Quote:
Originally Posted by you&me
I would say the duplexes themselves are an indication that catering to wealthy buyers is self-limiting.
For a builder, a duplex has a lot of additional costs that a larger single family home wouldn't, such as the 'party wall', double the appliances, furnaces, hot water tanks, more doors, trim, hardware, bathroom fixtures, larger garage (2 doubles vs. usually a triple) etc...
The margins would be better if the developer could get $1.6mm for a single family home over two $800k duplexes, but the market doesn't support those homes at $1.6mm, so an equilibrium is found where the developer builds a side-by-side because it maximizes profit... And the price attainable for the single family homes is somewhat ironically limited by the zoning (and prevalence) of duplexes <- And this is the point where everyone crosses their arms and nods, "good".
The real winner in this whole ground floor access built form seems to be the 4-plex & townhomes that fit on a single 50' lot... Where a single family home might cap out at ~$1.4mm in these areas and a duplex at $800k (these prices feel low for today, but I'm rolling with the example given), the 4 plex or townhome units will still push $600k each (and more), providing the most potential margin to a builder, and therefore being constructed more often.
This is why I'm a big fan of the arterial upzoning and this built form, because I think it does more to address the often-cited "missing middle" far better than a 3 bedroom condo practically could.
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Good points, and I think if the zoning allowed for easy combining of two adjacent 44-50' lots, the other great form factor is the 6 unit row houses. Often they are throwing 6 lower level suites in them too. Now we have 6 units per lot, all ground floor access, and you get rid of the awkward yards that come with the 4 unit buildings, as everyone has a proper front and back green space, although small.
But cue the whinging about parking and garbage bins because we have terrible policies around both of those right now that leaves everyone entitled to public space they don't own in the street and lane.