This article was posted by rt o891 earlier today on SSC!
Greenbelt restrictions in the Golden Horseshoe Help Create A New Balance Of Development; Niagara Falls Poised For Growth
Lisa Van De Ven, National Post
Published: Saturday, December 02, 2006
Tourists come for a day to take in the falls. Others drive past on their way to the border. But for many, Niagara Falls isn't just a place to bring foreign visitors or to stop for a quick bet at the casinos -- it's a place to live, maybe a place to retire.
In fact, the city's new-home market is booming, as homebuyers move farther out of the Toronto area. And Niagara Falls is taking advantage of that interest. The city, as the mayor will say, is going through a "renaissance," with an emerging part-time recreational ownership market; and there are plans to revitalize the downtown core. In some ways, it's even becoming a bedroom community for Toronto and its western neighbours.
"For many years, it's had negative growth because our young people--after they would graduate from university -- would go off to other cities to practise their professions," says Niagara Falls Mayor Ted Salci. "Now it's reversing, where we're getting people."
All of which has led to a more sophisticated market, with a range of products that includes traditional low-rise affordable homes servicing commuters and locals, as well as more high-end houses for the casino and hotel bigwigs, and even a new residential condominium tower attracting both retirees moving into the region and investors looking to capitalize on its growth.
"It's turning into a real destination, not just for tourists, but we think for people who want to live there and make it their home," says J. Marc Baronette, director of business development for O.R.E. Development Corp.
O.R.E. is developing a 29-storey condominium building on the Niagara River. It's the first condo
tower in Niagara Falls in about 20 years, Mr. Baronette says, and the developer is already seeing a varied group of potential buyers visit the site: about 10% to 15% locals, with others from Toronto, Montreal and as far off as Asia.
"There will be an investor market," he says, "and some retirees or close to retirees, or people who just want to get out of their house and get into a condo lifestyle."
There'll also be a component of recreational buyers, he says, as people look for an alternative to Muskoka or Collingwood.
The part-time segment of the market is growing throughout the Niagara Falls area, says Dan Hendriks, president of the Niagara Home Builders' Association and construction manager for local low-rise developer Mountainview Homes.
"You can get yourself a nice home for half the price of what you pay in Muskoka," Mr. Hendriks says. "That's an interesting market that has sprung up and tourism has obviously played a big part in that, because of golf courses and wineries and so on."
Affordability is what has driven many components of the Niagara Falls market, from the part-time recreational segment to the first-time buyers and retirees. The mayor (himself a former real-estate broker), pegs the average house price at about $180,000 and says it's that affordability
that has made Niagara Falls an alternative to areas nearer Toronto. Retirees can cash in their Toronto home and move to the Niagara area with a nest egg left over, and first-time buyers or young families will make the commute to Hamilton or even Toronto. With land for new development in other areas running out, the Niagara region is becoming more popular.
"Some greenbelt legislation introduced recently prohibited a lot of development in the Lincoln/ Grimsby area, and that is forcing development south of us," says Mr. Salci. "We have thousands of acres of land in terms of potential housing supply. Combine that with our affordability and we're in an ideal position. We're really poised for growth."
The municipality is working to revitalize its downtown, teaming up with developer Historic Niagara, which has committed $100- million to developing the Queen Street downtown district. Council, meanwhile, has committed a $35-million capital budget to improve the streetscapes and other public portions of the project.
It's something that will be seen as a welcome change for some of the city's population, as the residential component begins to balance the tourist component. Currently, says Bruce Barber -- longtime Niagara Falls resident and president of Barber Homes Ltd. --homebuyers are moving out of the old downtown, to live in the outskirts of the city. "It's starting to lose some of its appeal as an old town," he says.
But the new plan, as envisioned, will bring about 1,800 new residential units downtown. The result will be a mixed-use city core that feeds Niagara Falls's residential growth.
"We're taking Niagara Falls to another level," the mayor says.