Heritage Development
I was speaking to an architect who had some interesting things to say about the city’s Heritage Development system. The architect indicated that he has worked on projects where hard costs – the costs of materials and construction – were definitively higher because of heritage standards.
The architect also indicated that Saint John is one of few jurisdictions where the heritage regulations dictate how empty lots can be developed.
Developers must decide if projects can make enough money being in the heritage zone to cover the extra costs. The public must decide whether the public good of these development policies is enough to merit the extra costs. We must also decipher whether the private good of being in the area – i.e. the extra income that can come from being in the heritage zone – can be attributed to the heritage regulations or simply to being in the central part of the city.
4 comments:
An interesting post. I believe the much oft he extra cost of adhering to the heritage bylaws are covered by the various grants you can apply if you do the work correctly. Not all of the extra costs come with that though, and the remainder is the developer investing in the value that heritage properties generate.
As for the increase in value and overall worth of heritage preservation guidelines, I wrote my masters thesis on that exact topic. I was wondering if the value of heritage properties was higher due to the location geographically, or whether they were designated. What I found was that the values of heritage preservation area properties were significantly higher than comparable buildings which were not designated. The assessed value and market value were in many cases 40-50% higher, often compared to a building literally across the street which was very similar, but not in a preservation area.
The location geogrphically obviously has something to do with it, but the clear indication fro my study is tht designating properties and ensuring they are maintained according to a solid bylaw is very valuable for the city, property owners, etc. That is the financial side. The obvious other intangibles are having a very unique, interesting resource that noone else has. We are not generic and fabricated, but unique and interesting. Hard to put a value on that as it is more qualitative than quantitative, but when I studied the value of cultural tourism, employment and gant money coming to the City it was definately measurable and very positive for us.
I talked to an economist a few months back about studying this very issue. Is your master's thesis buried in a university library for budding minds to find?
Do you know if preservation grants can be recieved for new construction in the designated area?
It's the impact on new construction in the area I find the most challenging to understand. Did you study the impact of these laws on "new" or non-heritage buildings in the designated areas.
Thanks.
That reminds me that I should put my email on the page somewhere. My email is urbanplans@gmail.com
Thanks.
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