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I recently read an article by the CBC
entitled “From sacred to secular: Canada set to lose 9,000 churches, warns
national heritage group.” The article
discusses shrinking congregations as member’s age, move away or switch to new
spiritual practices. The article notes
that in Eastern New Brunswick alone the Roman Catholic Archdiocese for example predicts
that 20 of its 53 parishes will likely close if the congregations can’t find a
way to generate more money. With less
money coming in and higher maintenance and operating costs churches face a challenging
future. This article resonated with me on a professional
level and personally as a member of a local church. In the past few years our firm has been
contacted by a number of churches, in particular church committees made up of congregation
members. These committees are assigned
the unenvious task of exploring what to do with their beloved church as it
faces the challenges of a shrinking congregation. The common questions asked by committee
members to aid in their decision making include: - Scenario #1: What is the value of the
church as it currently operates?
- Scenario #2: What is the value of the
underlying land as a redevelopment?
- Scenario #3: What if the church were
sold for an adaptive re-use, what would it be worth?
Essentially the committees want to determine
the Highest and Best Use of their property, with values determined for each scenario
so they can be make an informed decision, and ultimately present it to their congregation. Churches serve a number of roles for
their community. Outside of Sunday
church services and funerals they are used as polling stations, a place of
refuge after disasters, a place for private and not-for-profit groups to meet, a
venue for concerts, fundraiser dinners and suppers and a place for performing
arts to operate out of. While church
layout and design elements vary between denominations the fundamental church
layout is fairly consistent. Typically
it includes a large entrance lobby, a sanctuary, parlour, large multi-use hall
together with a kitchen and a number of smaller rooms used for meetings and
general storage. They tend to have
several large, wide-open areas with high ceilings together with a large number
of smaller classrooms. As a result of
their special purpose design they are challenging to value. Scenario #1 - determining the Market
Value of a church as it currently operates may not be as hard as it sounds. There are numerous examples of church
properties that have sold to other congregations for continued use as a
church. Scenario #2 – determining the value
of the underlying land for redevelopment is more challenging. Often times the property has an institutional
zone assigned to it, reflecting its current use. However, this doesn’t necessarily limit the
property to its current use. It can
often be re-zoned and redeveloped for a more intensive use. Exploring this scenario involves discussions
with the local planning authority, and in the end professional judgement is needed. In addition to re-zoning, heritage
designation issues, service and utility easements on the parcel and demolition
costs for the existing building must be explored and considered under this scenario. Scenario #3 considers the value of
the church for an adaptive re-use. This
can certainly be the most challenging scenario to consider when determining
value. The question here is “does the
existing building actually provide additional, measurable value?” Older buildings often have a lot of character
and heritage value. However, the cost
for repairs and maintenance for these older buildings can be substantial. They typically have masonry exterior walls
with decorative features that require a lot of maintenance. Their walls are often load bearing, meaning
they cannot be easily reconfigured for another type of use without substantial structural
work. In addition they typically sit on
expensive land, located in more central downtown locations with increasing pressure
on land values. All of these things can
point to demolition of the existing church to make way for a new development. However, that’s not always the case. Recently I completed an assignment
for a registered heritage property in Halifax.
The Centre Plan envisioned a low-density residential use for the
property. However, Package
A contained significant implications for the property as it contains policy
applicable to registered heritage properties.
This general policy allows for consideration of new development via
discretionary approval processes (a “Development Agreement”) rather than
zoning. The overarching goal of the
municipality is to encourage the rehabilitation and retention of heritage
buildings. In order to do this, they will support a significant amount of new
development intensity on sites containing a heritage building, using this as a
tool to create sufficient value that the required conservation measures can be
accommodated within an economically feasible project. This opens the
possibility for significant building height and floor area ratios, as well as
consideration of other cost-savings, such as lower parking requirements. In that
instance, the cost involved with demolishing the existing building coupled with
only low-density anticipated for the site meant that demolition of the building
was not the best option. Alternatively,
retaining the existing structure, or a substantial portion of it under policy
contained within Package A of the Centre Plan opened up the possibility for
significant building height and floor area ratios, as well as consideration of
other cost-savings, such as lower parking requirements. This second option meant a higher value for
the property. In that instance the best
option was retaining the existing building for an adaptive re-use as part of a
larger development. The
take-away here is that valuing churches or special purpose properties is not a
straightforward exercise. With shrinking congregations and higher operating costs
these types of assignments are becoming increasingly more common. They can be complicated and require a team approach
to valuing the property with assistance from planners with a solid understanding
of the Centre Plan.
For more information on the
valuation services we provide visit our Valuation and Advisory Services
site https://www.turnerdrake.org.
Nigel Turner, Vice President of our Valuation Division, can be reached
at nigelturner@turnerdrake.com
On Wednesday September 4th, I had the pleasure of presenting
before the Standing Committee on Law Amendments regarding the assessment and
taxation of heavy industry in New Brunswick.
I was pleased to see such a high level of interest from Committee
members in understanding how property tax assessments (which are based on
market value) are calculated. Fair assessments start with accurate estimates of a property’s
value. In a market value assessment
system, there are no “breaks” or “deals” for property owners. Assessment professionals take their cues from
the market and adjust their models so all assessments approximate market value. Understanding the assessment system means understanding market value and
the factors that influence it. Most of
us have a reasonable understanding of the factors that influence the value of
our homes. We understand that a strong
housing market drives higher values for all houses. We understand that a property with features that
purchasers desire (e.g. great kitchen; open concept design; a finished basement)
will have a higher value than one that lacks these features or is in a state of
disrepair. We understand “location,
location, location”, and the benefit of being close to amenities like parks and
schools, and the disadvantage of being located next to negative influences like
landfills or flood zones. Although the market for heavy industrial properties is global as opposed
to local, the factors that influence their value are not dissimilar. When markets are strong (i.e. there is a
balance between the number of buyers and sellers), values can be stable. When markets are weak (there are more sellers
than buyers), values will fall.
Individual facilities can become less appealing to buyers as they get
older, or if the building design and layout will not accommodate the most
efficient technology or process.
Location also applies. Instead of
proximity to parks and schools, ask if the facility is located close to its raw
material, or close to where it sells its final product? Does the location offer a competitive
advantage or disadvantage in terms of the cost of inputs to production? The 2013/2014 re-assessment of pulp and paper mills in New Brunswick
generated questions from the Committee and provides an excellent case study for
the factors that impact the market value of heavy industrial properties
generally. If you understand the factors
that impact housing values, consider the following scenario. Imagine an older
neighborhood with houses built up over a period of 100 years. The market is poor, and there are
significantly more sellers than buyers.
When you look up and down the streets, approximately 1/3rd of
the houses are vacant and boarded up while they wait to be demolished. Demand is weak generally, but the houses in
this neighborhood are especially less appealing than newer houses because they are
older and are lacking in amenities that purchasers require. The purchasers themselves have concluded that
it would be much less expensive to build a new house than to modernize the older
structures. In fact, the houses are so functionally obsolete, there are builders
constructing houses across town with all of the amenities purchasers demand for
less than half the cost of reconstructing replicas of the homes in the older
neighborhood. This was the state of the market for pulp and paper mills at the time of
the reassessment. Maritimers will recall
closure of mills in Bathurst, Dalhousie, Miramichi, Brooklyn, and Port
Hawkesbury; all but one were subsequently demolished. Assessors and Appeal Boards in assessment
jurisdictions across the country were tasked with coming up with an estimate of
the market value of these assets. Many experts provided testimony, and Appeal
Boards in contested hearings in Ontario ordered assessment reductions ranging
from 60% to 75%. It shouldn’t be
surprising that experts tasked with determining the values of mills in our
region came to similar conclusions. To be clear, the assessment process is about ensuring that assessments
reflect market value, not about providing a “break” or a “deal” on property
taxes. .jpg)
André Pouliot is a
Senior Manager in the Property Tax Division at Turner Drake & Partners
Ltd. André holds professional
designations in Valuation with the Appraisal Institute of Canada, Royal
Institution of Chartered Surveyors and has more than 20 years of experience in
the assessment and valuation of heavy industrial, commercial, and investment
properties.
Photo Credit: iStock Photo AntonioGuillem
It
comes like a bolt out of the blue; the municipality wants to purchase your
property so that they can widen the highway. Often times they intend to seize just
part of your property: that front yard you so carefully nurtured to provide a
fragile barrier between your home and the busy street is destined to become
another traffic lane. Many owners have received this type of letter, more will
receive similar letters in the future (if not from the municipality then the
province, federal government or any organisation with expropriation powers such
as a water authority, power utility, Crown Corporation). Sometimes the purpose
of the exercise may not be clear, other than the fact that your property, or
part of it, is required for the public good. During our early days in business
in the 1970s some provinces, such as Nova Scotia, did not always inform owners
that they had taken title to their property… the unfortunate owner only
discovered such was the case when they enquired why they were no longer getting
a property tax bill! Often times, municipalities such as the City of Halifax,
did not advise the owner that they required the property, or part of it,
content to leave it to the appraisal firm to break the news when they arrived
on site to conduct their inspection. (We fired the City of Halifax as a client
after arriving on site to find the property owner had not been informed about
the expropriation; his wife was dying of cancer in the bedroom). Legally this
is still the case in many provinces in Atlantic Canada; the acquiring authority
does not have to inform you that you no longer own your property for several
months after they have filed the expropriation document (Nova Scotia 90 days,
Prince Edward Island 60 days). Thankfully in practice, that at least has
changed, but the unfortunate reality is that property owners rarely have legal
grounds to prevent the authority from purchasing their property. In other countries,
property owners have to be notified that their property is to be expropriated
and have the right to object that the acquisition is not really required for
the road widening, or other scheme that is its raison d’etre, or that the
scheme itself is not required to serve the public good. But this avenue is
rarely available in Canada, or indeed in North America. (In this Region,
proposed expropriations under the Federal and New Brunswick Expropriation Acts
are the exception that prove the rule. Each require the acquiring authority to
notify the property owner before they expropriate and provide a public enquiry to
hear objections. However the Federal Act is really window dressing, the public
hearing a mechanism to “vent”; the New Brunswick Act however does require the Expropriation
Advisory Officer to issue a decision as to the necessity for the expropriation
and whether the scheme is consistent with the public interest. If your property
is located in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland or Prince Edward Island you have no say
in the matter at all!. Even if subsequent events disprove the “valid public
use” test, owners have no right to recover their property (the ill-fated
Mirabel Airport in Quebec is an example… the original owners, or their
descendants, were eventually offered 300 hectares of the 38,800 hectares originally
expropriated, but only after a long, bitter and very public fight). So what do
you do when you receive “the letter”, particularly if it does not mention
“expropriation” and is instead a civilised attempt to negotiate compensation before
the municipality seizes your property by force?
We
live in an age when most of us have lost faith in our institutions, the civil
service, politicians and the private sector. That trust has been eroded over
the past two decades by greed, politicians who no longer adhere to acceptable
forms of behaviour, the shrill cacophony of social media seamlessly blending
fact with fiction, and an emancipated Fourth Estate no longer able to defend
the “little guy”. The adage “you can’t fight city hall” too often engenders a
feeling of helplessness, particularly if the acquisition involves your family
home, the sanctuary you hold inviolate; or your business, a livelihood born of
blood, sweat and tears. Cheer up, not all is bad, the press and electronic media
may no longer have the heft they once did, but you do have the protection of an
excellent and independent judicial system. Why is that important? The letter
you received from the acquiring authority may not have mentioned “expropriation”,
and the words “judicial system” may raise the spectre of long and expensive
litigation in which you, the little guy, are pitted against an acquiring
authority with much deeper pockets. But bear with us. Even if your property has
not yet been expropriated the negotiations will be framed by the Expropriation
Act because the acquiring authority has to rely on it if they cannot reach a
settlement with you by negotiation. Now, it has to be said, the Expropriation
Acts do not represent the legal community’s finest hour. The Nova Scotia and
New Brunswick Expropriation Acts, each appear to have been written in a hurry
by somebody suffering from a hangover. The Newfoundland and Prince Edward
Island Expropriation Acts have a distinct feudal flavour, drafted in the days
when peasants lived in huts of mud and wattle, addressed their betters with a
touch of forelock, eyes downcast and a mumbled “zur” (or that, at least,
appears to have been the assumption of the persons drafting them). In fact the
PEI Act doesn’t even attempt to lay out the framework for compensation, happily
delegating it to the court system, undoubtedly in the pious hope that the judge
would have a clue what it was all about, because the person drafting the
legislation sure as hell didn’t! Only the Federal Expropriation Act can claim
lucidity, and even it overlooks the fact that businesses occasionally occupy
real estate and are adversely impacted if it is whipped away from under their
feet. But, and this is the good news, none of this really matters very much
because there are some good Expropriation Acts elsewhere and a body of case law
and appraisal practice that have established well proven methodologies for
identifying and calculating compensation. The courts have embraced the
principle that, since expropriation is the exercise of police power by the
state (or its surrogate), the benefit of the doubt lies with the unfortunate
property owner and they have not been shy in ensuring that the latter does not
suffer financial loss as a result.
