When the City of Toronto approved policy and zoning changes to allow four-unit multiplexes in residential areas last year, the goal was to expedite construction and bring more diverse housing types to market.
LandLord Property & Rental Management Inc. — a boutique company offering property management, real estate and design build services in the GTA since 1995 — is embracing the decision.
“I think it’s the way to go,” said LandLord Renovations & Design Build director Gotham C. “NIMBYism (not in my backyard) might have been well-suited for the culture 15, 20 or 30 years ago, but I think the culture right now is people are finding it hard to find a place to live.”
LandLord has invested in multiplexes since 2017, tearing down older single family bungalows in mature neighbourhoods and replacing them with modern, multi-unit rental properties. Now that the new height restriction allows three storeys, the company is getting creative with a concept that allows for four two-level apartments to be built in one structure. It has also abandoned one-bedroom rentals and is focusing on two bedrooms plus den or three bedrooms only.
As Gotham described, the idea is to divide a building in half vertically, allowing each of the four units to occupy two levels. Two apartments provide an open concept living area on the ground floor with three bedrooms located on a lower basement level. The remaining two apartments provide a main living area on the second floor with bedrooms located on the third floor.
All four units are accessed from the same entry landing which is just steps from the driveway and parking.
“It’s a very popular model because no one is walking ‘on top of each other’ while they are sleeping,” he said, noting that the company relies on feedback from tenants to refine its designs.
The company’s model is also good for investors. They handle all steps of the transition from single family dwelling to multiplex, from identifying opportunities, negotiating a purchase and coming up with a design, to acquiring all necessary permits and coordinating construction. Clients also sign on for property management services, relying on LandLord to professionally lease and maintain their rentals once completed.
According to Gotham, LandLord conducted four multiplex transitions last year and already has five on the books for this year. He said the model is working for both tenants and investors, but believes there’s room to improve the timeline by addressing bottlenecks related to permits, utility hook ups and building examinations.
“It’s a good sign that there is relative acceptance in the general population,” he said. “Now they need people from the community of builders, planners and design build companies to have a symposium, to ask, ‘What are the problems? How can we narrow this down? How do we get more fourplexes in the ground?’”
Originally Published In Toronto Sun By Dianne Daniel : Making Room For Multiplexes
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