingViking]

Apparently the water problem is no longer one.
https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...bfeed181f.html

A recent water-quality issue at a downtown residence building has been resolved, McMaster University says.

Results from the latest round of testing, which followed findings of total coliform bacteria in two unoccupied apartments, came back clean, university spokesperson Wade Hemsworth said.

Water contamination has been a recurring problem at 10 Bay St. S. since about a dozen floors were opened in the partially built residence last September. Construction is now complete, and the university hopes that more tenants running taps and flushing toilets will better circulate fresh water through the plumbing system.

[Chronamut]

Originally Posted by downtown_eddie_brown

Since the problem fundamentally stems from the cost of housing being egregiously out of whack with wages in this country, I don't know how any problem could address homelessness long-term without a massive investment in affordable housing (to the extent that it actually has knock-on effects to make market-priced housing cheaper) or, worse, a complete housing crash to knock prices back to mid-2000's levels.

One of the reasons Hamilton became a regional hub for people on the margins was that comparatively cheap housing could be found. This led to a clustering of social and addictions services, and because of the lower-city/upper-city divide they're all clustered in the core instead of spread around the City.

Even with a tough love approach, without affordable places for people making minimum wage to live, very few people will be able to pull themselves up by their bootstraps into some semblance of an independent life. I don't see any solutions that wouldn't be massively expensive.

Wait why would a housing crash be WORSE? Boo-hoo people selling houses get less money..

we NEED a crash.. everywhere.

The question becomes... what's the minimum you can sell a house for and still profit? How much of this is gravy on top of a house's ACTUAL value? Why do things have to cost as much as they do, esp existing houses? It's not like you're factoring in the cost it made to build it like lumber etc. If it was refurbished, then maybe the cots of materials used could play a role.. but enough to make it a million dollars? There is no excuse for that..

[TheHonestMaple]

That is a very basic understanding of economics if you think a housing crash is a good thing. Housing will be the last thing on your mind if housing prices crash - because it will literally mean that people aren't able to pay their mortgages so the supply of houses dramatically increases. If people aren't able to pay their mortgage its because they've lost their jobs. If they lost their jobs.... well you get it.

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by Chronamut

Wait why would a housing crash be WORSE? Boo-hoo people selling houses get less money..

we NEED a crash.. everywhere.

The question becomes... what's the minimum you can sell a house for and still profit? How much of this is gravy on top of a house's ACTUAL value? Why do things have to cost as much as they do, esp existing houses? It's not like you're factoring in the cost it made to build it like lumber etc. If it was refurbished, then maybe the cots of materials used could play a role.. but enough to make it a million dollars? There is no excuse for that..

A house's actual value is whatever someone will pay for it.

[downtown_eddie_brown]

Originally Posted by BCTed

A house's actual value is whatever someone will pay for it.

The commodity value of a house is whatever its rental income is over the course of a home's lifetime, which could be a couple hundred years. In this sense, the housing market is still criminally undervalued, and has plenty of room to grow as rental companies build their portfolios.

The problem is that this investment value is completely decoupled from a home's notional utility value, which is a place for the owner and their family to live in.

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by downtown_eddie_brown

The commodity value of a house is whatever its rental income is over the course of a home's lifetime, which could be a couple hundred years. In this sense, the housing market is still criminally undervalued, and has plenty of room to grow as rental companies build their portfolios.

The problem is that this investment value is completely decoupled from a home's notional utility value, which is a place for the owner and their family to live in.

I am not sure what you are saying. If this lifetime rental value could be realized, then it would ultimately be reflected in selling prices.

Rental income is tempered by maintenance costs and property taxes and financing costs and opportunity costs for time spent and needs to be discounted for time value, unless you are assuming that rental rates will keep up with inflation/discount rates indefinitely. I am not sure that that adds up to "criminally undervalued".

[downtown_eddie_brown]

Originally Posted by BCTed

I am not sure what you are saying. If this lifetime rental value could be realized, then it would ultimately be reflected in selling prices.

