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What should you investigate before turning a Toronto major-street property into a small mid-rise apartment project?
 

Heather Dubbeldam and Derek McCallum of Dubbeldam Architecture + Design join Payam Noursalehi to discuss what they are learning from small apartment projects moving through design and approvals across Toronto.

The conversation explores how parking, retail space, building height, technical variances, municipal reviews and Hydro servicing interact—and why those details deserve attention early in the project.

We also consider the question facing many property owners: should you pursue a multiplex or explore a larger small-mid-rise scheme? Heather and Derek discuss the importance of the owner’s holding horizon, the intended residents and the team guiding the project.

In this episode:

• Why neighbourhood services matter when designing housing with limited parking.
• How commercial ground-floor heights can put pressure on the rest of the building.
• The trade-offs behind a proposed four-space underground garage in a 43-unit scheme.
• How technical variances and legacy zoning exceptions can complicate an approvals path.
• Why waste collection, servicing and the site plan need coordinated attention.
• The challenge of accommodating electrical infrastructure on a narrow lot.
• What to consider when comparing a multiplex with a small apartment building.
• The guests’ vision for outdoor amenity space and complete communities.

Working on a GTA project? Contact Solnik Construction Group with your site, current stage and main delivery concern. We help owners stress-test, plan and deliver multiplex and small-mid-rise projects through development advisory, preconstruction and construction management. Learn more at SolnikConstruction.Com

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What is changing inside Toronto’s housing approval system—and what will developers actually notice?

Jag Sharma, Deputy City Manager for Development and Growth Services at the City of Toronto, joins Payam Noursalehi to discuss development review, site plan changes, coordination with utilities, and the effort to move housing projects toward occupancy.

The conversation connects City Hall’s reform agenda to the practical concerns of small and mid-sized developers: inconsistent comments, late surprises, connection delays, financing constraints and the risks of taking on a first project.

In this episode:

• Why Jag wants industry feedback to determine whether process changes are working.
• The reasoning behind different site plan review streams and associated fees.
• How some engineering reviewers connect Development Review with Toronto Water.
• Why cooperation with utilities matters even where the City does not control their decisions.
• The distinction Jag draws between development-charge relief and purpose-built rental incentives.
• His outlook for multiplexes, mid-rise housing and modern methods of construction.
• Why Payam believes new development opportunities need to be accompanied by education and practical preparation.

Jag’s point about measuring the journey to occupancy runs through the discussion. For developers, the useful question is what still stands between the current application and a building people can use.

Listen to the full conversation with Jag Sharma on Real Estate Development Insights.

This discussion includes proposed changes, forecasts and programs whose details may evolve. Check current City documents and obtain project-specific professional advice before relying on timelines, incentives or eligibility assumptions.

Resources

• Toronto development charges information
• Council decision addressing DC reductions and Phase 2 rental incentives
• August 5, 2026 federal–Toronto rental housing announcement

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I run a construction company, so it may be against my own interest to say this: not every multiplex project should be built.

Toronto’s planning environment has created new opportunities to build fourplexes, sixplexes, garden suites and other forms of small-scale housing. But permission to build more units does not automatically make a property financially feasible.

A zoning permission is an opportunity to investigate. It is not a business case.

In this episode of Real Estate Development Insights, I share five questions that property owners, investors and first-time developers should answer before committing significant time and capital to a Toronto multiplex project.

These questions came out of our Toronto Multiplex Feasibility Workshop, where we built a pro forma for a representative multiplex and then tried to break it. We tested the assumptions behind the design, rental income, construction costs, financing, equity requirements and potential downside.

If you can answer all five questions using credible information, you may have a viable project. If you cannot answer one or two of them, you may still have an interesting idea—but you do not have a project yet.

That is much less expensive to discover before construction begins.

The Five Multiplex Feasibility Questions

1. What are you actually trying to accomplish?

Before evaluating the property, define what a successful outcome means for you.

Are you planning to build and sell, hold the property as a long-term rental, refinance after stabilization, live in one unit or create a multigenerational family property?

Building, owning and operating a building require different skills, capital structures and definitions of success. Your intended outcome should guide the design, financing and development strategy.

You should also establish your walk-away conditions before becoming emotionally or financially attached to the property.

2. What can actually be built—and does it create the right product?

The maximum permitted unit count is not necessarily the best development program.

