210 vs 16: study suggests how kelowna was able to build so many more multiplexes than coquitlam
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a multiplex with six units (six-plex) being built at 2551 west king edward in vancouver.
douglas todd
zoning changes alone won’t likely be enough to increase b.c.’s “missing middle” housing supply, according to a new study from the university of b.c.
the study found the local permitting process and other regulations, like parking and design requirements, have a significant impact on whether multiplex units actually get built.
“it’s not enough to just change the allowed density. you’ve got to change the process, too,” said tsur somerville, one of the study’s authors.
the study compared coquitlam with kelowna, two b.c. cities of about the same size, density and housing rules. both cities allowed multiplex units to be built on single family home lots in the late 2010s, years before the provincial mandate came into place in 2023.
when kelowna rezoned parts of the city to allow more density, officials also streamlined the permitting process — including providing a series of pre-approved designs — that brought approval times down to as little as two to three weeks. the city now has far more multiplex units than coquitlam, where the permitting process was left unchanged after rezoning.
from 2022 to 2024, 210 multiplex units were built in rezoned parts of kelowna. only 16 were built in coquitlam during the same period, according to the study.
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“kelowna really adjusted the whole ethos of their permitting program to enable these units to be constructed,” somerville said.
“coquitlam changed the density but retained all the other processes in place without trying to change those. and as a result, you do get people applying for (multiplex) permits in coquitlam, but they just drag out forever, and people drop them.”
in the years following the rezoning in kelowna, rezoned lot prices in kelowna increased by seven to 14 per cent compared with lots with no zoning changes, the study found. in coquitlam, there was no difference in the price of multiplex and single-family home zoned lots.
multiplex developments typically have small margins, somerville said, meaning lengthy delays and other overhead can make a project infeasible.
“it’s one thing to go through a two-year process because you’re going to be able to build a 20-storey tower. it’s another thing to go through this huge process to be able to build two additional units on the site,” he said.
officials in kelowna also worked with developers and architects to provide pre-approved, off the shelf designs that were developed in collaboration with both architects and developers.
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“working with both the architects and developers to come up with designs that can both meet criteria, can be executed and are financially viable, is really, really important,” somerville said, noting pre-approved designs are often made without consulting with developers to be sure the designs will be cost-effective and easy to build.
“it’s not just pre-approved designs. it’s pre-approved designs where you have developer input and be able to say, ‘yeah, we can do this, this is going to work.’”
in a statement, renee de st. croix, coquitlam’s director of urban planning and design, said it’s difficult to compare two municipalities based solely on numbers. she noted coquitlam has larger areas of high-density, transit oriented development, primarily around skytrain stations, “which is where the growth in the city has been focused.”
“transit-oriented development is a much larger percentage of the city’s development and delivers far more housing units, now even more so due to provincial legislation.”
that said, between 2022 and 2024 building permits were issued for 33 triplex and four-plex units, as well as six multiplex units, she said, adding that the city is “reviewing its development permit guidelines and considering an expedited process for both development permit and building permit reviews, and will certainly look at success stories from other municipalities.”
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somerville said the study suggested that the way housing has traditionally been built in b.c.’s municipalities isn’t geared to delivering new housing quickly or efficiently.
“we should be moving to a situation where the whole regulatory process is dramatically faster — you’re looking at places where things take years and that should not be the case,” he said.
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