Rental income is tempered by maintenance costs and property taxes and financing costs and opportunity costs for time spent and needs to be discounted for time value, unless you are assuming that rental rates will keep up with inflation/discount rates indefinitely. I am not sure that that adds up to "criminally undervalued".

The lifetime rental value can still be realized with time, but the ability to buy a home needs to move beyond the reach of most people first. Once people are broadly forced into renting, with no other options, and no ability to save a sufficient down payment to purchase property, the sky becomes the limit for rental prices, and maintenance costs and property taxes can easily be passed on to tenants.

[drpgq]

More problems plague downtown McMaster residence

https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...1d0b96ffa.html

Problems persist at a downtown McMaster University residence where tenants spent about a week without air conditioning in mid-August heat.

Since the 10 Bay St. S. building opened last September, tenants have been plagued with water-quality issues, privacy concerns and other construction-related problems, which at one point forced students to temporarily move out while the university flushed the building’s plumbing.

The latest is a week of hot rooms as the “main chiller,” which is responsible for cooling the building’s suites, underwent repairs, reads an Aug. 13 letter to tenants obtained by The Spectator.

...


The university has struggled to fill the building’s approximately 600 beds.

The Bay Street South residence is expected to be more than 45 per cent occupied in September, up from 40 per cent estimated in July.

“We are encouraged by the interest from prospective tenants,” Donovan said.

Still, amid an ongoing housing crisis, more than half of the building’s suites, priced between $1,416 and $2,126 for a shared or private unit of around 500 square feet, are expected to be unoccupied.

The university has been working to attract tenants through marketing and by opening up eligibility to students at all levels, as well as faculty and staff.

Mac and their partners really overestimated what the market would bear for these units.

[Chronamut]

Originally Posted by TheHonestMaple

That is a very basic understanding of economics if you think a housing crash is a good thing. Housing will be the last thing on your mind if housing prices crash - because it will literally mean that people aren't able to pay their mortgages so the supply of houses dramatically increases. If people aren't able to pay their mortgage its because they've lost their jobs. If they lost their jobs.... well you get it.

Alright fine, but we can definitely have a lowering of the market - there is no reason a house has to cost a million dollars. Yes people somewhere will pay it - but still. I feel it should reflect the average income in the region, should it not? I've never bought a house, so I am admittedly ignorant on this subject. I am just curious.

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by Chronamut

Alright fine, but we can definitely have a lowering of the market - there is no reason a house has to cost a million dollars. Yes people somewhere will pay it - but still. I feel it should reflect the average income in the region, should it not? I've never bought a house, so I am admittedly ignorant on this subject. I am just curious.

Nobody pegs home prices to a certain level. Sellers sell homes for the prices they can get.

Nobody can consciously lower prices. If demand weakens and/or supply increases, housing prices can go down.

[jonny24]

Originally Posted by Chronamut

Alright fine, but we can definitely have a lowering of the market - there is no reason a house has to cost a million dollars. Yes people somewhere will pay it - but still. I feel it should reflect the average income in the region, should it not? I've never bought a house, so I am admittedly ignorant on this subject. I am just curious.

Lowering or softening is very different from "crash".

The cost to build new houses broadly sets a lower end in the market. If you can build one for say $400k in cost and sell it for $500k (adjust profit as you imagine is reasonable, but there must be profit for the business to continue).

Then, the equivalent "used" house, in good condition, will be worth around the same amount, because people are willing to pay $500k for that equivalent new house and there aren't enough new houses. Maybe it's $450k because it's not NEW new, but it's not $250k. If it's beat up and needs a lot work then that gets reflected, but it's not like used cars where it plummets due to age.

But if the market, as defined as what people are willing/able to pay, is truly $250, and the cost to build is truly $400k.... then no new houses get built.

[SteelTown]

Tour McMaster’s newest residence

https://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/articl...est-residence/

[Innsertnamehere]

love the view in that last shot!

[Berklon]

Those are renders, aren't they? I suspect the view of the water is closer in the picture than it is in reality.

[ScreamingViking]

Hopefully they host an "open house" at some point.

I'd love to see some of these spaces first-hand.

[BCTed]

Is there a (rendered) guy in blue jogging on the rooftop in that first pic? How far can he jog?