Expropriation
So
what is “Expropriation” and why should you care? Expropriation is the seizure
of your property, or a part of it, by the government, or a body authorised by
them, for public use or benefit. The bad news, as we have already mentioned, is
that you cannot object to it unless you live in New Brunswick or the property
is being acquired under the Federal Expropriation Act… the good news is that
you are entitled to be fairly compensated for your loss. The initial approach
from the acquiring authority advising you that they want to purchase part or
all of your property will rarely mention the word “expropriation”. Whilst this
may be an attempt to spare your feelings by appearing to be non-threatening you
should be cautious. We no longer have a strong media but, as mentioned, we do
have an excellent court system… and they are on your side. While you will
probably never need to go to court you should avail yourself of the protection
afforded by our judicial system. Your rights to fair and proper compensation
are codified in the relevant Expropriation Act (sort of) but you will not be so
protected unless (1) your property has been officially expropriated or (2) the
acquiring authority has agreed in writing to proceed as though you had been
expropriated i.e. that they will afford you all of the compensation you would
have been entitled to under the Expropriation Act had your property been
expropriated. So this is Step One, make sure that the acquiring authority is
prepared to offer you all of the rights and privileges afforded by the
Expropriation Act and get that commitment in writing. If they will not provide
it, refuse to negotiate until they expropriate your property.
Compensation
It
is a fundamental principle of Expropriation that the acquiring authority is
required, as far as monetarily possible, to put you in the same position after
the acquisition as you were before it. Most court decisions have interpreted
that principle as giving you the benefit of the doubt, short of plundering the
public purse. The federal and some provincial Expropriation Acts acknowledge
that the negotiations are unevenly balanced in that the property owner faces an
acquiring authority with much deeper pockets and resources. Some Expropriation
Acts attempt to level that playing field by requiring that the acquiring
authority be transparent in their calculations of compensation, and some give
the property owner access to their own professional advice if they desire it,
at the acquiring authority’s cost. The Federal Act unambiguously provides that
the property owner is entitled to professional advice at the Fed’s cost, the
Atlantic provinces are more parsimonious, sometimes offering it if the property
owner wins in court (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland), or not considering
it worthy of mention (Prince Edward Island). Nova Scotia limits the amount they
will pay in legal costs and appraisal fees, something they are now allowed to
do in their Act, so the unfortunate property owner has to pick up the rest of
the cost, or find a cheap lawyer or appraiser. A word of caution: the devil is
in the details and some acquiring authorities do not play by the rules
established by the relevant Expropriation Act, case law or appraisal practice.
It is essential to have an understanding of your rights under the Act, the type
of compensation and how it is calculated. Each province in Atlantic Canada has
its own Expropriation Act and each municipality, or other body with
expropriation powers, is governed by that Act. The federal government also has
its own Expropriation Act. Broadly speaking the Acts are similar, in practice
if not content, and the methodology for calculating compensation is identical
even when it is not specified in the legislation.
Negotiations
The
acquiring authority may employ their own staff to negotiate, or will contract
it out to a firm such as ourselves (we also negotiate on behalf of property
owners). Our article “Land Agency… a respectable profession” elsewhere in this Blog
details our approach when we are representing the acquiring authority: you
should expect nothing less. The act of expropriation, or its anticipation,
obligates the acquiring authority to fairly compensate you for your loss and
that means they must engage in “principled negotiation” rather than attempt to
settle the compensation claim for the lowest amount. If you find that you are
not comfortable negotiating, insist that the acquiring authority pay for your
professional representation. Whether the Act specifically allows for it or not,
it has been our experience that acquiring authorities want to reach agreement
without the adverse publicity of a formal expropriation, much less the agony
and expense of a court action. They recognise that some property owners need
professional assistance and that this may facilitate an agreement. If the acquiring
authority is attempting to negotiate compensation before they formally expropriate, particularly if your property
comprises woodland or agricultural land, the acquiring authority may attempt to
negotiate without commissioning an appraisal, using instead their knowledge of
property values. There is nothing wrong with them so doing provided they are
open and transparent about their compensation calculations and are able to
validate them by reference to other property sales. However you can require
that the acquiring authority provide you with a formal appraisal (they have to
anyway if they formally expropriate) and you should insist on this if your
property has buildings on it, is in an urban area, or if only part of your
property is being acquired and the remainder is likely to be adversely
impacted. Many Expropriation Acts (Federal, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick) require
that the formal offer after expropriation has
to be accompanied by an appraisal. The formal appraisal should meet, at a
minimum, the Canadian Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice
(CUSPAP) www.aicanada.ca/about-aic/cuspap/
. Frankly CUSPAP is not the most rigorous standard in the world, it is not specifically
directed at expropriation, and most appraisers (like most lawyers) are not
sufficiently familiar or skilled in recognising and computing the various Heads
of Claim. Do not accept any appraisal tendered
by the acquiring authority at face value. Research the author of the appraisal
report on the internet and check his/her reputation with a trusted professional
advisor to verify that they are experienced in expropriation work. At a minimum
they should be an Accredited Appraiser of the Appraisal Institute of Canada or
a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Valuation) but
neither qualification guarantees that they are experienced and knowledgeable in
expropriation. Do not assume that the acquiring authority has already done the
research and has chosen their appraiser on the basis of merit; the Federal
Government and some provinces do so, but other provinces and many
municipalities, Halifax Regional Municipality for example, simply select an
accredited appraiser on the basis of cheapest cost. Some acquiring authorities will instruct the appraiser to limit the
types of compensation (Heads of Claim) they consider in the appraisal and
although the omissions may be listed in the appraisal report their significance
can easily be overlooked. The Province of New Brunswick Department of
Transportation and Infrastructure, for example, instruct their appraisers to
ignore Injurious Affection and Special Economic Advantage, items which often
constitute the bulk of the loss suffered by the property owner.
Heads of Claim – A Hitch Hiker’s Guide
A governing spirit of expropriation, or the
negotiations which preclude it, should be that the property owner (and tenant
if the property is rented) will not suffer financial
loss as the result of losing all, or part, of their property. You will not be
compensated for emotional loss
arising, for example, from the upheaval in your life. If you are a property
owner the types of loss and accompanying compensation will fall under some, or
all, of the following Heads of Claim: (1) Market
Value of the interest
acquired in the property. (a) “Market Value” is defined differently
in the various Expropriation Acts but essentially is the amount of money you
would get for your interest in the property if it was sold on the open market. For
example, if you occupy and own the freehold (fee simple) interest in a residence
which is acquired in its entirety by the municipality, your compensation will
equal the sale price you would have achieved had you sold the property of your
own free will through a real estate agent. This can cause a problem if the
Market Value of your property is lower than that of other properties in the
neighbourhood since the cash you receive will not be adequate to purchase a
similar home. In that instance you are entitled to additional compensation
under the “Home for a Home” head of claim (see below). Unfortunately you will
not be compensated for any “special” value your property may have to the
acquiring authority over and above its Market Value. (b) If the municipality only takes part of
your property (typically part of your front yard in the case of a road widening),
you are entitled to the Market Value of that portion of your property.
Obviously calculating Market Value is somewhat problematic since bits of front
yards are not typically sold on the open market. Its value will therefore be
based on the sale prices of comparable vacant lots expressed on a square foot
or other unit basis. You are also entitled to the value of any improvements
such as lawns, flower beds, bushes, etc. … but not the emotional value you may
have invested in nurturing them. If fences and steps have to be demolished the
acquiring authority has to replace them. Sometimes the loss of a front yard is
so extreme it renders the home unsuitable for continued owner occupation; it
may be uninhabitable or suitable only as transient accommodation such as short
term rental. In that event the owner should be able to substantiate the
acquiring authority purchasing the entire property. The “Home for a Home”
provision may then be relevant. (2) Home
for a Home (a) If the property is occupied by the
owner, as opposed to being rented, as a family home, you will be entitled to
additional compensation if the Market Value of the property is inadequate to
purchase a similar home in the neighbourhood. In this event your compensation
will be based on the Market Value of similar homes for sale in the
neighbourhood. What happens if there are none for sale? Whilst the compensation
does not require that you remain in the neighbourhood it does get a little tricky
if you do not have that choice. In the unhappy event that substitutes are not
available you would be entitled to be compensated for the Market Value of the
next best alternative.
(b) If the property is rented, a cottage,
or anything other than an owner occupied family home, your compensation is
restricted to Market Value even if you cannot purchase a similar property with
it. The acquisition will also trigger tax liabilities which you did not
contemplate until you intended to sell the property. It is our view that the impact
of paying those taxes now, rather than deferring them for the future, is a
valid compensable item.
(3) Disturbance
(a) When a property owner is forced to move
out of their home there will be moving expenses, as well as items such as
drapes for the new home. The acquiring authority is required to compensate the
owner for these items. If it is not practical to estimate these costs some
Expropriation Acts (Federal and Nova Scotia) provide an allowance instead of up
to 15% of the Market Value. The New Brunswick Expropriation Act allows, in
addition to moving expenses, 5% of the market value of the residential portion
expropriated, to compensate for the cost and inconvenience of finding another
residence. The other Acts do not place any value on the unfortunate property
owner’s time.
(b) If the property contains a business the
occupant will suffer a variety of losses. If the business has to relocate it
will incur a number of costs: new stationery, informing customers, staff
overtime packing and unpacking, new signage, etc. as well as the cost of the
move itself. Whether the business moves or not, profits will usually be
adversely impacted by the road widening scheme and/or the relocation. Trade
once lost to competitors may takes years to recapture, may even be lost
forever. Whilst all of the foregoing is compensable some Acts provide that compensation
for loss of goodwill, where the business has relocated, can be deferred for the
earlier of a year (Nova Scotia) or nine months (New Brunswick) after the relocation,
or for three years (Nova Scotia) or two years (New Brunswick) after the
expropriation. It is not clear when the business can expect to be paid if it
does not relocate, but given that it has to prove its loss one imagines that
this would be twelve months (Nova Scotia), or nine months (New Brunswick) after
the road widening scheme is complete. Thus a business can struggle to survive
during and after the road widening but cannot claim for its loss until later.
Whilst the acquiring authority can agree with the business owner to waive the
deferment it is our experience that such is not normally the practice. Business
loss (goodwill) is not specifically mentioned in the Federal, Newfoundland or
Prince Edward Island Acts but is a compensable item.
(4) Injurious
Affection
(a) Where only a portion of the property is
acquired, a common situation with road widening schemes, the balance of the
land may be reduced in value because (1) the remaining property is less useful
since it is smaller, a more awkward shape, or is severed from the main parcel
and/or (2) the construction or use of the road on the land acquired adversely
impacts the value of the remaining property. For example, it may no longer be
possible to park a vehicle on the land remaining because it is now too small or
of the wrong configuration. A residential property without parking is less valuable
than a house with a driveway. The construction of the widened highway may
render access to the property more difficult if traffic increases. The
increased noise and loss of privacy in the home which results from it being
closer to the highway will reduce its value. Or take a farm cut in two by a new
highway. The farmland on the other side of the new road, particularly if it is
limited access highway, will be considerably less valuable because it is no
longer as accessible from the farm buildings. Farm fields impacted by the new
highway may no longer be of optimum size and shape; drainage may be adversely
affected too. In our experience Injurious
Affection usually represents the vast majority of the loss sustained by the
property owner, especially in residential properties impacted by road widening.
The accepted method of calculating Injurious Affection is the “Before and
After” method. This methodology is codified in the Federal and Nova Scotia
Expropriation Acts. The property is valued as it existed prior to the
acquisition and commencement of the road widening (Before Value); and then
valued again on the assumption that the road scheme is complete (After Value).
The difference between the Before and After values, minus the Market Value of
the land acquired, is the Injurious Affection. The New Brunswick Expropriation
Act provides that a claim for Injurious Affection has to be made within one
year after the damage was sustained, otherwise
it is barred.
(b) For housekeeping purposes some
Expropriation Acts include Disturbance under Injurious Affection. This has no
impact, other than to confuse matters, unless the acquiring authority has
directed their appraiser to ignore Injurious Affection (a common practice with the
New Brunswick Department of Transportation and Infrastructure).
(5) Special
Economic Advantage
(a) If the property is owner occupied i.e.
not rented, the owner may be able to claim for any special economic advantage
arising out of, or incidental to, their occupation of the property to the
extent that they have not been compensated under the other Heads of Claim. For
example, if you or a member of your family is disabled, and the home has been
adapted to meet their requirements with ramps, grab bars, wider doorways and
hallways, stair lifts etc. you will be able to claim for the cost of these
improvements.
(b) The same conditions apply with
commercial property that has been adapted to suite the unique requirements of
the business. It applies as well to property that has additional value because
of its location, such as a woodlot proximate to the owner’s mill.
(c) Special Economic Advantage is
specifically mentioned in the Federal, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick Act.
(6) Special
Purpose Properties
(a) Some properties do not normally sell on
the open market; churches, schools, hospitals, religious and charitable
institutions are examples. If the property being acquired falls into this
category and the owner has to relocate, they can base their compensation claim
on the reasonable cost of creating a similar property (technically known as “the
cost of equivalent reinstatement”). Even though the buildings on the property
they are vacating may be old, the claim for compensation can be based on the
cost of building a new, otherwise identical structure, plus the cost of
acquiring a replacement site…. though some Acts (Federal, New Brunswick) attempt
to claw back some of the compensation if the owner has improved their position.
(b) The Federal Act, cognisant no doubt
that we are meant to be a secular society and less fearful for their immortal
soul than the Provinces, do not restrict the qualifying properties to religious
institutions and instead embrace all properties that do not normally sell on
the open market.