A viable multiplex must be capable of being designed, approved, serviced, constructed, rented or sold, and operated efficiently on the specific property.

Site dimensions, setbacks, trees, access, grading, utilities, fire protection, building-code requirements and approval risks can all affect what is realistically achievable.

Design efficiency matters as well. You may pay to construct 6,000 square feet but only generate revenue from 5,000 square feet. Adding units can also mean adding kitchens, bathrooms, entrances, fire separations, equipment and circulation space.

Maximizing unit count is not always the same as maximizing value.

3. Who will pay for the product—and can you defend the revenue?

Revenue assumptions can make almost any multiplex pro forma look attractive.

The question is whether the projected rents or sale prices are supported by the actual neighbourhood, unit sizes, layouts, finishes, parking, storage, natural light, utility arrangements and competing supply.

Small rental buildings also carry concentrated vacancy risk. In a four-unit multiplex, one vacant unit represents 25% of the potential unit revenue during that period.

A landlord must effectively resell each unit every month by continuing to provide a home that tenants consider worth paying for. Design quality, sound separation, durability, maintenance and tenant experience all affect vacancy, turnover and long-term property value.

Do not begin with the rent required to make the project work and then search for evidence to support it. Establish a defensible revenue range first and let the pro forma tell you whether the project is feasible.

4. What will the multiplex really cost—and when will the money be required?

Construction cost is not the same as total development cost.

A complete multiplex budget may also include acquisition and closing costs, design and engineering, surveys, due diligence, municipal applications, permits, demolition, site work, utility upgrades, insurance, legal and accounting fees, financing costs, property taxes, carrying costs, leasing expenses and contingency.

Be especially careful with construction costs quoted per square foot. Always ask:

• Per square foot of what?
• What is included in the number?
• How developed was the design when the estimate was prepared?
• How much uncertainty remains?

A cost without a clear definition is not a useful benchmark.

Contingency should also be treated separately from profit. If a project only meets its target return after removing a reasonable contingency, it does not truly meet the target return.

5. Can you finance the project, survive the downside and justify the exposure?

A profitable-looking multiplex can still fail because it requires more equity, guarantees or financial exposure than the owner can reasonably accept.

One of the most important outputs of a multiplex pro forma is peak equity: the greatest amount of the owner’s capital exposed before refinancing, rental income or sales proceeds return money to the project.

Financing should match the owner’s strategy. The fact that debt may be available does not automatically mean it is appropriate for the project.

The model should also test realistic combinations of problems. Construction costs may increase while the schedule is delayed, rents soften and refinancing proceeds decrease.

The real question is not simply whether the multiplex makes money.

It is whether this multiplex produces an acceptable outcome for this owner, using assumptions the owner can defend—and whether that owner can survive if several assumptions are wrong.

The Central Lesson

Small projects are not necessarily simple projects. Multiplex developments may have less financial margin available to absorb design mistakes, construction overruns, approval delays or weak rental performance.

Professional developers do not build every opportunity they study. They evaluate multiple properties, test different designs, spend money on due diligence and regularly walk away.

That is not wasted effort. That is part of development.

Your job is not to make the spreadsheet prove that the multiplex works. Your job is to challenge the assumptions and find out whether it works for the site, the market and the owner.

Toronto Multiplex Feasibility Workshop

If you are evaluating a Toronto multiplex and want to see how these questions connect inside a working development pro forma, join the waiting list for the Toronto Multiplex Feasibility Workshop:

multiplexworkshop.com

Learn more about the podcast and explore other episodes at:

realestatedevelopmentinsights.com

This episode is provided for general educational and informational purposes only. It is not site-specific investment, financial, legal, tax, accounting, lending, planning, engineering, architectural or construction advice. Rules, costs, financing programs and market conditions can change. Consult the appropriate qualified professionals before making decisions about a particular property or project.

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Toronto has announced residential development-charge reductions of 40% to 60%, backed by $1.5 billion in funding. But the commercial question is not simply how large the headline discount is—it is which projects qualify, how unit type changes the benefit, and whether the new rates materially improve feasibility. In this episode, Payam Noursalehi reviews the permit milestones, the implications for multiplex and apartment projects, the separate purpose-built rental incentive stream, and the questions owners should test before changing a project strategy. Program rules and dates may evolve; review the current City of Toronto materials for project-specific decisions.

