Quote:
Originally Posted by Vin
Onni has contributed to two daycare centres in this neighbourhood: Not bad for a company with bad rep.
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That wasn't pure altruism, though.
When they build out a day care on-site as part of their project, it is a highly efficient way to minimize the out-of-pocket cost of their CAC (in-kind vs cash-in-lieu). They are already hiring architects, engineers, general contractors, etc., and building out a daycare as part of the project just becomes part of those subs' briefs, as opposed to a discrete project led by the City with new RFPs for everything and few, if any, efficiencies.
Furthermore, the materials cost associated with building out the shell (the operator would finish and furnish and bear the cost of accreditation/permitting) are minimal and the project is already buying concrete, rebar, etc., so it's really a tiny incremental cost. Finally, the amenity's FSR/FAR doesn't "count" towards the overall project's buildable area, if I'm not mistaken, making it "free" with respect to the project's overall FSR/FAR budget.
Day cares are a pretty good choice for an on-site amenity since, while highly regulated, they have comparatively few hard costs associated with them (minimal plumbing, electrical, and acoustic costs vs, say, non-market housing). They have predictable diurnal activity cycles with generally limited negative externalities affecting residents (they operate primarily while people are away from home at work and school). They also have minimal parking requirements due to low staff numbers and kids' well-established propensity to not own cars, though it can be complicated to develop functional short-term parking for drop-off/pick-up and vehicular circulation and dwell space is already at a premium in the areas where a developer like Onni is likely to be building a project that yields enough CACs to build out an on-site amenity like a day care.
An amenity like a day care also adds value to the building and the neighbourhood, potentially commanding a small premium on sale prices and rental rates. At the very least it won't hurt psf sale and lease prices vs what the market would consider less desirable amenities, like non-market housing.
Lastly, if the day care(s) are built off-site utilizing CAC money, the City will have done so using pooled cash-in-lieu CACs from several rezonings. Onni's, and all developer's, cash-in-lieu CAC dollars are allocated into several the amenity budgets (affordable housing, day cares, etc.) for that geographic area and while a project's rezoning CACs may be the final top-up needed to trigger development of a public amenity, there isn't necessarily the direct corollary that "project X paid for amenity Y" when it is not delivered on-site in-kind.
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