(7) Professional
Fees
(a) The Federal Act provides that the
acquiring authority pay the legal, appraisal and other costs reasonably
incurred in ascertaining a claim for compensation. The onus is on the property
owner to ensure that the costs are reasonably incurred, not that they are
reasonable.
(b) The Nova Scotia Act provides that the
owner is entitled to be paid the reasonable costs necessarily incurred in
ascertaining a claim for compensation but this is only triggered by an
application to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board after negotiations have
failed. However in practice they are compensable up to the date the acquiring
authority makes their Offer to Settle (just before the start of the Board
hearing) and are not conditional on the property owner winning their case.
Reimbursement of costs incurred after the Offer to Settle are conditional on
the outcome of the hearing. The province has recently placed a limit on the
fees it will reimburse for legal and appraisal advice. The property owner will
now have to fund the difference, or find a cheap lawyer and appraiser.
(c) The New Brunswick Act makes no
provision for the reimbursement of professional fees unless the matter proceeds
to Court. Reimbursement may be dependent on the compensation award.
(d) The Newfoundland Act provides that
professional fees are only paid for proceedings before the Board and they are conditional
on the outcome of the hearing.
(e) The Prince Edward Island Act has yet to
acknowledge the necessity for professional advice or its role in protecting
property owners.
(8) Betterment
(a) Where only part of the property is
being acquired, the remaining property may increase in value as a result of the
scheme for which the property was purchased. For example, land may be purchased
for a highway intersection, with the result that the land remaining after the
acquisition increases in value because it has development potential for a
service station, hotel, shopping centre or other commercial use. This increase
in value, known as “Betterment”, has to be offset against the compensation.
Depending on the Expropriation Act, Betterment may be offset against the (1)
total compensation [Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island] or (2) the land
remaining after the expropriation [Federal, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick].
(9) Factors
Not To Be Taken Into Account
(a) Anticipated use by the scheme for which
the property was expropriated.
(b) A value established by reference to a
transaction which occurred after publication of the intention to expropriate,
or the actual expropriation if there was no published intention to expropriate.
(c) Any increase or decrease in value
resulting from anticipation of the expropriation.
(d) Any increase in value resulting from
the property being utilised for an illegal use.
(10) Heads
of Claim Have To Be Consistent
(a) The Market Value of the land acquired
has to be based on its existing use value if the costs of relocating are to be
allowed. For example, a property owner cannot claim for removal costs if he/she
is basing the value of their property on the assumption that it could be
redeveloped.
(11) Payment of Compensation
(a) Federal,
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Acts - A “without prejudice” offer has to be made
by the acquiring authority within 90 days of registration of the Notice of
Expropriation. If the parties do not agree the compensation the Federal Act
provides for payment of 100% of the offer of compensation; the Nova Scotia Act
for 75% of the compensation (excluding business disturbance) and the New
Brunswick Act 100% of the “Market Value” (other Heads of Claim such as
Injurious Affection are excluded). This payment is “without prejudice” and the
property owner is free to pursue his/her claim for additional compensation.
(b) Newfoundland – the property owner has
to file a claim for compensation within the time limit specified in the Notice
of Expropriation and where the parties do not agree on the amount the matter is
sent to the Board to be “fixed”. Compensation is paid out within six months of
the Board’s decision.
(c) Prince Edward Island – the property
owner has to file a claim for compensation within six months of registration of
the Notice of Expropriation “or in the
case of land injuriously affected within six months of the injury”. Payment
is only made after the parties agree on the amount. 
Mike Turner is Chairman of
Turner Drake & Partners Ltd. A fifty year veteran of expropriation on two
continents he is still shocked at the cavalier attitude some acquiring
authorities adopt when dealing with property owners. If you'd like more
information about our expropriation services, feel free to contact Mike at
(902) 429-1811 Ext. 312 or mturner@turnerdrake.com
What is building efficiency? and
why is it becoming increasingly important for landlords, purchasers and tenants
alike?
Building efficiency stems from a
variety of factors, some of which are tied to the building envelope or overall operating
systems (HVAC, lighting, etc.), while others are tied to design and
layout. Our Lasercad® team focuses on
the latter and partners with building owners and managers to help analyse and optimise
their building efficiency using the BOMA Standard Methods of Measurement.
Using a typical office building as
an example, the ratio of a building’s Occupant Area to its Rentable Area will
yield a gross-up or efficiency factor, where higher factors equal lower
efficiency. In other words—the larger the percentage of common area to
tenant occupied area, the larger the gross-up, and thus less efficient the
building.
Since common areas are proportionately
allocated (“grossed up”) back to each tenant, they are a primary contributor to
determining building efficiency. Large common
areas in a multi-tenant office or industrial building increase a tenant’s
overall rent as a result of higher gross-up factors. It’s a double whammy because tenants are also
subjected to higher Common Area Maintenance (CAM) charges which are needed to
service those common areas. The results
manifest themselves in a variety of ways—higher vacancy rates, lower net rents,
reduced marketability. The list goes
on. An inefficient building is less attractive
to potential tenants as well as to buyers.
Optimising building efficiency is becoming
more crucial as development restrictions evolve and building owners, managers and
shareholders look to maximise their returns.
Whether it’s new construction, or the renovation of an existing
building, the BOMA Standard Methods of Measurement have become an increasingly important
input of the initial design phase, and more and more developers are seeking guidance
and expertise from our knowledgeable staff.
Below is an overview of two
buildings we recently measured with common areas highlighted in blue. 123 Jones Drive has an excessive amount of common
area, including a large lobby, washrooms and extensive hallways. By contrast, 125 Jones Drive has approximately
twice the footprint, yet has far less space taken up by common areas. Our BOMA analysis revealed the impact of the
vastly different layouts: 123 Jones Drive has a gross-up of approximately 30%,
meaning their rent is based on 30% more space than they physically occupy (i.e.
Floor Allocation Ratio: 1.30). By
contrast, 125 Jones Drive has a gross-up of only 9% (i.e. Floor Allocation
Ratio: 1.09) therefore staking claim as the more efficient building. 
If you’re interested in optimising your building’s efficiency using BOMA standards, please don’t hesitate to contact one of our analysts to discuss a few of our key strategies. Whether you’re in the preliminary design stages of new construction, or renovating an older building, optimising your space to yield the most efficient solution is our primary focus. [1].jpg)
Patrick Mitchell is the Senior Manager of our Lasercad® Division and also highly involved in our Valuation Division. For further information on how to maximise your property’s value through space certification please don’t hesitate to reach out. Patrick can be reached at pmitchell@turnerdrake.comor by phone at 902-429-1811.
“How much? Get out!” (followed by the noise of a slamming door). Another day in the life of the hapless land agent, doing his level best to get the most for the least. At least that’s the common perception, but here at Turner Drake we approach things a little differently. Our team of Land Agents follow the concept of “principled negotiation”, not positional bargaining. And it works. We are routinely retained to provide Land Agency services under contract to governments and corporations, who are increasingly out-sourcing this type of work to the private sector. The projects we work on are large and small, involving anywhere from half a dozen to several hundred different property owners, and our mandate is simple: negotiate fair deals for the purchase of land interests to support infrastructure projects. Without upsetting anyone. Roads and transmission lines are especially popular these days. Seems we just can’t live without them. These are corridor acquisitions: mile after mile of trees and fields with the occasional home or business. All neighbours. All savvy negotiators. And all deeply suspicious of strangers who turn up on the doorstep bearing gifts. So our approach must respect that and we have developed a simple formula built around three principles: Consistency We can’t divulge offers and settlements to neighbours. It’s a privacy thing. But we expect that neighbours will talk as soon as we leave. In fact we encourage it. They can compare figures if they like, essentially testing our integrity to see if anyone got a better or worse deal than the others. And therein lies the challenge with corridor acquisitions. Those at the end of the line must be treated the same as those at the beginning; those who settle quickly must be treated the same as those who hold out for more; those who shout must be treated the same as those who whisper. Sure, there are perfectly valid reasons for paying different amounts, but it can’t be arbitrary. It must be explainable. It must be credible. And it must be fair. Transparency We go to great lengths to make sure landowners understand what is happening and what is going to happen. Large infrastructure projects will already have gone through a very public process by the time we get involved and many landowners will have attended open houses …. and perhaps already made their views known. But the regulatory framework for compensation and landowner’s rights under the law are usually a mystery. We explain them. Fully. Our team of Land Agents are trained negotiators with the support of an entire team of in-house professionals to draw on. So we don’t present take-it-or-leave-it offers. We explain how they are calculated, usually by reference to a base-line appraisal or a third party site-specific appraisal. All of which is revealed to the landowners so they too can see how the calculations are made. Respect It goes without saying but we’ll say it anyway. Every landowner has a story to tell and it is our job to listen. Respectfully and with an open mind. Of course we don’t believe everything we hear, but invariably we will learn something from everyone just sitting around their kitchen table. Eating the free cookies. Most people just want their voice to be heard, and anyone who is being asked to give up their land against their wishes deserves to be heard. We call it respect. It builds trust and it leads to mutually agreeable results. And that’s all we’re looking to achieve. Without drama. Without the slamming of doors. .jpg)
Lee Weatherby is the Vice President of our Counselling Division. If you'd like more information about our counselling services, feel free to contact Lee at (902) 429-1811 or lweatherby@turnerdrake.com
Who’s Going
to Live In All Those Houses? – A common refrain when there’s a lot of
residential development, whether houses, apartments, or condos. Demographic trends can help to answer the
question after the fact, but more importantly, attention to demographic
patterns ahead of developing can ensure that housing supply meets demand. After all, once it’s built, housing supply is
here for the long haul. At the recent
NSPDA and LPPANS conference, Turner Drake led a workshop examining how
individual decisions feed into patterns in housing supply and demand. Here’s a brief recap (granted, a Nova Scotia‑oriented
recap, but many of the principles apply across Atlantic Canada).
The Life
Cycle of Housing
A typical person will move around a bit in their
lives, starting out in their parents’ house (or houses: if we can infer Canadian behaviours from American stats,
the average person owns 4.5 to 5.5 houses in their lifetime), moving to a
rental apartment before buying their own home(s). Later in life, they may downsize back to an
apartment (possibly a more luxurious one this time) or condo, and finally make
their way to a seniors’ residence.
In-demand housing stock is heavily dependent on the
dominant age groups in any given area.
The primary drivers of rental apartment demand are 20-29 year-olds, and the
65-and-older cohort, though the latter is increasingly shifting to a
75-year-plus bracket, and the former arguably extends to above age 35.
Source: Statistics Canada 2016
Census
The inverse is demand for owned housing, and the primary buyers are
ages 25 through 45. The 25-29/34
year-old age bracket falls into each of the renter and buyer categories: this
is the first-time homebuyer age range, where we see the steepest increase in
home-ownership rates. The inference is
that by age 45, buyers have bought their first home, possibly sold it and
upsized to a larger family home, and here they stay for a prolonged period of
time.
 Age distribution in Nova Scotia
(Source: Statistics Canada Population Estimates)
The graph above shows shrinkage in the brackets
that include ages 20 through 45, but growth in the 65+ brackets. Growth in the 55-64 year old bracket means
that the latter will continue to expand as Baby Boomers age. A 2018 Royal LePage survey of home buying
intentions found that 42% of Atlantic Canadian Baby Boomers plan to downsize in
retirement, with 23% intending to sell their homes and move to their secondary
properties, i.e. to the cottage.
Thirty-two percent would consider buying a cottage in which to live in
retirement. The answer is probably no,
but all this moving to the cottage raises the question of whether the province
will see population ruralisation over
the next few censuses, or whether the urbanisation of younger generations will
continue in numbers sufficient to offset it?
The map below shows population change at the Dissemination Area level in
Nova Scotia between the last two censuses: the concentration of purple (growth)
in urban areas, in contrast with the pink and red (shrinkage) of the rural
areas, indicates urbanisation. 
Population change 2011-2016, Statistics
Canada 2016 Census
Just 29% of Atlantic Canadian Baby Boomers would consider purchasing a
condo, the lowest rate in the county.
Recall that the stat comes from a survey of home buying intentions…and recent trends have been for downsizers to opt
for rental apartments over condominium apartments. There is certainly incoming supply of
apartment units: CMHC statistics on housing starts over the past few decades
show a distinct shift from single-family construction to apartments: 
…though the rest of Nova Scotia is a different story:
The breakdown of the same housing start data shows a distinct rental
intention:
…which again is driven almost entirely by the Halifax pattern:
...while the rest of the province still shows a clear preference for
offering options for home ownership, with very little constructed for either
the rental or the condominium market:
On the demand side, the province appears largely influenced by the
statistics for Halifax, with vacancy mirroring the same ups and downs over the
past three decades, though vacancy is a bit tighter in the city (overall 2% in
NS and 1.6% in Halifax in October 2018).
Demand is strong: vacancy rates have been falling since 2014, even as
the inventory of rental units has been steadily increasing.
In the years ahead, expect continued growth in demand for higher
density residential forms, especially of the rental variety. This trend is driven by the Halifax market,
and offers an appealing lifestyle (low maintenance, low commitment), combined
with the option to live off the equity unlocked from the sale of the family
home. It is not far-fetched to
extrapolate that demand for multi-unit rental apartments may also exist in
smaller municipalities in the province, but that rural housing economics (lower
housing prices but similar construction costs) have thus far constrained the
supply side of the equation.
