By Brigette Choiselat
From the front, the Bennett home looks like any other three-story heritage house, but at the back and up the curving stairs is where traditional and modern meet.
After four months of work, the drastic renovations to this Centretown house are almost complete and the owners say they couldn’t be happier.
“We actually feel that we’d do it again,”says Jack Bennett (not his real name), 48. “We’re happy with the construction, and the results are actually better than we had envisioned.”
Contractors raised the roof and added a third floor to create an open, loft-like atmosphere for a master bedroom with an ensuite that is trimmed with gold and glass and offset with a balcony that overlooks the backyard. The Bennett’s also completely redid the second floor which now features a large bedroom, family room and library. Behind two French doors, a small alcove with a double bed has added a comfortable getaway for guests.
The Bennett’s are just one of Ottawa’s approximately 130,000 homeowners opting to renovate or repair their house rather than move. Additions and other projects are particularly popular in Centretown as residents look to suit their space needs without moving.
“I think that’s the case with a lot of people in Centretown,” says Grant Matthew, the Bennett’s planning and design consultant. “Not everybody wants to leave the location, but sometimes they outgrow the house.”
The Bennetts decided to renovate so Laura Bennett’s mother could move in. They were encouraged by the other renovations they saw in their neighbourhood and didn’t want to leave the conveniences of downtown.
Current Centretown residents aren’t alone in wanting to live downtown. A growing number of people are looking for a home that’s close to urban amenities and night life. Because of this increased popularity, Centretown’s population is growing and developers can’t start new projects fast enough.
According to the 1996 census, approximately 26,300 people live in the area, seven per cent more than 1991, and the figures appear to be growing. “Certainly, in the last three to four years we’ve seen people return to the downtown,” says Richard Lee, executive director of the Ottawa-Carleton Home Builders Association.
“The switch has happened now,” says Lee, explaining that until recently, new home spending had always exceeded renovation spending. “People are choosing to renovate and remain where they are.”
In 1998, national spending in residential alterations and improvements increased by 3.1 per cent, to $15.9 billion, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
However, new home development remains much higher than that of rental housing. Alain Miguelez, a market analyst for the CMHC, says that 98 per cent of current housing starts in Ottawa are for private owners while just two per cent are for rental units.
“That’s a striking figure because it means two things: that the city is appealing to owners a lot more, but secondly, that the rental market is really not being catered to at all.”
Lee attributes the low rate to developers choosing not to build rental units in Ottawa, especially in Centretown where building space is limited. He estimates that only 10 to 20 rental units were built in the city last year because of “inequities in the tax system.”
“Everywhere you turn, rental construction seems to be penalized,” says Lee, pointing out that the property taxes are two to three times higher and GST is two and a half per cent higher for builders of highrise rental buildings compared to those for condominiums.
Lee says that because of these barriers, developers would have to charge a lot more rent for units than tenants would be willing to pay.
So, he says, developers are building condominiums instead of rentals.
Stan Wilder, senior housing policy officer with the City of Ottawa agrees.
“Although rental, highrise housing remains the predominant form of housing, there has been a dramatic shift toward ownership housing, either through new development or through conversions.”
Six new housing projects have started or been proposed in 1999 in Centretown, a total of less than 100 additional units.
Wilder says that new development has mainly brought about townhouses that are individually owned, such as Kent Mews which is being built by Claridge Homes at the corner of Cooper and Kent streets.
“There is definitely a strong market for that product,” says Paul Rothwell, general manager at Claridge. However, he says that finding property to build on is becoming more and more difficult.
One option that has been discussed in Ottawa recently is to create rental apartments on top of commercial buildings, such as stores on Sparks Street. Also, a growing practice is the conversion of non-residential properties, such as parking lots or old factories, into residential buildings. Domicile Developments is currently constructing industrial-style lofts at Studio Argyle on Argyle Street and 95 Beech Street Ltd. is constructing warehouse lofts just off Preston Street – both sold out quickly.
The real estate market is also booming in Ottawa, with sales agents saying that homes are selling a lot quicker and at a higher price than in the past.
“I think that there is confidence enough in real estate today that people are renovating homes but they’re also looking at buying bigger [homes] and moving back into Centretown,” says Realtor Bill Renaud.
Renaud himself recently bought a house on McLeod Street which is undergoing extensive renovations. He has lived in Centretown, Kanata and the Glebe but decided to move back to Centretown for the downtown lifestyle.
“It’s a great area to live in,” he says.