#TorontoHousing #DevelopmentCharges #RealEstateDevelopment #MultiplexDevelopment #PurposeBuiltRental

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CMHC MLI Select may offer compelling financing terms for purpose-built rental development—but “up to 95% loan-to-cost” does not mean every project will receive 95%, or that a developer needs only 5% cash.

In this episode, Payam Noursalehi speaks with Abtin Nikeghbali of Canada ICI about what lenders and CMHC examine when evaluating a small Toronto mid-rise or multi-unit rental project.

The conversation covers:

• Net-worth and liquidity expectations
• Construction and property-management experience
• How lenders assess rents, vacancy and operating assumptions
• The difference between maximum leverage and actual proceeds
• Why owners must front construction costs before receiving draws
• Builder contracts, bonding and third-party management
• CMHC construction financing versus completion takeout
• When a developer should begin the financing process
• How Major Streets and EHON projects may fit into the rental-financing landscape

The rates, timelines and program interpretations discussed reflect the conversation at the time of recording. CMHC policies and financing terms can change. Obtain current advice from qualified lending, legal, accounting, appraisal and construction professionals before making a project decision.

#RealEstateDevelopment #CMHC #PurposeBuiltRental #DevelopmentFinancing #TorontoRealEstate

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Development Charges Explained: Why They Rose, What Went Wrong, and What DC Relief Means for Housing

In this episode, Payam discusses development charges (DCs) as one-time fees on new developments intended to fund growth-related municipal infrastructure such as roads, transit, water, parks, libraries, and emergency services, noting the costs are often passed through to end users. He argues DCs became unsustainably front-loaded as market conditions worsened, using the “beer distribution game” to explain how reasonable decisions across the system can create unreasonable outcomes due to timing lags between long-term infrastructure planning and upfront project financing. He outlines reasons DCs rose—larger capital programs, higher land and construction costs, bylaw changes, and annual indexing—and highlights Toronto’s unique transit-heavy DC structure, with about 60% directed to mobility. He cites Toronto DCs rising from about $11,700 in 2010 to over $137,000 in 2024, indexing paused for 2025–26, Bill 23 exemptions, and a 2026 federal-provincial program incentivizing 30–50%+ reductions; Toronto plans 40–60% cuts (2026–29) supported by $1.5B. He says reductions help viability (CMHC estimates ~5% viability lift at 50–60%) but won’t be a silver bullet, and raises concerns about replacing lost municipal funding and the need for broader, less DC-reliant infrastructure financing.

• Development Charges Explained
• Who Really Pays DCs
• Beer Game Analogy
• Timing Mismatch Problem
• Why DCs Skyrocketed
• Toronto Transit Factor
• Numbers and Indexing
• Legislative Changes and Relief
• Will DC Cuts Restart Housing
• Municipal Pushback
• Better Funding Alternatives

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Mid-Rise Purpose-Built Rental - Mathieu Fleury on Leader Lane’s Mid-Rise Mass Timber Rentals, Market Risk, and What Toronto Needs to Build More Housing Payam interviews Mathieu Fleury, partner at Toronto mid-rise developer Leader Lane Development, focused on purpose-built rental, including a nine-storey, 60-unit mass-timber project at 230 Royal York nearing occupancy, plus other Etobicoke projects and partnerships with Windmill, Elm, and the One Planet Living Fund. Fleury recounts his path from Montreal to Cambridge’s real estate finance program, early roles at Loblaw Properties, Great Gulf, Dream Unlimited, and private equity at ForgeStone, where he underwrote 100+ deals annually and identified a gap for repeatable urban infill “missing middle” projects. He describes using site plan/minor variance to avoid rezoning, the challenges of small floor plates and code thresholds, and shifting from condos to rentals as the investor market weakened. They discuss purpose-built rental risks (rent levels, absorption, servicing debt), a looming supply cliff, innovation like mass timber and modular, balcony/amenity tradeoffs, and his top policy wish: reduce government fees and taxes that drive housing costs. Fleury also notes interest in multiplex housing as a complementary solution.