Turner Drake & Partners’
Economic Intelligence Unit follows closely trends in real estate and the
factors that can impact its value, from demographic patterns and preferences,
to climate change. Custom reports
translate data into conclusions. For
more information on how we can assist you, please call or email Alexandra Baird
Allen: 902-429-1811 x323 or abairdallen@turnerdrake.com.
Turner Drake started in 1976 with the mission to “provide solutions to real estate problems”. Initially we focused on valuation practice, but as real estate and its challenges have become more diverse, so too have we. Over the decades we’ve added complementary practice areas, expanding our perspective and deepening the expertise we could bring to the aid of our clients. Not long ago we once again ventured into new territory, adding a Planning Division. Rooted in the economic perspective that all our divisions share, our planning practice is unlike any other in Atlantic Canada. Often we are called in to lend
a hand on other Turner Drake assignments; bolstering property tax appeals,
identifying implications for property valuation, or accurately reviewing
development potential for brokerage clients. But we work most closely with our
Economic Intelligence Unit, where our combination of GIS resources and
expertise in the analysis of demographic, economic, and real estate market data
have led us to some truly interesting planning assignments. Working with a variety of both private and
public sector clients, we’ve been involved in some of the largest planning and
development projects in the Region. And some of the smallest. We’ve even picked
up a few awards along the way. The challenges and outcomes are varied, but one
thing is always common; an approach grounded in real estate economics. Now, having just crossed the
five-year milestone, we celebrate another; our first staff expansion. We put
out the call shortly before the New Year: thanks to the many that applied, we
are humbled by your interest in what we are trying to bring to the planning
profession. So who is the new recruit ready to help us continue our success?
Say
Hello to the Newbie – Andrew Scanlan Dickie [1][2].jpg)
Hello world, I’m Andrew –
Turner Drake’s self-declared Newbie – here to share the story that is me; a
story of adventure, intrigue, and spreadsheets. Yes, I’m that guy – the one who
likes numbers just a little too much. I’m no mathematician, just a fanboy
hoping to put my interests to use. I suppose that’s how I ended up here, but
that will come. My last names may throw you
off, but I’m a born and bred Montrealer (I can feel the maritime Bruins and
Leafs fans cringing). I decided to stay local for my first university degree,
receiving a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill. I was young, inspired, and ready
to take on the world. What does the mean? You got it – I went back to school,
but this time away from home (sorry mom). In Spring 2017, I graduated
from Dalhousie University with a Masters of Planning degree. My short two years
in Nova Scotia were nothing short of amazing; I met my soon to be wife, made
amazing friends, and embraced the culture and lifestyle. But like many before
me, I left to seek opportunities elsewhere. Over the last two years I
worked for a small-town municipal government in Ontario, wearing the many hats
allotted to me and expanding my knowledge of planning policy. Don’t get me
wrong, I loved it – but two things kept nagging at me: (1) Ontario’s got
nothing on the Maritimes (there’s just something about the air here) and (2) my
professional life was number deficient (ahem, nerd). At the time, my partner and I
were nestled in the suburbs. We had adopted a dog and enlisted the help of a
real estate agent – we were getting pretty darn serious about putting down
roots. So, one might say it was an 11th hour moment when the Planning
Division opportunity for Turner Drake came up. I would say it was more an
aligning of the stars; a chance to return to the place my partner and I hoped
to call home and the lifestyle that comes with it, and an opportunity for me to
develop both my business and planning expertise. So here I am, ready to take on
the world yet again and use my skills to contribute to the well-oiled machine
that is Turner Drake. I’m chomping at the bit, so if you or your organisation
are wondering how our expertise in development economics and real estate market
analysis can enhance your planning process, just give us a call! Hint, hint,
nudge, nudge – mandatory municipal planning strategies as part of the Nova
Scotia Municipal Government Act are becoming a thing, so feel free to reach out
about how that may affect you or how to explore that process. Alternatively, if
you’re in Ontario and require some help navigating Ontario’s Planning Act, let
me know!
To
see how your project can benefit from our unique planning expertise, call
Senior Manager Neil Lovitt at (902) 429-1811 or nlovitt@turnerdrake.com. We’ve
got more horsepower than ever.
You are a tenant looking for commercial
space to lease. You start your search by checking the local Kijiji ads and
maybe check with a few colleagues when you realise that perhaps you are in over
your head. One ad is asking for $14/ft.² net plus operating and taxes, while another
is asking $3,500 per month gross. How do you compare these two rents?
Or perhaps you are a new landlord, eager to
fill up your new investment property and start making a return. You are not
sure what to charge for rent, but you want to ensure that all of your operating
expenses are recovered at the end of each operating year and you are not out of
pocket for any expenses.
First, let’s summarise the rental
terminology:
Net
Rent: Often
called “Base Rent”. This is what you pay
for the right to occupy a given space
Additional
Rent: Often
called “Common Area Maintenance (CAM) and Realty Taxes” or “Service Rent”: This is the cost of operating a given space
or property. It includes such things as
electricity, heat, garbage removal, snow clearing, etc. It is typically paid for by the landlord and
then recharged to the tenant on a per square foot basis.
Gross Rent: This
is the sum of all rent paid (Net and Additional Rent).
In order to compare a net and gross lease,
the rents must be converted to the same basis (ie: both must be compared on a
per square foot basis, or both on a monthly rental basis). For example: let’s say that a particular unit is
1,500 ft.2 and it is being offered at a Net Rent of $14/ft.² and CAM
and Taxes of $11/ft.². Converting this
to a monthly rent is as follows:
($14/ft.² +
$11/ft.²) X 1,500 ft.² = $37,500 annual or $3,125 per month.
Alternatively, if you are provided with a
rental rate of $3,500 per month gross for a 1,500 ft.² space, converting this
to a per square foot rent is as follows:
$3,500 per month X
12 = $42,000 per annum / 1,500 ft.² = $28.00/ft.²
Now that you know how to calculate and
compare net and gross rental rates…which one is better? A net lease or a gross lease?...well it
depends which side of the lease you are standing on. The main difference between a net and gross
lease, comes down to who shoulders the risk of increasing operating costs. Under a gross lease, a tenant has committed
to a set amount of rent for the lease term.
If the operating costs increase during the term of that lease term, the
landlord “eats” those costs, thereby cutting into his/her effective rent. Under a net lease however, the Additional
Rent charged for operating costs fluctuates throughout the term of the
lease. Since landlords are recharging
the tenants for common area costs, any increases are simply passed on to the
tenant. Tenants may prefer a gross lease
since it represents a steady and guaranteed rent, and no risk of increasing
common area costs during the length of the lease. Landlords on the other hand tend to prefer a
net lease where there is a steady and guaranteed base rent, and any risk of
increased expenses is simply passed along to the tenant.
Ashley Urquhart is the Senior Manager of our Brokerage Division. She has a vast network of contacts and would be happy to assist you with all your leasing needs. Feel free to contact Ashley at (902) 429-1811 or aurquhart@turnerdrake.com.
Specific Claims are launched by a First Nation band against the
Government of Canada for historic grievances, typically over issues like
unfulfilled treaty obligations, loss of reserve lands and mishandled First
Nation funds. The most common cases that cross our desk involve the sale of
reserve lands by the government of the day without the Band’s consent, either
because it was never surrendered by them or because it was invalidly surrendered.
The events are always historic and quite often pre-date Confederation
– a time when settlers were actively seeking to establish themselves in the new
world and the government of the day was eagerly trying to accommodate them
through grants and leases of land. And
sometimes that happened to be unsurrendered reserve land.
Those readers with a penchant for all things historical will find
interesting reading on the origins of these claims by researching King George III’s
“Proclamation of 1763”, issued in those turbulent times of squabbling between
the French and the British. It imposed a fiduciary duty of care on the Crown
which endures to this day, and is enshrined in the Constitution Act of
1982. Heady stuff.
Our involvement in these files begins when the historical research has
been done and the claim has been accepted by the government for negotiation.
The stage is then set for negotiations to begin over the amount of compensation
that the FN should receive from the Government of Canada.
The structure within which these negotiations take place is laid out
in federal government guidelines. The first, released in 1982, set out the
policy on specific claims and established guidelines for the assessment of
claims and negotiations. These were tweaked under successive governments but
the fundamentals remain the same. They
can currently be found in the document entitled “Specific Claims Policy and
Process Guide”, available online and currently (still) under review.
We have been actively engaged on claim files in the Maritime provinces
since the company began over 40 years ago – impressive, but a mere blink of the
eye within the context of the time periods actually covered by these types of
claims. Our involvement occurs in one of two ways. 1.
As an independent Consultant, hired under a
joint terms of reference to calculate the ingredients of the claim, which then
forms the platform for negotiations between the parties. 2.
As a Technical Expert on behalf of the First
Nation, advising their negotiation and legal team on the technical aspects of
the claim, ensuring that the process follows the guidelines and that the FN
receives the compensation it is due.
We have represented (or continue to represent in currently active
claims) over half a dozen First Nations throughout NS and NB, usually in the role
of Technical Expert.
The structure of a claim is set out in the guideline and usually there
are two components, calculated separately but intrinsically linked through the
historical record. (1) Current Unimproved Market Value - Where a
claimant band can establish that certain of its reserve lands were never
lawfully surrendered, or otherwise taken under legal authority, the band shall
be compensated either by the return of the lands or by the current unimproved
value of the lands. A relatively straight forward process….. (2) Historical Loss of Use -
Compensation will include an amount based on the loss of use of the lands in
question, where it can be established that the claimants did in fact suffer
such a loss. This can include losses from timber, agriculture, minerals and
aggregates, fishing rights, land rental losses and a myriad of other
components. A far from simple process,
often involving experts from different fields … and forests. The claim clock
begins when the lands where first taken – usually 100 years or more in the
past.
The process is not a quick one.
Reconstructing historical events – and placing a value on them - takes time and
diligence. This is no splash-and-dash
appraisal job. And rightly so because
there is much at stake here. Claims typically run into the millions of dollars
and the calculations behind them must withstand robust scrutiny by both
sides. The cost of righting past wrongs
does not come cheaply – or quickly.
Lee Weatherby is the Vice President of our Counselling Division. If you'd like more information about our counselling services, feel free to contact Lee at (902) 429-1811 or lweatherby@turnerdrake.com
Happy
GIS Week! We were working recently on an assignment in the
Annapolis Valley, the land of orchards and sloping vineyards…and that got us
thinking about the impact of elevation on land area. Ultimately, the question is one of land
value: inherent in the value of agricultural land is potential crop yield. More land area equals more growing potential equals
more value. Where slopes are acceptable
or even advantageous, they may serve double duty in that sloped land is larger
than it seems. Our Valuation Division’s MO is to maximise your property
value…this is an Economic Intelligence Unit blog post, and this is GIS Week, so
we’re going to geek out on how to ensure you’re counting all your land, using a GIS, a little high school math, and a fair
bit of Pythagoras[i]. Pythagoras’ Theorem defines the relationship between the
sides of a right triangle with the equation a² + b² = c². Side “c” is the hypotenuse, and is always the
longest of the three sides.
For illustrative
purposes, we created a convenient, perfectly rectangular, parcel. It measures 500 x 1,150 m, for a total area
of 575,000 m² (57.5 hectares).
That is:
 But the land comprising
this parcel is sloped. The contour lines
added to the image below demonstrate the degree of the slope; on average, there
is an elevation differential between the highest and lowest elevations of 140
m.
Thus, the 500 m parcel dimension is effectively 519.2 m: 
and
the effective land area is 597,080 m²
(59.7 ha.), a difference of 22,080 m²
– over 2 hectares of extra space for crops!
This
is a highly simplified example of the impact of slope on land area. There are many other factors to take into
account, such as the tipping point between beneficial slopes and unusable
inclines. But in a world where “land:
they’re not making any more of it,” holds true, the most informed decisions are
the best ones. Where a precise figure is
required, you’ll need to call in a professional land surveyor. But when an area scaled from a map is fit for
purpose, using a GIS and a little high school math can yield a more useful
number than you’d get from a regular map.
P.S.
a related fun fact was shared at Wednesday night’s Geomatics on the Town event (part
of the 2018 Geomatics Atlantic Conference): tree planters space their seedlings
at a certain distance from each other.
For one tree planter, this was the equivalent of 3 steps on flat ground,
but on sloped terrain, it was 12 steps in order to leave sufficient room
between trees!
[i]
Mainly for defining the relationship between the sides of a right triangle, but
a little bit for first floating the idea that the Earth is a sphere...it comes
into play in measuring distance. There
are two methods of measurement in a GIS, Cartesian and Spherical. The Cartesian method calculates distance and
areas based on data as projected onto a flat surface (like scaling from a paper
map), while the Spherical method accounts for the curved surface of the Earth
(like scaling on a globe). The distances
in this example were measured in MapInfo using the Spherical method.
Alex Baird Allen is the Manager of Turner Drake's Economic Intelligence Unit, and has a high level of expertise and interest in GIS. If you'd like to reach Alex, call 902-429-1811 Ext.323 (HRM), 1-800-567-3033 (toll free), or email ABairdAllen@turnerdrake.com
Why Hire a Commercial Broker? How a Commercial Broker Adds Value in Real
Estate Transactions
There are ample online and
offline resources available at your fingertips to help you purchase or sell a
commercial property on your own – so why hire a broker? If you have the time,
negotiating skills, real estate market information, and understand your target
market and how to reach them, you don’t!
