SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES: Planning | Publications & Reports | Case Studies | Etude de Cas

• Acquiring & Renovating
• Converting Non-Residential
  

• Increasing Density
  
• Redeveloping Sites

The development of underutilized urban land is an important aspect of sustainable community planning. Sustainable principles maintain community livability by incorporating life cycle strategies that support improvements to urban environmental quality while realizing economic and social benefits. The Sustainable Communities Feature provides information on sustainable solutions, encourages the revitalization of central cores, identifies best practices and approaches in urban environmental management and economic development, promotes affordable, healthy housing, and showcases success stories.

CMHC's Affordable Housing Centre provides strategies for Redevelopment and Renovation that illustrate how redesign and reuse of buildings and communities can be used to provide affordable housing.

Visit the CMHC website for more information on:

• How the Strategies Work
  
• Advantages and Issues
  
• Effectiveness
  
• Case Studies
  
• Sources of Information

Acquiring and renovating housing is often a cost-effective strategy of providing affordable housing saving up to 40% of the cost of new construction. Acquisition and renovation is also useful sometimes for increasing affordable ownership opportunities in cities where house prices are relatively low and where inner city areas are experiencing social and physical decline.

In Canada acquisition and renovating apartment buildings for affordable rental housing has been used most frequently in Québec City and Montréal but to a lesser extent in other parts of the country. Acquisition and renovating single detached housing to provide affordable ownership opportunities is being used in cities such as Winnipeg, Manitoba, and in Saskatoon and Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. In such areas, increasing opportunities for home ownership stabilizes local neighbourhoods and provides opportunities for skills development and training.

Converting Non-Residential Buildings

Converting non-residential buildings involves the adaptive reuse of surplus or outmoded buildings such as old schools, hospitals, inns or warehouses into affordable housing. Converting non-residential buildings is often more affordable than constructing new housing because the building shell is already in place, the building is already serviced and there is usually less neighbourhood resistance. Also, because they often have higher ceilings, non-residential buildings allow for greater flexibility in unit layout. Converting non-residential buildings can decrease costs by 5 – 15% and, in some cases, more.

Increasing Density on Under-Utilized Sites

Another way to make better use of a built-up site is to add onto or modify the existing building. Buildings can be divided into different units or additions may be added. One type of adding to an existing building has considerable potential in built-up urban areas and is sometimes referred to as a “main street” approach. This third approach adds residential floors above ground level commercial space.

In each of these approaches lower land and service costs contributed to housing affordability. Moreover, each of these approaches benefits the municipality by making better use of existing infrastructure and public transportation nodes, as well as increasing the assessment base with little or no capital outlay.

Redeveloping Sites

Former industrial or commercial land, brownfields, vacant lots,surplus government owned land, demolition and redevelopment, as well as foreclosed, blighted or properties owing back taxes, all present opportunities to redevelop sites.

Redeveloping sites enables the provision of affordable housing because of the increased density and the use of existing infrastructure. Redevelopment can range in size from one or two units on the site of a former dwelling to many hundreds of units on former industrial lands.

• Case Study #1: CityPlaces Project (Hamilton, Ontario)

• Case Study #2: Redevelopment of the Angus Site (Montréal, Quebec)

• Case Study #3: Les Lofts du Pont (Montréal, Quebec)