BC B U S I N E SS OCTOB ER 2025 | 19 Renderings: Daniel Clarke Architect Inc.
the cost of land is too high."
Eventually, he typically hears back from
all of those groups that they're waiting and
pondering.
Everyone is looking at how to tinker with
the equation to make fourplexes work, but
it's tough. Land is slightly cheaper in the
outer suburbs, but then the rents or sales
prices are lower there, too, and that wrecks
the formula. Some enthusiasts think it would
help if slightly more square footage were
allowed per site. But then, Clarke says, that
just adds more $400-a-square-foot costs and
the need for buyers who can afford even
higher prices.
"A drop in land values might help but
construction costs ballooning would outpace
that," he says. Despite all those negatives,
there are some projects going ahead here
and there. Not a flood, for sure. Vancouver
leads the way with 517 applications, although
only 122 have had building permits issued
so far. Surrey has had 52 applications, 19 of
which have gotten permits. In Richmond: 28
applications since the provincial law came
into effect in June 2024. In Burnaby: 46 appli-
cations since then, with six actual permits
issued. The City of North Vancouver, which
is otherwise booming with new housing,
has had none.
It's nothing like the volume of laneway
homes that Vancouver has seen, and it's
certainly nowhere near enough to make
any kind of dent in the expected demand
for housing in B.C. That need was recently
Dollars and Cents:
What If You Built a
Multiplex Here?
We ran a typical detached home
in the 4200-block of Blenheim Street,
in Vancouver's Dunbar-Southlands,
through vanplex.ca (a cost simulator
by David Babakaiff) to estimate
potential multiplex profits.
Buildable area: 7,700 sq. ft.
Potential units: 6
Construction, permit and design cost:
$4,027,100
Estimated current value of location:
$2,982,000
Total interest and placement:
$414,124
Recommended price (per sq. ft.):
$1,303
Total sales revenue of 6 units (pre-tax):
$10,034,103
Realtor commissions: $301,023
Project profit: $5,083,956
Return on equity (per year): 40%
PRICE OF POTENTIAL
Architect Daniel Clarke's
renderings show what's
possible—if B.C. homeowners
can stomach today's
construction costs.