However, unless you can say
yes to all of the above, here is how a commercial Broker adds value to your
transaction:
1. Your time is valuable. Letting a Broker do the heavy lifting and
deal with “tire kickers” allows you to focus on your business.
2. Brokers have the contacts
and resources to market your listing or find you a suitable property, ensuring
all opportunities are uncovered.
3. Brokers understand your
target market and how to reach them.
4. Brokers do not have an
emotional attachment to the property or transaction.
5. Brokers are often members
of local real estate associations, which can provide you with access/exposure
to the MLS system in addition to their own websites, social media platforms,
and databases.
6. Brokers have the inside
track on market data, sales transactions, planning considerations and players
in the market who are looking to purchase or sell commercial properties. They can
help you determine a reasonable price and can help maximise market exposure.
7. Brokers know how to
properly measure a building and collect the property information required, such
as any material latent defects that must be disclosed in a transaction, which
can avoid future lawsuits.
8. Brokers prepare Purchase
& Sale Agreements, Counter Offers, etc. on your behalf, saving you from hiring
a lawyer to assist with these items.
So, once you’ve decided to
hire a commercial broker, how do you choose which broker/brokerage to represent
you? The short answer is to simply hire the broker with whom you feel most
comfortable. There are many excellent commercial brokers locally, so meet with
a few, ask them questions, and choose the broker you feel will best represent
you, and who understands your wants and needs. Each commercial broker has their
own strengths; it is up to you to determine which one is the best fit for your
organisation.
As Senior Manager of our Brokerage Division, Ashley Urquhart assists
both landlords and tenants meet their space requirements, and vendors and
purchasers optimise their property portfolios. For more real estate brokerage advice, you can reach her at
aurquhart@turnerdrake.com or 1 (800) 567-3033.
October 7th
through 13th is Fire Prevention Week in Canada. With firefighters in Nova Scotia responding
to over 1,400 fire related incidents in 2016/2017, it is important to ensure
that you have the resources in place to help tenants safely clear a property in
the event of a fire.
The theme of this year’s Fire Prevention Week is “Look. Listen. Learn. Be aware. Fire can happen anywhere.” The “learn” component of this year’s them refers to the need for everyone to learn two ways out of every room. We can help. 
Our LaserCAD® team is able to assist with “learning” by creating fire escape diagrams for your building. We can add additional crucial details to your fire escape diagrams by including the locations of fire extinguishers, pull stations, hose cabinets, and emergency lighting, as well as clearly indicating escape routes. These maps allow tenants to quickly identify an escape route and the location of fire safety equipment in the event of an emergency. We can also customise the diagrams as needed, showing separate escape routes for each individual tenant space and noting any other relevant details, such as muster locations. You may not be able to predict when a fire will occur, but you CAN plan for it. For further information feel free to reach out to any one of our Lasercad® space measurement experts at (902)-429-1811 or toll free at 1-800-567-3033.
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It is a common misconception that a piece
of real estate has a single value. This
is simply not true. Determining which
value is appropriate likely has the biggest impact on property value.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’
Global Valuation Standards, specify six types of real estate value (Market, Rental,
Equitable, Investment, Synergistic, and Liquidation). The Appraisal Institute
(of America) has identified ten distinct, and valid, property valuation bases in
common use in North America. Legislation, case law, and the purpose of the real
estate assignment, result in many variations of these property valuation bases.
Any conversation about valuing your property has to start therefore with
an understanding of the purpose of the valuation assignment or you can end up
with a conclusion which is worthless at best, or seriously misleading at worst.
Let’s discuss the
two most common types of value.
Market Value (Highest and Best Use) is typically quoted and understood by many (including
appraisers) to be the only type of value.
It is the highest price you would get for your property on a specific
date, if it was offered for sale, properly marketed, and exposed for a
sufficient period of time to alert and allow all potential purchasers to submit
offers. It assumes that both seller and
buyer are knowledgeable of property values, that neither are under pressure to
sell or buy, are typically motivated, and are each acting in their best
interest. It assumes a cash purchase, or typical mortgage financing, in
Canadian dollars. It also anticipates that the purchaser will be able to put
the property to its “Highest and Best” use, which may for example, include
redevelopment, if this will create a higher value than the existing use of the
property.
But beware, Market
Value is not the
price you could expect to get if the purchaser (1) was an adjoining owner, (2) was
undertaking a land assembly, (3) was a relative or business associate, (4) knew
something that the vendor should have known but did not, (5) did not know
something known to the vendor of which the purchaser should have been aware,
(6) wanted a “vendor take back” mortgage, (7) intended to lease back the
property to the vendor, (8) enjoyed a negotiating advantage because, for
example, the vendor was in dire financial straits, … and so on.
I was recently contacted by an
existing client looking to secure financing for their property located on the
Halifax Peninsula. Their property was
improved with an older, single storey commercial building. The underlying land was worth considerably
more than the building and property under its current use. After discussing the purpose of the
assignment with the client and their bank, it became clear that the bank was
interested in more than just the Market
Value (Highest and Best Use) of the property in this instance. The bank’s goal was to determine if the
income generated by the property, under its current use, was sufficient to keep the lights on and pay the existing mortgage. However, the bank also wanted to know what
they could expect to sell the property for if they ended up taking possession
of it and selling it on the open market. Effectively, the bank had two different
goals which gave rise to two different values.
We completed a thorough analysis of
the property and provided the owner, and their bank with two values (1) Market Value (Highest and Best Use), which in this
case was for redevelopment of the property, and (2) Market Value (Value in Use) as it currently exists
without regard to redevelopment potential.
Market Value (Value in Use) is similar to Market Value (Highest and Best
Use) but is based on the assumption that your property could only be utilised
for its existing purpose.
Difference in Value
In this instance the
difference in value was significant: $1.5 million (Market Value - Value in Use)
versus $2.3 million (Market Value – Highest and Best Use). Both values were included and supported in
the report, allowing the bank to make an informed decision on lending.
Looking for explanations on the different types of values listed
above? Visit our Valuation and Advisory
Services site https://www.turnerdrake.org/WhichValue for more information on the various types of values.
Nigel Turner, Vice President of our Valuation Division, can be reached at nigelturner@turnerdrake.com
The Halifax Regional Municipality is in the throes of moving its
long awaited Centre Plan from draft to reality. With the first package of
draft policy and regulation released in late February, it’s come a long way
from the high-level guiding document that Turner Drake assisted with in 2016.
However, there is still a ways to go. As one might imagine, when replacing
multiple planning policy and development regulation documents for the most
dynamic and complex urban environment in Atlantic Canada, the devil is truly in
the details.
One of the biggest details being grappled with is the deployment
of density bonusing, which is principally designed as an affordable housing
tool. Depending on what you read, the current framework may actually backfire by
delivering no affordable housing and even drive up market-rate housing prices
by suppressing supply, or it may be perfectly fine and a good replacement for
present ad hoc negotiations which are falling
short of the Centre Plan’s achievable outcomes. Either way it provides
an opportunity to highlight the perks and pitfalls of this increasingly common
strategy.
What is Density Bonusing?
Density bonusing is a planning policy tool whereby new development
projects can access higher regulatory limits on built area in return for
provision of some public benefit. In other words, trade height for amenities.
It is sound in concept. The value of urban land (but not the buildings on it)
is primarily driven by where it is located, and what can be done on it. Thus,
it is value created by our collective society through the infrastructure and
services provided to it, the legal framework that governs it, and the
surrounding public and private activities which would make one desire a
particular location over another. When local governments “add density” by
increasing regulatory limits over what is currently anticipated by the market
(i.e. already reflected in its price), they literally create additional land
value out of thin air. In requiring a developer to provide public benefits for
this added density, local governments are recapturing the value they created in
the first place.
There is an obvious tension here in terms of why this ‘bonus’
density was not permitted in the first place, but in the messy world of
city-building, ideological purity will always lose to practicality. Density
bonusing thus becomes something akin to racketeering: nice development
application you’ve got there… what say you give us some art and affordable
housing, and maybe that shadow ain’t so bad anymore.
How Does it Work?
While it’s a clear win-win in concept, it can be complex in
practice. There are four important factors that determine whether or not
density bonusing works on a given site:
·
the value of the property as it exists today
·
the value of the land if purchased for redevelopment
·
the value created by adding bonus density
·
the value captured through required public benefits
It is important to note that all but the last factor on this list
are determined by the real estate market. The value captured is set by the
municipality, and is typically based on an estimation of the value of the bonus
density. In HRM, the tradeoff of density for benefits is structured under a
predefined framework. Other municipalities negotiate these arrangements on a
case-specific basis, but this approach it generally used in far larger centres
due to the complexity and sophistication involved.
Roughly speaking, development projects are feasible in areas where
the market price for land exceeds the value of properties as currently
developed. Adding a density bonusing program to the mix will increase the
redevelopment value, but also add a new cost in the form of requisite public
benefits. On net, this is usually a positive value; these programs are designed
to recapture only a portion of the value they create.
It should be apparent that density bonusing is not, in principle,
a drag on development. In fact, a properly designed program should improve the
feasibility of existing projects and even increase the total pool of viable
projects where the net positive addition of value (bonus density minus benefit
cost) actually tips the balance of feasibility. For all intents and purposes,
this is indistinguishable from a basic upzoning.
Where Can It Go Wrong?
There are plenty of opportunities for density bonusing programs to
go awry, but most are the usual pitfalls of any public policy. There needs to
be a logical and efficient administration process. The program needs to be
supported by accurate data so that its function lives up to its intent.
Appropriate buffers needs to be left to account for secondary costs and added
overhead created by the program itself. There needs to be additional mechanisms
in place to deal with the outputs (this is an important topic of conversation
in the Centre Plan context, in which the majority of benefit is supposed to be
in the form of affordable housing while the municipality has no formal
jurisdiction or established programming).
However, the fundamental issue of whether a density bonusing
program works is the value relationship between what is proposed, and what
exists today. Most of the debate and discussion in HRM has been focussed on
aspects of the former: what is the best value capture rate to use, what is the
right threshold for triggering the bonus requirements, what are the correct
value assumptions? Important questions, but their answers are all derived from
the latter issue, not determined in a vacuum.
At the scale of a city, form follows finance. Whether density
bonusing is implemented or ignored by the private sector will ultimately depend
on whether the total value of entitled and bonus density, less the cost of
delivering it (development costs plus public benefit), is a sweeter deal than
exists today. If a profit incentive exists, a badly designed program will still
deliver. If a perfectly designed program equates to a downzoning, don’t count on
anything happening until prices rise, or losses are written off.
How to Get it Right?
As municipal planning increasingly makes use of economic and
market-based tools (and it should) it also needs to expand its understanding of
the principles and systems that underpin them. Weight does need to be placed on
the market conditions of the present given their influence on the future (to
say nothing of the municipality’s complicity in forming them).
The traditional approach would state planning policies cannot be
captive to past practices and existing conditions, otherwise change would never
be possible. While this is true, it is not justification for being willfully
ignorant either. Understanding the basic value relationship between today's
conditions and those proposed under new policy is the key to understanding
whether density bonusing, or any planning policy for that matter, will deliver
on its promise. [1].jpg)
Neil Lovitt, our Senior Manager of Planning
& Economic Intelligence can be reached at 429-1811 ext. 349 (HRM), 1 (800)
567-3033 (toll free), or nlovitt@turnerdrake.com.
The Building Owners and Managers
Association (BOMA) publishes measurement standards for office, industrial,
retail, and mixed use spaces. These
measurement standards provide guidelines for measuring the area occupied by each
tenant within a building and, when appropriate, allocating common spaces.
BOMA states that if a building
contains a single occupancy type comprising 51% or more of the total building
area, the corresponding standard should be used. In other words, the building owner does not
have the right to simply choose the standard that best serves their interests.
Given the ubiquity of commercial buildings that can be used for both office and retail uses, particularly in suburban and
rural areas, it is critical to understand the differences between these
standards.
Boundary Condition
Where does my measure line extend
to? One of the most important differences between the Retail and Office
Standards is how the measure line differs for exterior enclosures. The Gross Leasable Area of a retail building
is measured to the outside face of
the exterior walls. Under the Office Standard
the measure line for the exterior enclosure is the dominant portion of the inside finished surface. The dominant
portion is the finished surface that comprises over 50% of the vertical height,
measured from floor to ceiling (not exceeding 8 ft.). This difference can be significant. The illustration below shows how a unit
measured to the Retail Standard (right) captures more area than a unit measured
to the Office Standard (left) based on this condition:
 Allocation of
Common Area
Under the Office Standard, building
owners can allocate to each tenant their proportionate share of common area. This
process of “grossing-up” the tenant’s space means each unit has two areas: a Tenant Area (the space physically occupied
by the tenant), as well as a Rentable
Area (the Tenant Area plus a proportionate share of common space). In a retail building this is not the case, as
this Standard does not allow for the grossing up of common areas. Under the
Retail Standard, Gross Leasable Area is simply the area designed for the exclusive use of an occupant with no share of
common area.
Consider a hypothetical office
unit with a Tenant Area of 1,250 ft.2 located within a building that
contains three additional units of the same size and 200 ft.2 of common
area. Each unit comprises ¼ of the total
Tenant Area, and is allocated 25% of the common area (25% x 200 ft.2
= 50 ft.2) making the Rentable Area of the unit 1,300 ft.2
(blue overlay on left side graphic below). If this were a retail building the
Gross Leasable Area would be 1,322 ft.2 as this unit would simply be
measured to the exterior face of all exterior walls, while excluding any allocation
of building common areas (green overlay on right side graphic below).
