Meet in the mddl

Sarah Woodgate is the President and CEO of the Calgary Housing Company. As a professional urban planner, she began her career in Ontario and has now been in Calgary for over 20 years.

As Sarah notes:

The housing crisis is moving fast, and one thing is clear: we need a major boost in housing supply from all sources. Middle housing is a crucial part of this solution. The Calgary Housing Company is committed to making Calgary affordable by expanding housing options for the future.

Calgary Housing is stepping up with a new plan to build 1,800 homes over the next decade. This initiative will boost our ability to offer affordable housing year after year. Our new homes are self-sustaining, with rental income covering operating costs and various rental rates to meet different needs.

Calgary Housing is just one piece of a larger puzzle involving all levels of government, affordable housing organizations, and private developers.

Want to learn more about middle housing development? Visit our website: https://www.mddl.co/ 

Show notes:

• 01:00 – Sarah’s background in urban planning. 
• 03:20 – The need for housing changes so fast it’s hard to keep up. 
• 05:15 – The new poverty line and what’s really affordable. 
• 11:00 – What does a new application for CHC look like?
• 13:30 – How do we solve the housing crisis?
• 15:30 – Dealing with the fear of change and need for gentle density. 
• 22:00 – The demand for multi-generational housing. 

This brings the first season of meet in the mddl to an end. Stay tuned for season 2!

Jason Thorne spent the last 10 years working at the Head of Planning and Development of the City of Hamilton. Now, he is working at Stantec leading their urban placement section across Canada. He focuses on urban work, solving complex urban issues and more. He joins Al for coffee to chat about the explosive growth Hamilton experienced, similarities to Calgary and more.

Uh oh! Our recording cut off early for this episode. Have questions for Jason? DM us them on Instagram – @mddl.co

Want to learn more about middle housing development? Visit our website: https://www.mddl.co/ 

Show notes:

• 00:10 – Get to know Jason Thorne!
• 02:00 – How housing in Hamilton drastically changed over the last 10 years.
• 05:00 – How rapid growth changes a city.  
• 07:30 – How do you keep some of the original character of a neighbourhood while also developing what’s needed?

Josh White ended up in politics by accident. After volunteering to write policy with Nenshi in Calgary, he ended up working as the Senior Policy Advisor when Nenshi won the election. He has also worked for the City of Calgary on city and regional planning, eventually ending up as the General Manager, Planning, Urban Design & Sustainability for the City of Vancouver. In this episode, he shares with Al the differences between the two cities from a development perspective. 

Want to learn more about middle housing development? Visit our website: https://www.mddl.co/ 

Show notes:

• 00:15 – About Josh and how he ended up working in city and regional planning. 
• 03:00 – Josh’s experience moving from Calgary to Vancouver. 
• 06:00 – Development challenges in Vancouver. 
• 08:50 – Things the City of Vancouver can learn from Calgary’s housing market. 
• 10:40 – Vancouver’s housing targets. 
• 17:00 – Housing typologies needed in Vancouver and Calgary. 
• 19:30 – The exciting ways homeowners can be part of the housing solution. 
• 22:00 – Opportunities for improvement in both cities. 

Mark Erickson is the Principal and Owner of Studio North – a Calgary-based architectural firm that specializes in custom homes, heritage renovations, multi-family units, laneway housing and public art. Mark joins Al to talk about the surprising challenges of laneway housing builds, if it’s actually possible to build something that is affordable in our current economic climate and why it’s so important to remember the human side of community while you build.

Want to learn more about middle housing development? Visit our website: https://www.mddl.co/ 

Show notes:

• 00:15 – About Studio North and Mark Erickson’s work. 
• 04:00 – Challenges with laneway housing.
• 07:00 – Considering community preservation. 
• 11:30 – Can you actually design something that’s affordable?
• 14:30 – Don’t forget the human side of community while developing. 
• 15:30 – What Mark is most concerned about and hopeful for during Calgary’s housing crisis. 

Learn more about Studio North: https://www.studionorth.ca/all-projects 

Kayla Browne is the Founder of BOLD Workshop Architecture – a progressive architecture and development studio located in Calgary. BOLD aims to produce excellent designs for their clients and the community while creating authentic connections to place. In this episode, Kayla joins Al to talk about how Calgary’s recent re-zoning has affected what style of housing people are looking to build and shares her own experience working with middle housing and increasing gentle density.

