How We Evaluate Whether a Multiplex Project Is Worth Doing

Not every lot should be developed. That is an unpopular thing for a developer to say, but it is the most useful thing we can tell a landowner at the start of a conversation.

Before we commit to a project, we work through a feasibility review. It is a structured way of answering one question: does this site support a building that is worth the time, capital, and risk it will take to deliver. Four areas drive that answer.

1. Location

Location sets the ceiling on everything else. Two lots with identical zoning in different neighbourhoods can produce very different projects.

What we look at:

• Proximity to frequent transit, which in BC can also change how many units a lot is allowed to have under the frequent transit area rules
• Schools, shops, parks, and the daily conveniences that determine who wants to live there
• The character of the block and what has already been built or approved nearby
• Whether there is genuine demand for the kind of homes the site would produce, whether that is family sized ground oriented units or smaller rental homes
• Street orientation, corner exposure, lane access, and how a building would sit on the block

A well located lot forgives a lot of small problems. A poorly located one rarely gets rescued by good design.

2. Zoning and what the site legally permits

Zoning determines what can be built without a rezoning, and that distinction matters enormously to a project's timeline.

Since Bill 44, most standard residential lots in Metro Vancouver allow three to six homes without rezoning. We covered the legislation in SSMUH explained. But the provincial floor is only the starting point. What actually gets built is governed by the local bylaw: setbacks, height, floor area ratio, site coverage, parking, and tree protection. Vancouver's R1-1, Burnaby's SSMUH rules, and Richmond's RSM all read differently.

In practice we are testing three things:

• How many units the lot can realistically hold once setbacks, height, and floor area limits are applied, not how many the bylaw theoretically allows
• Whether the project can proceed under existing zoning or would need a rezoning, which is a very different timeline
• Whether site specific constraints such as trees, easements, or slope reduce the buildable area

A designer's early massing study is what turns bylaw text into a real unit count. Until that exists, any number is a guess.

3. Construction cost

This is where projects most often come apart, and where four decades of building rather than spreadsheet work matters.

Cost is not a single number per square foot. It is a set of conditions specific to the site:

• Site conditions: slope, soil, rock, water table, and how much excavation and shoring the site will demand
• Servicing: whether water, sewer, and power connections are adequate or need upgrading, which is a cost that surprises people
• Demolition and any hazardous materials in the existing house
• Building form and complexity, since a simple efficient form costs less per unit than a fragmented one
• Energy code requirements and the mechanical systems they imply
• Soft costs: design, engineering, surveys, city fees, warranty, financing, and insurance, which are covered in what soft costs to expect
• Contingency, because no site reveals everything up front

We price from experience on comparable projects rather than from industry averages. Averages hide the specific conditions that determine whether a project works.

4. Does the result justify the risk

The last step brings the first three together. We model what the finished project would produce, whether that is homes for sale, homes held as rentals, or a mix, and compare it against everything it will cost to get there and the years it will take.

Then we stress it. What if permitting takes longer than the city currently indicates? What if construction costs move? What if the market softens by the time units are ready? A project that only works under favourable assumptions is not a project we are comfortable putting a partner's land into.

We are not going to publish target returns or partnership terms here, because they are not the same from one deal to the next. Every project is structured around the specifics of the site and the partner involved. What we can say is that the test is consistent: the project has to make sense with realistic assumptions and honest contingency, not optimistic ones.

When the answer is no

Sometimes it is. A lot is too narrow to fit units efficiently. A tree in the wrong place eats the buildable area. Servicing upgrades cost more than the extra units are worth. The city process would add a year the project cannot carry.

We say so. Telling an owner early that their site does not support a viable project is more valuable than a polite maybe that costs them a year.

What you get from a review

For a landowner, a feasibility review answers questions that are otherwise very hard to answer: roughly how many homes the property could support, what the process would look like, how long it would take, and whether a partnership is worth considering at all. Our multiplex calculator gives a first indication, and the review is the real version of that.

If you own a lot in Metro Vancouver or the Fraser Valley and want an honest read on what it could support, book a free consultation. We will tell you what we find, including if the answer is that the site is better left alone.

Frequently asked