These are just two of the many
differences between the Retail and Office Standards. With a total of six BOMA Measurement
Standards it is critical to verify that the correct standard has been applied
to your building, and that your space has been certified to verify its accuracy. .jpg) Mitchell Jones splits his time between Turner Drake's Lasercad® and Valuation Divisions. For further information feel free to reach out to him, or any one of our space measurement experts at (902)-429-1811 or toll free at 1-800-567-3033.
Of Heaven and Sea and Earth 
Please be suitably impressed by
this photo: it has all three of a church, a lighthouse and a commercial
heritage building
Five years ago, the Chronicle
Herald reported that some of Nova Scotia’s churches were exploring the option
of deregistering their buildings’
heritage status under the provincial Heritage Property Act. Nova Scotia’s churches are often their town’s
signature property, featuring architectural details ranging from elaborate
stained glass windows to ceilings built by 19th century shipwrights
using the same techniques used on the hulls of wooden ships. But cultural and demographic shifts have
reduced demand for churches in the province. Dwindling congregations mean reduced budgets
unable to cope with the high costs of maintaining and operating historic
properties. Deregistration is required
for demolition, the only option some congregations saw in the face of financial
realities: maintenance requirements outweighed the ability to keep these
architectural gems standing. Recent
years have seen other churches amalgamate congregations, keeping and
maintaining a single building while selling the rest off for (hopefully
sympathetic) redevelopment. 
Wolfville United Church as it was A more literal beacon facing a
similar threat of extinction is the Canadian lighthouse. Changing technologies have rendered redundant
their function, if not their cultural attraction. In May 2008, Parliament passed the Heritage
Lighthouse Protection Act, a bill to designate and preserve lighthouses of
historic significance. It took effect in
May 2010, only to be followed in June by an announcement declaring almost all
Canadian lighthouses surplus, no longer to be maintained by the Coast Guard. Since then, community groups have become the
champions of select historic lighthouses, while the rest, presumably, will
suffer the same fate as many an unfortunate ship along our rocky coasts.  Peggy’s Cove lighthouse, a likely survivor
The foregoing each illustrate the
perils of functional obsolescence: when a building’s functionality no longer
meets market demands only its cultural significance can protect it – and then
only if a champion steps up, e.g. government, community group, or passionate
property owner. Urban heritage
properties are particularly susceptible to rising functional obsolescence due
to the high value of the land on which they sit: the financial rewards of
redevelopment contrast starkly with the economic pitfalls of retaining and
maintaining them. Demolition is tempting.
This year we celebrate Canada 150. With our history and heritage, for better or worse,
on prominent display, we decided to turn our attention to the uphill battle
faced by commercial heritage properties in Halifax.
Size Matters
Hemlines are the
harbinger of stock prices. Construction
of the tallest skyscraper
marks the dawn of recession. Floorplates
sound the death knell of heritage properties?
 Open concept office-in-waiting
Downtown heritage buildings in
Atlantic Canada are at an inherent disadvantage versus modern construction
because they are simply too small. Even
30-year-old buildings are feeling the strain imposed by their new, more
spacious contemporaries, whose design is able to accommodate demand for open
concept offices. In Halifax, total demand
has yet to catch up with new supply. Rental rates are restricted and tenants
can afford to move into the new buildings, leaving the last generation of Class
A office space struggling to stay relevant – and occupied. The trend is toward larger floorplates as companies
are opting for large, open concept offices with collaborative workspaces and
few individual offices. Downtown Halifax
doesn’t have a supply of unused historic warehouses with high ceilings and large
floorplates ripe for conversion well suited to modern tastes. Instead, our heritage
properties are mainly small buildings, 3-6 storeys high and with floor plates
between 1,000 and 6,000 square feet (typically at the lower end of this
range).
Halifax has a few examples of
what can be done to overcome this drawback.
Barrington Espace and the RBC Waterside Centre both maintained the façades
of a number of adjacent heritage properties while completely overhauling their
innards, joining the buildings within to allow for larger floorplates (Saint
John’s CentreBeam Place is another example of where this technique was used
successfully). If done carefully, this
can present a best of both worlds compromise.
If not, the result may be the Disneyfication of heritage: it looks about
right, but there’s no soul. Either way,
it is not an option for detached heritage properties: they are left to find
occupants happy with the original floorplates size. 
Barrington Espace, RBC Waterside Centre, CentreBeam Place…thanks, Google
Street View! Finding a Fit Heritage properties need a
certain tenant. The predominant
competitor of the heritage office building is the home office: to attract a
tenant away from this “free” space, a historic building must provide cachet and
interest, and must find a tenant who wants (or needs) both as marketing tools
for their business. Heritage tenants are
drawn from a pool of largely creative firms represented by public relations and
marketing firms, IT companies, and (interestingly) employment recruiting
agencies. Often, these firms are start-ups;
there is a symbiotic relationship between the two, with the heritage property
providing an inspiring ambiance (and maybe cheap rent: see below), and the
company providing income and life to the building. What the heritage property has more trouble
providing is a flexible workspace that can grow with the company. When they become too large for their space,
they must seek a larger floorplate in a more modern building. There is a happy medium: mid-sized companies
who could occupy an entire heritage property as a single tenant. But in Atlantic Canada, most companies are
either large or small, a by-product of provincial regulatory demands which
force companies to “get large or go under” (Atlantic Canada is made up of four
small provinces each with their own regulatory requirements for businesses:
half the population and half the land area of any other province, but four
times the regulations…but this is a topic for another day). The Champions There are three classes of
champions for heritage properties: passionate owners (hopefully with deep
pockets), community groups who recognize the social benefit of maintaining our
built heritage, and governments which either have a measure of both these
characteristics or are open to the influence of those who do.
Heritage property owners must
appreciate the unique features of old buildings. To quote one (you’ll never guess who), they
“speak to you in a way new buildings don’t.
There is a sense of calm, a personality.
They have been there for centuries, and if the economics can work, they
will be there long after you’ve turned to dust.” Ah, the economics. Heritage properties in Halifax do not attract
a rental premium as they do in some larger cities, such as Toronto’s trendy Distillery District. There may be a purchase premium, albeit not driven
solely by heritage, but location as well, due to the prime situation some
heritage properties enjoy by virtue of having gotten there first. Halifax’s downtown is distinguished by its
waterfront; heritage properties with a connection to it in particular may enjoy
a purchase premium, provided this connection is maintained (pause now to be
thankful for the public outcry that halted “Harbour Drive” before it
started…and hopeful that the redevelopment of its first phase, the Cogswell
Interchange, will be successful in repairing the fabric of the area).  Toronto’s Distillery District, as modelled by a pair of junior TDPers There is a social benefit to
heritage properties, usually external to the site itself. A 2011
study by Place Economics highlighted six areas of positive economic impact
attributed to heritage preservation: jobs, property values, heritage tourism,
environmental impact, social impact and downtown revitalization. Heritage properties differentiate cities from
one another, providing a unique draw to residents, visitors and immigrants
alike. The world’s most successful
cities have vibrant heritage architecture, often interspersed with modern
buildings. Community groups recognize
this and fight to preserve historic built environments, but it is often the building
owners who fund these broader social benefits by bearing the increased costs of
renovation and upkeep. It is here that
governments can play a vital role via heritage preservation policies, but they
must take care that they get them right.
Incentivise or incense? Halifax Regional Municipality
recently commissioned a study to investigate heritage incentives. However structured, these are a means by
which society as a whole, via taxes, can help pay for the social benefit of
heritage properties. Two of the largest
pitfalls of which governments must be wary when enacting policies to protect
heritage properties both involve the risk of (inadvertently) penalizing
property owners. The first is the more obvious
one, wherein the owner of a protected building is prevented from redeveloping a
site to a more lucrative density, diminishing the ability to make money from
the property and potentially its market value.
One avenue available to the city is to compensate the property owner for
the diminished value by purchasing the air rights, i.e. the space above the
building in which they would otherwise be allowed to build, but are prevented
by heritage preservation policy. This
could be accomplished either directly, with the municipality retaining
ownership of the air rights, or by opening the market for air rights trading, allowing
heritage property owners to sell their air rights to developers of non-heritage
sites to increase the allowable height on their sites. (Yes, this has the potential to open another
can of worms, but it’s a good theory if the policy is well thought out). The second potential pitfall lies
in supporting some, but not all heritage properties; such as with the creation
of a heritage preservation zone. While
those properties (and their owners) located within the zone stand to benefit
from financial incentives offered by the municipality, any heritage properties
outside the zone are placed at greater disadvantage. Still competing against larger modern
buildings, they are now on an uneven field against their direct (heritage)
competition. The supported properties
have the money to modernize without deficit to their owners’ bottom line, while
unsupported properties are further penalized physically and financially. For more on heritage rights and
wrongs, don’t miss our Summer 2017 newsletter, coming soon to a mailbox near
you. If you are not already subscribed
to this informative and gutsy publication, please get in touch with us at
902-429-1811 or tdp@turnerdrake.com.
Alexandra Baird Allen is the Manager of our Economic Intelligence Unit,
a position which makes surprisingly good use of her liberal arts degree in
history & cultural studies, as well as her expertise in GIS. For more information on our Economic
Intelligence Products, visit our website or contact Alex at 902-429-1811 ext. 323 or abairdallen@turnerdrake.com.
(Image via Global News)
Symptoms of an Election
In the run up to the now transpiring Nova Scotia provincial election, our governing party engaged in the time-honoured tradition of the spending announcement roadshow. A few million for a community centre here, a few million more for an overpass there, culminating finally in the double whammy of a new outpatient facility in suburban Halifax, and toll-free twinning of several sections of highway.
Unlike most spending announcements, the outpatient facility drew immediate criticism. While the highway twinning has started to attract some rightful critique, the patently foolish choice of locating a medical facility in the retail backlands of a dysfunctional industrial park was apparent to many; not the least of which being senior municipal staff who’d advised the Province of these issues months prior. Embarrassingly, the location is a miserable failure when measured against the Province’s own aging population action plan, Shift, which it had announced along with nearly $14 million in funding mere weeks before.
As an aside: of the opportunities for criticism of the outpatient location, and there are many, the purchase price of the land is not a fruitful one. Without the benefit of knowing the particular details of the deal, the $12.00/ft² paid by the Province for the raw land includes the cost to bring the site to a state of development-readiness. Land in this condition elsewhere in Bayers Lake has sold in the neighbourhood of $11.50/ft², so this is hardly the 12,000% markup insinuated by some reporters and rival politicians. (For future reference, comparing purchase price to assessed values for development land – or any real estate for that matter – can be extremely misleading. Media Types: if you’re looking for a real estate angle on a story, give me a call… I know some people.)
A Bad Prognosis if Left Untreated
So here’s the rub. Atlantic Canada, as we’ve described many times, is facing a serious demographic crunch that will constrain income tax revenue to the provinces, and property tax revenue to municipalities (in Nova Scotia, see Canso, Springhill, Hantsport, and Parrsboro for a preview). Given the scale of these trends, immigration is not likely to alleviate this difficulty. This means public investment utilises increasingly precious dollars; long gone is the time where we could rely on growth to overcome poor decisions.
Yet, public capital spending is and will remain one of the most significant factors in the trajectory of our communities. The provision and location of these facilities influences development trends for decades. A new medical facility is not just a site for convenient patient care. It is also a major employer, and consumer of both public and private services. It generates broader impacts; spinoffs that if harnessed properly can enhance the benefits of other facilities, strengthen neighbourhoods and local business, and mitigate future infrastructure costs. A newly twinned highway is not just a safety improvement for the travelling public, it is a half-billion dollars no longer available to be spent on other priorities. We’ve got to get serious, we’ve got to be scrappy, and we have to be careful to maximise the benefits our public spending generates. Opportunities of an equivalent scale from private-sector activity are few and far between.
By narrowly constraining their site selection study (I presume, as this information is also not publicly available), the government has perhaps saved money on the land for the outpatient facility, only to create far greater costs in the form of municipal servicing expenses, diminished economic spinoff, and foregone social benefits. This short-sightedness is not resigned only to our provincial overlords, municipalities large and small consistently miss opportunities to strengthen and improve neighbourhoods or commercial main streets. At best, we have a habit of placing community facilities in a location that only performs well on measures of land price and vehicular accessibility. At worst, it is directed by decades of parochial bickering and ends up in a location agreed to be equally terrible for everyone.
Nice wellness centre you have there, shame about the sidewalk.
(Image via Pictometry ©2015)
Prescription
As the highway twinning issue has shown, no “overwhelming public consensus” is going to emerge on any policy or funding choice other than those promising a free lunch. It is going to take political guts to lead the way: the decisions we need to make are pound-wise at the risk of appearing penny-foolish. Better analysis can help identify the optimal site selection and communicate the wisdom of that choice. A paltry million saved in cheap land will pale in comparison to full lifecycle costs of poorly located public infrastructure. The property taxes generated by that good natured economic development project might never recoup its initial cost. And increasingly, methods are available to help quantify and communicate the broad community and economy strengthening effects that government undertakings can create. A complete approach to site selection and capital project analysis in a time where each dollar counts is the difference between spending decisions that achieve lasting public value instead of fleeting public relations.