Want to learn more about middle housing development? Visit our website: https://www.mddl.co/ 

Show notes:

• 00:15 – A bit about Kayla and how she got involved in architecture. 
• 03:00 – The typologies of development Kayla and the team do at Bold. 
• 05:30 – What Kayla learned from her laneway project. 
• 09:30 – Are more customers looking to build middle units after the zoning changes?
• 16:00 – The different types of density. 
• 18:00 – Creating affordable housing at a high quality standard. 
• 23:30 – Heritage preservation and how Kayla approaches it. 

Learn more about BOLD: https://www.boldworkshop.ca/ 

Paul Battistella is a developer in Calgary that has transformed how development happens within established neighbourhoods. Coming from a family of developers, Paul has unique insight into Calgary’s history with infill and middle housing, along with a wealth of experience to inform what we can expect to see next.

Want to learn more about middle housing development? Visit our website: https://www.mddl.co/ 

Show notes:

• 01:00 – A bit about Paul’s background and the Battistella family. 
• 03:00 – The history behind some iconic Calgary housing lots. 
• 06:00 – Calgary’s housing crisis. 
• 09:00 – How middle housing has affected Paul’s career and family. 
• 14:00 – How do we balance growth and costs?
• 17:00 – What is Paul excited about with Calgary’s housing development?

In this week’s episode we’re talking with Ryan Doherty, owner of Pen Lake Ventures Inc, a boutique real estate firm specializing in owning and developing urban properties. He joins Al to talk about his transition from single family home development to middle housing. Ryan shares his perspective on investing in middle housing projects and how to retain neighbourhood integrity and context while introducing gentle density.

Want to learn more about middle housing development? Visit our website: https://www.mddl.co/ 

Show notes:

• 00:30 – How Ryan got involved with missing middle housing. 
• 03:00 – Making the jump from single family home development to middle. 
• 06:00 – Why would you invest in middle housing?
• 09:00 – Balancing neighbourhood needs and context with development.
• 11:00 – The stigma around middle housing. 
• 14:00 – How does middle housing fit into affordability needs?
• 18:00 – As middle housing becomes easier to develop, how can we ensure the finished quality meets the standards of the community and residents?

Learn more about Pen Lake Ventures: https://www.penventures.ca/ 

Greg Morrow is the Executive Director and Faculty Director at the UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design. In this episode, Greg joins Al to talk about the middle housing process in California and what Canada can learn from it. They talk about the cost of housing, how middle housing affects transit and what is realistically needed to create developments that don’t harm existing neighbourhoods.

Want to learn more about middle housing development? Visit our website: https://www.mddl.co/ 

Show notes:

• 01:30 – How Greg got interested in real estate development and urban design. 
• 07:00 – What’s working in California with housing and what Canada can learn. 
• 09:40 – How do we create certainty around housing?
• 11:00 – How does middle housing affect transit? Does increasing supply create affordable housing?
• 15:20 – U.S. private corporations that make money delivering subsidized housing. 
• 20:00 – Inclusionary housing vs exclusionary.
• 27:00 – When density happens.
• 32:00 – How do you do development in a way that doesn’t have negative effects on the immediate community? 
• 35:20 – What’s next for Greg? 

Following the largest public hearing in Calgary’s history, City Council made a future-altering decision to empower Calgarians and provide the opportunity to develop middle housing. Just a few months earlier, Edmonton City Council was met with little opposition when they made a similar change, despite even more aggressive policy. So, what was the difference? We made the trip to Edmonton to ask Mayor Sohi.

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This week Al is talking with Tye Reidie, Principal at Canada ICI (aka, Al’s “finance guru”). In this episode, Al and Tye talk about Canada ICI’s work, how to find financing for middle housing projects, managing debt for a project, the Canadian rental market, interest rates and what it actually takes to participate in middle housing.

Want to learn more about middle housing development? Sign-up for the mddl School waitlist: https://www.mddl.co/#Event 

Show notes:

• 02:00 – How Tye supports middle housing projects. 
• 03:00 – Finding the best interest rates. 
• 07:00 – Will Canada’s rental market continue to grow?
• 09:00 – Are these programs actually helping affordability. 
• 10:20 – The lack of upward mobility in Canada’s housing market. 
• 14:00 – The biggest impact Calgary’s rezoning will have. 
• 16:00 – What does it take to participate in middle housing?
• 18:00 – How mddl School can support you. 
• 19:40 – Being a tenant in your own property. How middle housing changes home ownership.

Learn more about Canada ICI: https://www.canadaici.com/