Parkbridge wants to build a new subdivision in Thorold South and they claim their business model is the key to solving the current housing crisis.
Land leasing is a form of home ownership where Parkbridge leases the land of the home to the homeowner, who is expected to make a monthly payment to Parkbridge, separate from their mortgage.
During Tuesday’s city council meeting, representatives of Parkbridge gave a presentation on the project.
“This is just an evolution of home ownership that should be growing in this country,” explained Parkbridge’s Vice-President of Development, Jeff Marshall. “Especially in this housing crisis, we think we got one of the solutions to it.”
Parkbridge operates over 100 similar communities all across Canada.
The proposed subdivision in Thorold South is located on Upper’s Lane and would consist of 603 units: 186 single detached dwellings and 417 townhomes.
The new neighbourhood would also come with a 1.4 ha park and a protected natural heritage site of 11 ha.
While councillors shared their enthusiasm about the possibility of more affordable housing in Thorold, they had questions about the actual price point of the units.
“You’re generally going to find that the purchase price is 25 to 30 per cent less because you’re essentially not buying the land,” answered Marshall. “If you’re a first time home buyer you don’t have to come up with that whole down payment so that’s why I like to say this is sort of a bridge between rental and freehold ownership.”
While the homeowners wouldn’t own the land their house is situated on, they could still make gains through their investment in the property itself.
“You own that home and any of that gain on equity is also yours as well, so typically our demographic is young families, first time home buyers and also a senior demographic,” said Marshall. “We tend to be more on the modest side of product type. Our homes are going to be in the range of 1,400 square feet to maybe 2,000.”
Marshall added that Parkbridge keeps investing in their communities, long after they’re built, since they still own the land.
“We as Parkbridge are here to stay,” he said.
But before the proposed subdivision can be built, there need to be a few zoning changes, which is why the project was presented to city council.
A current point of contention is the cost-sharing agreement for existing infrastructure that Parkbridge would have to enter in with the owner of the development next door.
Marshall said that the other party hasn’t been responsive, which is why Parkbridge wants City Hall to waive the contingency of a cost-sharing agreement before signing off on the necessary zoning changes.
“Parkbridge is here to pay its appropriate amount of shared costs,” Marshall said. “It’s just the method we go about that.”
Because Parkbridge also owns a plot of land next to the one up for zoning, they also intend to offer units without land leasing.
“Land lease is our core business but getting into a community of this size in this area we probably will be looking at a mixture of some freehold, some land lease and some type of condo townhouse projects,” said Marshall.
A report on the necessary zoning changes will come to council for approval at a later date.