.jpg)
Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and we have the skills required to evaluate your options in the context they deserve. Neil Lovitt, our Senior Manager of Planning & Economic Intelligence can be reached at 429-1811 ext. 349 (HRM), 1 (800) 567-3033 (toll free), or nlovitt@turnerdrake.com.
Property tax is by far the most important source of revenue for municipalities in Canada, accounting for 49.5% of revenue in 2008 with an annual average growth rate of 1.6% (1988-2008). As reliance on property tax increases, so does the complexity of administering this regressive but necessary evil. Increased computing power in the mid-1960s prompted a shift towards automation of property tax systems, beginning with simple tasks and culminating in today’s fully automated assessment, notification, and payment systems. Modern Automated Valuation Models (AVMs) allow for rapid processing of data with minimised human-bias… but (and this is a large but) real estate appraisal is a nuanced trade: reducing the role of Appraiser to AVM Technician can have significant negative repercussions.
Service New Brunswick’s ongoing cleanup of their attempt at an AVM is a prospective case study in the dangers of a “hands-off” approach to the valuation process. Massive value errors were created by a computer-driven system with insufficient checks in place to alert users to suspicious results. When reviewed by human appraisers many of the shockingly incorrect valuations were easily overturned based on traditional market comparison valuation. Autopilot replaced the flight crew and actual appraisers are left cleaning up the crash, while their political and bureaucratic colleagues deal with the rightful public outcry.
While seemingly seductive, potential time and cost savings offered by an AVM should never mask the fact that, in order to operate successfully, an AVM must integrate human expertise throughout the valuation process. At Turner Drake the “A” in our in-house AVM stands for Accelerated to reflect the role that expert opinion plays in our two-stage computer-assisted mass appraisal model. Stage One combs through real property sales to select comparable properties based on locally relevant, value-defining attributes such as size, location, and design. Stage Two adjusts and weighs a unique set of comparable sales to create a market-based value estimate for each subject property in an assessment area. Throughout each stage of the model, a professional appraiser defines the selection criteria and adjustment values for comparable properties based on market evidence and local expertise. The model does the heavy lifting but certified appraisers evaluate and refine the results.
Outliers - which no system can avoid - can wreak havoc on the results of an AVM unequipped to handle the inherently diverse nature of real estate. It is critically important to flag potential outliers for review so the model can be adjusted for future assessments. During the initial rollout of an AVM model, refinement is time consuming but absolutely necessary for creating reliable, equitable assessments in successive years. In developing our Accelerated Valuation Model, we put the time in up front so the system flags out of the ordinary results, and the professional appraiser, made aware of the potential issue, is able to quickly and easily account for them.
In a Case Study of condominiums on the Halifax Peninsula, the Turner Drake AVM out-performed PVSC assessment values by a margin of up to 45%. That is, 86% of TDP value estimates were within 5% of an actual time-adjusted sale price versus PVSC’s 41% and 98% of TDP values were within 15% of actual sale price versus PVSC’s 84% in the same pool of properties. Our combination of custom programs and a traditional direct-comparison valuation can produce a list of unique comparables with adjustments for 1,000 properties in about two seconds.
Property tax administration systems are as diverse as the municipalities they serve and every region relies to a degree on the convenience of computers and automation. However, no matter the size or complexity of a property tax system it is important to follow best practices, and learn from the success - or failure - of others. When the pursuit of speed comes at the expense of quality there is a significant risk to the accuracy of valuations and the credibility of the property tax system as a whole.
For more information on how our AVM can benefit you, call James Stephens at 902-429-1811 ext. 346 or email jstephens@turnerdrake.com
Our Economic Intelligence Unit is always on the hunt for new data sources to bolster our maps and feed our spreadsheets: any good analysis begins with high quality data. The majority of our databases are populated with a wealth of information via a process of blood, sweat, and tears (though increasingly data is graciously released by provincial gatekeepers) and it could be that our next trove of valuable data is being cultivated on farms across the Maritimes. The movement of food from field to plate involves numerous stops along the agricultural supply chain and, when property tracked, that data can prove valuable for a host of analytical tasks.
The ability to track an item from Point A to B in a large-scale supply chain is known as traceability. The theory behind it is relevant in all aspects of our lives: be it an Amazon package or a donair pizza, consumers - and businesses - have discovered that real-time knowledge of where a product is, physically, at any point in time is a competitive advantage in terms of marketing and efficiency. Agriculture is no exception. Traceability is already in use as a health risk management tool: it allows for rapid response to health emergencies by identifying exactly where and when afflicted produce or livestock stopped along the supply chain. Efficiently pin-pointing sources of contamination (think E.coli outbreaks) and creating cost-effective responses, such as targeted treatments and recalls, are critical in a modern, globally connected agricultural sector.
In addition to the obvious benefits of using traceability from an epidemiology perspective, there is also major potential for economic spinoff benefits from tracking the movement of agricultural goods. At a recent gathering of Nova Scotian Agrologists, speaker Chris deWaal of Getaway Farm (of Seaport Market fame) touted the very real benefits of offering consumers the entire life history of their food as a competitive advantage over mass-produced “mystery meat.” The introduction of the “Trace My Catch” program for canned seafood provides an example of how seafood processors are embracing traceability as a marketing tool, and provides an indication of the feasibility of doing so. In a province with a growing love affair for all things local it is no surprise that demand for local meat and produce is on the rise.
Benefits beyond health and marketing can be opened with traced agricultural data. Used in conjunction with GIS, the location and density of animals, farms, stockyards, abattoirs, and processing facilities become inputs for site selection and trade area analysis and indicators of economic health in rural economies - an issue of pressing concern for many Nova Scotian communities.
Imagine opening a meat processing and distribution facility to feed growing demand for local, organic products while still maintaining capacity for foreign exports. A standard GIS-based site selection analysis would use static location data (suppliers, purchasers) with network data (highway, rail, sea) to build a short-list of potential development sites which minimize transportation costs for both inputs and outputs. Additional variables such as workforce availability, machinery and equipment suppliers, veterinary services, and property taxes can all be integrated with locational data to suit the needs of the processor. But a standard analysis does not take into account how many animals are produced by individual farms or the variability in production from year to year.
Traceability data can enhance GIS analysis by optimizing site selection so it is based on not just the density of farms within a trade area, but the capacity to bring high volumes of livestock (or produce) efficiently to market. Historic tracking data of individual animals could forecast future production including where livestock are ultimately processed and sold. A savvy processor would use this data to identify opportunities for expansion and generate reliable, defendable business projections.
The agricultural sector already collects traceability data for use in health risk management; leveraging that same wealth of data for marketing and day-to-day business operations is the logical next step. The agricultural sector is a ray of light in the gloom of rural Nova Scotia: according to Statistics Canada’s census, between 2006 and 2011, Nova Scotia was the only province in Canada to see an increase in the number of farms, total farm area, and number of farm operators. Should the 2016 census indicate continued growth, it will clearly indicate that it’s time for all players in the agricultural game to leverage their existing data infrastructure to gain a competitive advantage at home and abroad.
For more information on how spatial analysis can benefit your business, call James Stephens at 902-429-1811 ext. 346 or visit: Economic Intelligence Unit
Finding Answers in the Bottle
Recently our Brokerage Division closed a deal that will see a mid-century commercial building transition from a hair salon to Halifax’s first cidery – a business dedicated to the production and enjoyment of hard ciders. It is the city’s newest addition to the burgeoning craft beverage industry, and by my count, the fifth such business within short walking distance of our head office. Thanks to double digit year-over-year growth in the industry, such businesses have been setting up shop throughout our region, but I have good reason to believe we at Turner Drake are working in the very nexus of Beer Oriented Development.
The craft beverage industry is booming throughout the continent evidently. However, BOD is a specific variant distinguished by integrating the production element the brewery, with the social gathering element of a retail/food service business, wrapping it all in a locally authentic brand identity and plunking it in walking distance to residential neighbourhoods. The term itself was apparently coined in the weary rust-belt city of Buffalo where a pattern of revitalisation lead by the craft brewing industry has been observed in neighbourhoods otherwise dogged by the Midwest’s manufacturing decline and hard hit by the Great Financial Crisis.
Back in our corner of North America, we can certainly attest to the healthy “third place” function of Beer Oriented Development. That is to say, in addition to the production itself, many businesses serve as a nexus for community development outside of the home and workplace. They are small enough operations to revitalise defunct or underused properties without the timeline and complexity of projects requiring land assembly. The size and design of the retail operation typically creates an enjoyable atmosphere and promotes interaction between customers (who are often neighbours). Where the sale and service activities are able to spill outside onto a patio or sidewalk café, they further add to the vitality and liveliness of the entire street. With seemingly endless groups of engineering school buddies (it’s always those engineers) keen to start their own sudsy venture, why do some areas see a flourish of BOD while others simply get an increase in breweries?
The Broken Window Fallacy
There’s a classic economic parable that goes something like this: A baker’s shop window is broken and he hires a glazer to repair it. Passersby observe the glazer at work and remark on the economic activity stimulated by the broken window. Meanwhile, the baker having spent his money on the window now postpones his plan to purchase a larger oven to increase his production. In this way, the passersby are mistaken about the benefit of a broken window because they consider only what they see, and not what they can’t see. That is, they do not consider the opportunity cost; the lost benefits that would have been generated by things that were prevented, often without conscious purpose, from ever happening in the first place.
We don’t often think about opportunity cost in planning. We like to have the initiative; there are no problems that can’t be fixed through the application of more regulation or better policy. In this mindset, it is sometimes easy to lose sight of the fact that many (perhaps even most) good things tend to happen on their own if we leave the space for it. Nevertheless, Halifax, like many Atlantic Canadian cities, does benefit from not having gone too far off the deep end when it comes to land use regulation… at least compared to standard practices west of our region. Consider the present (if outgoing) land use bylaw for the Halifax Peninsula area where residential land use is governed by 6 zones. Contrast that with London Ontario, a city of comparable population and municipal budget, where no less than 17 zones are needed just to regulate single detached housing! Clearly one approach provides more “regulatory space” than the other.
Six of One Ain’t Always a Half Dozen
London, like Halifax, is a university town with no shortage of thirsty students or courageous engineering buddies. Like Halifax, it has its own litany of recently launched microbreweries. And finally, like Halifax, London did not, and does, not specifically target or promote Beer Oriented Development. What London does have is its hyper specific approach to coding land use which classifies microbreweries as “Food, Tobacco, and Beverage Processing Industries” and among the 20+ flavours of commercial zoning, relegates such uses to the “General Industrial” areas of the city. In Halifax, some microbrewers also set up shop in the industrial areas, depending on their business model. However, Beer Oriented Development is mostly occurring under the General Business zone which allows – to paraphrase – basically any business that doesn’t create problems in the area.
The shocking result? All of London’s new microbreweries are segregated into soulless industrial parks. Sure, they’ve got a quality product, backed by the same witty, self-aware marketing, and most even have attached tasting rooms and offer brewery tours, but to access any of it you’ve got to drive out past electrical suppliers and find their docking bay among the other distributers and warehousers. So while both city economies are benefiting from growth in the craft beverage industry, only Halifax is gaining the additional benefits to neighbourhood revitalisation and contributions to a lively pedestrian atmosphere. These are not just intangible perks for urban hipsters. There is a hard dollar cost to London in terms of lost economics spinoffs and unrealised gains in property value, but that cost is the new oven, hidden behind a broken window.
The Future is Delicious
Beer Oriented Development is just a microcosm of a larger dynamic. No one was anticipating an explosion of craft brewing or the potential of BOD when the zoning codes were written twenty years ago, just as the codes we write today do not address a futuristic possibilities like the rise of distributed manufacturing, or an explosion of artificial intelligence. In truth, it’d be foolish if they did. In dealing with an ultimately unknowable future, it is basic human nature to play it safe; control what is knowable, and regulate the unexpected out of existence. The costs of this approach are easy to ignore because we are never fully aware of paying them. Yet, as Beer Oriented Development clearly demonstrates, there is a benefit, indeed a competitive advantage, to the city that sets itself up to embrace the unknowable future and capitalise on the unexpected.
Our Role
What can you build on your property? The answer to this is determined by interpreting the local planning policy and regulation. However these are living documents, and project timelines are often measured in years. Thus, it is essential to not only look at the present-day context, but peer into the future for additional opportunities. This is precisely why all our Planning Policy and Regulatory Review reports contain a Long-term Outlook section.
For a recent client, this feature paid dividends. For their property, the desired outcome would have required multiple amendments and the negotiation of a Development Agreement under present requirements; an expensive and risky process overall. However, by casting a wider gaze in our investigation, we identified an opportunity to pursue the same goals through a larger policy update the municipality was preparing to make. While this didn’t save our client any time, it lowered the risk, and greatly reduced the cost.
We’re finding our Planning Division lends vital assistance to our other areas of operation, improving the detail and delivery time of Valuation, Counselling, Economic Intelligence, Property Tax and Brokerage assignments. More importantly, it creates value for our clients, aiding with development projects big and small.
Whether you’re musing about options or working towards a clear goal, ask Neil Lovitt, our Planning Division Manager, how we can help: 1 (902) 429-1811 (HRM), 1 (800) 567-3033 (toll free), or nlovitt@turnerdrake.com
The City of St. John’s Assessment Division recently mailed out its Year 2017 Assessment Notices dated 20th September 2016. You have until 1st November 2016 to
file your appeal. This is the second year of the tri-annual assessment cycle: a successful
appeal will continue for the remaining two years of the cycle.
