Coquitlam is on pace to almost double the number of purpose-built rental units in the municipality, a feat planning staff attribute to the success of the city's Housing Affordability Strategy.
Andrew Merrill, manager of community planning, told council this week there are currently 3,600 rental units at various stages of the approval process compared to 3,700 units of existing rental stock.
"If all the rental units… come to fruition," he said, "we would double the purpose-built rental in Coquitlam."
He added the city currently has 1,350 non-profit and co-op units — below-market housing — which is expected to increase by 41% based on projects in the development pipeline.
During a committee meeting, city staff took issue with an article in The Vancouver Sun stating 767 rental apartments have been lost to demolition in Coquitlam over the last three years. The figure was also cited in a letter to the editor published on The Tri-City News' website.
The actual number of demolitions during that time frame is 417, according to Merrill, and they represent about 11% of the city's rental stock.
He also said most of the demolitions are clearing the way for new developments that will more than replace the lost rental units. For example, Cressey recently knocked down 100 units in the Austin Heights area for a development that will include 200 new rental apartments.
Merrill said the city's housing affordability strategy and an increasing desire for institutional developers to build rental properties means the lost units are being replaced at an exponential rate.
"Our policies and incentives were ready at the right time to capture this change in the housing market," he said.
Still, city staff acknowledged that many of the proposed purpose-built rental units are tied to strata projects that, in the face of an uncertain real estate market, may not be immediately built. For instance, Townline recently confirmed to The Tri-City News it would be temporarily postponing the sales launch of its Meridian project on Clarke Road in Burquitlam, putting the brakes on the 54 purpose-built rentals and nine below-market rentals included in the 38-storey development.
Nearby, Ledingham McAllister is also reportedly postponing the pre-sales launch for its tower, which includes 105 purpose-built rentals and 15 below- or non-market rentals.
Of the 3,600 purpose-built rental units, only 345 units are in standalone rental projects, or about 10% of the total, Merrill said. But he said he has heard more applicants have started putting forward projects that are 100% rental projects.
Jim McIntyre, Coquitlam's general manager of planning and development, told council Monday that while the market is slowing, many of the developers with projects approved want to be ready when things turn around.
Despite media reports about developers postponing their projects, nothing has been communicated to city staff, he added. He told council developers want to move their projects "forward to a point" so that they are "launch-ready" when the market picks up.