• Policy Tailwinds And Bottlenecks
• Big Developer Playbook
• Condo Vs Rental Risk
• Purpose Built Rental Uncertainty
• Rent Underwriting Caution
• Supply Cliff and Immigration
• Affordability and Salaries
• Purpose Built Rental Shift
• Condo Presale Model Breaks
• PBR Returns and Alternatives
• Approvals and Underwriting Sites

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Jake Cohen, president of the Daniels Corporation, shares development lessons from Daniels’ 42-year history as a vertically integrated development and construction company that has delivered over 40,000 homes, including purpose-built rentals, more than 15 seniors residences, and 7,800 affordable housing units, notably through work with Toronto Community Housing in Regent Park. He describes his intentional career path from site labor and pre-delivery inspections to head office roles, emphasizing a culture of craftsmanship and detail. Cohen highlights customer care, service, and warranty as an undervalued function that provides essential feedback for better upfront design, leading to Daniels’ Accessibility Design Standard and broader universal design practices informed by lived-experience testing. He discusses balancing customization with scalable processes, prioritizing people over process, planning master-planned communities with long-term operations in mind, interest in faster low-rise family housing, and the importance of patience in development. He also cites reducing market uncertainty as key to improving housing affordability conditions.

Daniels Corporation Overview
Quality and Craftsmanship
Undervalued Customer Care
Customization vs Scale
People vs Process
Starting from Scratch Principles
Accessibility Design Standard
Industry Trends Ahead

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How to Unlock More Mid-Rise Housing in Toronto -  Richard Witt 

In this episode of the Real Estate Development Insights Podcast, Richard Witt, Global Head of Housing at BDP Quadrangle, discusses Toronto and the GTA’s housing trajectory, comparing global approaches and emphasizing housing as a commoditized product shaped by culture, human scale, and social interaction. He argues Toronto’s recent decade was distorted by speculation and investor-driven condo product, and says the city needs a broader mix—workforce, student, seniors, family, and end-user housing. Reflecting on Toronto’s 2007–08 midrise guidelines, he explains how outdated zoning, lack of density caps, required site-specific zoning bylaw amendments, and lengthy approvals fueled land speculation and slowed delivery. Whitt advises prioritizing certainty and speed, better subsurface information, and more pragmatic approaches to trees and heritage. He also explores modern methods of construction, including mass timber and prefabrication, citing 80 Atlantic’s quiet, fast installation and urging system-based, repeatable midrise strategies.

-          How does Toronto compare to Global Cities?

-          Speculation and Housing Needs

-          Midrise Guidelines Origins

-          Avenues and Built Form Rules

-          No Density Cap Problems

-          Zoning Amendments Slowdown

-          Toronto’s Patchwork Streets

-          Incentives Over Penalties

-          Midrise Developer Pitfalls

-          Systems First Construction

-          Modern Methods Explained

-          Mass Timber Lessons

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In this episode, Jeff Thomas, Group Head of Development at KingSett Capital, explains how the Canadian private equity firm invests in Canadian commercial real estate through development, joint ventures, and lending. He describes transitioning from brokerage (co-founding and selling Ashler Urban to Cushman & Wakefield) to development, emphasizing that long-term relationships, trust, transparency, and early delivery of bad news are critical to managing risk across KingSett’s roughly 55 projects with a small internal team. Thomas discusses “premium risk-weighted returns” as achieving strong returns relative to managed, less volatile risk. He details Toronto’s 50 Wilson Heights affordable-housing project (about 750 units in phase one, half affordable) on a prepaid ground lease, involving over 50 initial agreements, CMHC financing, and geothermal sustainability, and notes construction is in early structural work. He says Toronto condos are “dead” due to a large gap between resale and new-launch pricing, with development charges and HST seen as key barriers. He advises smaller builders to get close to customers and highlights modular/precast delivery at West Square as a path to speed, standardization, and affordability, while wishing policymakers would truly prioritize housing.

00:00 Meet Jeff Thomas
00:56 From Brokerage to KingSett
03:17 Relationships and Trust
06:55 Picking Deals and Pricing Risk
10:06 Transparency Builds Trust
13:14 Risk-Weighted Returns Explained
15:30 Inside 50 Wilson Heights
20:52 Construction Progress Update
22:17 Lessons From 50 Agreements
24:51 Condo Market Reality Check
26:22 Costs Fees And Taxes
29:36 Midrise Developer Playbook
30:57 Know Your Customer First
33:27 Modular Project Deep Dive
35:04 Standardization Versus Red Tape
41:44 Partnering With KingSett
44:43 Trends To Be Optimistic
48:22 Magic Wand Policy Wish

#RealEstateDevelopment #PurposeBuiltRental #DevelopmentRisk #AffordableHousing #TorontoRealEstate 

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