The legislated basis for your Year 2017 Assessment is your property’s market value on 1st
January 2014 (the “Base Date”) having regard to its current physical condition. If you filed
an appeal last year and it has been resolved, you have nothing to fear for the remainder of
the re-assessment cycle (assuming your new notice reflects the reduction you secured for
2016). If you did not appeal last year, or your appeal from last year has not yet been
resolved, the time to act is now.
If your property’s market value is less than its assessed value, it is over assessed and you
should file an appeal on or before 1st November 2016. Market value is the price the
property would command if it were sold to an “arm’s length” purchaser (i.e. to a nonrelated
buyer) for cash or subject to conventional financing. It is not necessarily the price
that would persuade you to part with the property but rather the price you could expect if
you decided voluntarily to dispose of the real estate. The best evidence of market value is
the sale prices of similar properties that were sold within six months of 1st January 2014.
If your property is assessed at less than its 1st January 2014 market value, you may still
be over-assessed because the Assessment Act mandates that your property has to be
assessed in a uniform manner. This provision attempts to ensure that the tax load is
spread across the municipality’s property inventory in an equitable manner. It also
discourages the City of St. John’s Assessment Division from deliberately under-assessing
property to thwart appeals. So, if for example, commercial properties are assessed on
average throughout the municipality at 70% of their market value, you will have grounds
for appeal if your property’s assessment exceeds this percentage. If similar properties to
your own are assessed at lower unitised rates (e.g. per square foot for office, industrial
and retail property; per room for hotels, apartments and seniors’ housing), that is also a
sign that you may not be equitably assessed, and may be grounds for appeal.
The Bottom Line: If you did not appeal last year, or your appeal from last year has not
yet been resolved, you get another kick at the can. You should appeal if your property is
assessed at more than, (1) its market value on 1st January 2014, or (2) the assessment of
other, comparable properties… or if you harbour any doubt that your property is overassessed.
A successful appeal will continue for the remaining two years of the reassessment
cycle.
Action Required: If you file an appeal, be careful not to restrict your grounds of appeal.
We recommend that you use the following wording: “The assessment is excessive, unfair,
not uniform with other assessments, and any other grounds that may appear.” If you
prefer, we will file the appeal for you. For advice on whether to appeal, call our
Newfoundland Tax Team, André Pouliot or Mark Turner at (709) 722-1811 (St. John’s) or
1-800-567-3033 (toll free), or email them at apouliot@turnerdrake.com or
markturner@turnerdrake.com.
As a recent addition to the Turner Drake team, one of the first major jobs I worked on was collecting data for our December 2015 Market Survey of leasable office and warehouse space in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Given my experience of Newfoundland was limited to a couple trips to visit my girlfriend’s family, being tasked with getting a handle on an entire city’s office and warehouse market seemed a daunting task. However, it has proven to be one of the best learning experiences during my first year at Turner Drake. As a newcomer to the real estate industry, speaking with building owners and managers gave me insight into the issues they were facing, and a more intimate understanding of the market in Newfoundland than I expected to develop in such a short period of time. After such a positive experience, I was excited to be tasked with collecting data on the St. John’s market again for our June 2016 survey.
The June survey is smaller than the December survey: we only gather data on the office markets, with the exception of HRM, where we surveyed both the office and warehouse markets. Don’t think that this means it was an easy job: at Turner Drake, “smaller” rarely means small.
To ensure our data collection met the rigorous standards of our ISO 9001:2008 quality standard certification, our surveyors undertook a month-long data gathering process. We began by compiling an inventory of every new office or industrial space with a minimum rentable area of 5,000 ft.2 in our five target markets (St. John’s, Moncton, Fredericton, Saint John and Halifax). As the number of cranes on our cities’ skylines attest, this was no mean feat. However, this was just the beginning.
The meat and potatoes of the data gathering process is distributing and following up on more than 550 surveys for our June report (and more than 900 for the December version). We begin by sending every one of our contacts an Inventory Form for each of the buildings they are responsible for. This year, we took a bold step forward and sent the survey forms by… email! If we’re lucky, the respondents complete the form with information on the size of their buildings, the current vacancies, the rental rates they are realizing, and a few other pertinent details. Then they check the little box saying “Please send me a copy of the final report” and we’re done. However, things are rarely that easy, and Turner Drake surveyors won’t rest until the job is done! If we don’t receive a response, we send a follow-up email, and if that isn’t returned, we call, and if our calls aren’t returned, we call again… and again… and again… until we get the data we need.
After all of the data has been gathered, it is entered into our CompuVal™ system. CompuVal™ allows us to track vacancy and rental rates over time for both individual buildings and entire markets, as well as analyze the data to predict future trends. To ensure no errors are made, our surveyors review each other’s work, “cleaning up” typos or other mistakes.
All told, the data gathering process can take several hundred hours to complete. For our June surveys, our four surveyors spent more than 330 hours gathering data. This is the point where we turn things over to our Economic Intelligence Unit, who work their magic by taking the raw data and turning it into a vibrant picture of the local market.
If you’re interested in learning more about our Market Surveys or purchasing a copy, give our Economic Intelligence Unit a call at (902)-429-1811 or visit our website.
Written by Colin Walsh, Consultant in our Lasercad® and Valuation Divisions. To learn more about Colin, visit our Facebook page to see his Featured Consultant article.
You have just 10 days left to reduce your property tax burden for 2016. The appeal period expires at midnight 31st December. A successful appeal now is a gift that keeps on giving . . . since this is the first year of the tri-annual re-assessment cycle, the reduction in your assessment will continue through three full years.
Commercial property assessments increased by an average of 21.4% for next year in St. John’s. This would not matter if municipalities exercised the same fiscal restraint as the private sector and held the line on spending. They would then be able to drop the tax rate by a commensurate amount. Unfortunately this does not happen: the temptation is just too great. Initially they tend to reduce the tax rate somewhat but then it rapidly regresses to its pre-assessment level. Our research clearly shows that municipalities quickly expand their spending to take advantage of their “increased fiscal capacity”. For most commercial properties, realty taxes are second in line only to debt service as a percentage of the rent. Irrespective of whether you pay the taxes directly or recharge them to your tenants, property taxes have a direct impact on your bottom line since tenants will ultimately seek rent relief if their gross rent, including taxes, falls out of line with competing properties. Be proactive, property taxes should be managed like any other expense. Effective property tax management requires a solid understanding of the assessment process.
The basis for your Year 2016 assessed value, is your property’s Market Value on 1st January 2014 (the “base date”). In practice the market value requirement is often cited by the City of St. John’s Assessment Division and other assessment authorities in defence of their assessed values, but in our experience property is often assessed at less than Market Value to discourage appeals. Of course it would not matter if all property were under-assessed by the same percentage amount since the tax load would still be distributed equitably: but such is not the case. Fortunately the Assessment Act does provide protection against such shenanigans by including a requirement that all properties in each municipality be assessed in a uniform manner ... so like properties should carry similar assessments. In practice it is not quite this simple: you have to compare the sum of all commercial assessments in the municipality with their aggregate market value ... a herculean task unless you have access to the City of St. John’s Assessment Division database. Since they are unlikely to be that generous we have compiled our own database to assist you. We can also run a variety of analyses comparing your property’s assessment with others in its peer group.
The Bottom Line: You should appeal if your property is assessed at more than, (1) its Market Value on 1st January 2014, or (2) the assessment of other, comparable properties ... or if you harbour any doubt that your property is over-assessed.
Action Required: None, if your property is enrolled in our PAMS® Property Tax Manager program. If it is not and you file an appeal, be careful not to restrict your grounds of appeal. We recommend that you use the following wording: “The assessment is excessive, unfair, not uniform with other assessments, and any other grounds that may appear. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.” If you prefer we will file the appeal for you. If you would like advice on whether to appeal, call our Newfoundland Tax Team, André Pouliot or Mark Turner at (709) 722-1811 (St. John’s) or 1-800-567-3033 (toll free) and pick their brains.
The City of St. John’s Assessment Division recently mailed out its Year 2016 Assessment Notices dated 1st December 2015. You have until 31st December 2015 to file your appeal. This is the first year of the tri-annual assessment cycle, so a successful appeal now will continue to provide you with tax savings for a full three years. (If your property is enrolled in our PAMS® Property Tax Manager program, you can relax: our Newfoundland tax team is already reviewing your assessment and will file an appeal if the opportunity exists to reduce your tax load).
The legislated basis for your Year 2016 Assessment is your property’s market value on 1st January 2014 (the “Base Date”) having regard to its current physical condition. This then is the first test you should apply. If your property’s market value is less than its assessed value, it is over assessed and you should file an appeal on or before 31st December 2015. Market value is the price the property would command if it were sold to an “arm’s length” purchaser (i.e. to a non-related buyer) for cash or subject to conventional financing. It is not necessarily the price that would persuade you to part with the property but rather the price you could expect if you decided voluntarily to dispose of the real estate. The best evidence of market value is the sale prices of similar properties that were sold within six months of 1st January 2014. If your property is assessed at less than its 1st January 2014 market value, you may still be over-assessed because the Assessment Act mandates that your property has to be assessed in a uniform manner. This provision attempts to ensure that the tax load is spread across the municipality’s property inventory in an equitable manner. It also discourages the City of St. John’s Assessment Division from deliberately under-assessing property to thwart appeals. So, if for example, commercial properties are assessed on average throughout the municipality at 70% of their market value, you will have grounds for appeal if your property’s assessment exceeds this percentage.
The Bottom Line: You should appeal if your property is assessed at more than, (1) its market value on 1st January 2014, or (2) the assessment of other, comparable properties ... or if you harbour any doubt that your property is over-assessed.
Action Required: None if your property is enrolled in our PAMS® Property Tax Manager program. If it is not and you file an appeal, be careful not to restrict your grounds of appeal. We recommend that you use the following wording: “The assessment is excessive, unfair, not uniform with other assessments, and any other grounds that may appear.” If you prefer we will file the appeal for you. If you would like advice on whether to appeal, call our Newfoundland Tax Team, André Pouliot or Mark Turner at (709) 722-1811 (St. John’s) or 1-800-567-3033 (toll free). If you prefer you can email them at apouliot@turnerdrake.com or markturner@turnerdrake.com.
You have just 9
days left to reduce your property tax burden for 2016. The appeal period expires at midnight 4th
November. A successful appeal now is a
gift that keeps on giving . . . since this is the first year of the tri-annual
re-assessment cycle, the reduction in your assessment will continue through
three full years. If you own
commercial, industrial or investment property, real estate taxes are
undoubtedly your single biggest occupancy expense. In just over a 20 year period most property
owners will pay taxes equivalent to the entire value of their property. Irrespective of whether you pay the taxes
directly or recharge them to your tenants, property taxes have a direct impact
on your bottom line since tenants will ultimately seek rent relief if their
gross rent, including taxes, falls out of line with competing properties. Be proactive.
Property taxes should be managed like any other expense and effective
property tax management requires a solid understanding of the assessment
process. The basis for your Year 2016 assessed value, is your property’s Market
Value on 1st January 2014 (the “base date”) but having regard to its
physical state on 1st December 2015 (the “state date”). In practice these criteria are often cited by
the Municipal Assessment Agency and other assessment authorities in defence of
their assessed values, but in our experience property is often assessed at less
than Market Value to discourage appeals.
Of course it would not matter if all property were under-assessed by the
same percentage amount since the tax load would still be distributed
equitably: but such is not the
case. Fortunately the Assessment Act
does provide protection against such shenanigans by including a requirement
that all properties in each municipality be assessed in a uniform manner ... so like properties should carry similar
assessments. In practice it is not quite
this simple: you have to compare the sum
of all commercial assessments in the municipality with their aggregate market
value ... a herculean task unless you have access to the Municipal Assessment
Agency’s database. Since they are
unlikely to be that generous we have compiled our own database to assist
you. We can also run a variety of
analyses comparing your property’s assessment with others in its peer group. If you own a property, the design or layout of which, is constructed of
special materials or in a manner which restricts its use, your real estate will
have been designated as a “special purpose property”. The 2016 assessment notices for this type of
property were not mailed on 5th
November 2015; the Municipal Assessment Agency is once again waiting for the
Legislature to define “special purpose property”. The latter’s previous attempt was struck down
by the courts as being too vague, and their subsequent decision to instead
identify them by address was rejected as being arbitrary. Since the exercise is akin to the parable of
the blind man and the elephant, an early resolution may be some time in
coming. However because the Assessment of
a Special Purpose Property is based on its Reproduction Cost (less physical
depreciation) rather than Market Value the charade lacks levity to property
owners so blessed. The Bottom Line: You
should appeal if your property is assessed at more than, (1) its Market Value
on 1st January 2014, or (2) the assessment of other, comparable
properties ... or if you harbour any doubt that your property is over-assessed. Action Required: None,
if your property is enrolled in our PAMS® Property Tax Manager program. If it is not and you file an appeal, be
careful not to restrict your grounds of appeal.
We recommend that you use the following wording: “The assessment is excessive, unfair, not uniform with other
assessments, and any other grounds that may appear. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.” If you prefer we will file the appeal for
you. If you would like advice on whether
to appeal, call our Newfoundland Tax Team, André Pouliot or Mark Turner at (709)
722-1811 (St. John’s) or 1-800-567-3033 (toll free) and pick their brains.
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