How to make your Squamish

How to make your Squamish homeinto a rental space

PAT JOHNSON

Getting into the housing market in the Sea to Sky Corridor can require some creativity. For many people, that means incorporating a “mortgage helper.” Doing it right — legally, safely and without creating more problems than it’s worth — requires professional help.

Squamish does not permit short-term rentals of secondary suites or carriage houses on platforms such as Airbnb, although it is possible to rent out a room in a principal residence on a short-term basis, if District guidelines are followed. The tight housing market in town means that (comparatively) affordable secondary suites or other solutions are generally welcome.

Construction and renovation experts have plenty of advice on avoiding pitfalls that could cost money – and peace of mind.

Jason Zavitz, owner/partner of Alair Homes, says most of the people reaching out to him to discuss secondary suites have found a home they love but need an income boost to make it attainable.

“Most people are saying, we can comfortably spend this much a month, so we need this much [additional] income,” he said. If one is already in discussion with a lender, tacking more on to a mortgage to fund a renovation is often very doable. An additional $75,000 on a mortgage might cost a few hundred dollars a month, but the revenue the suite could generate might be several times that amount.

There are advantages, of course, as well as disadvantages. Income generation is nice, but suddenly you might be living near strangers. Even if they are the finest people, that is a relationship that goes along with the deal.

Maybe it’s family moving in downstairs. That could mean built-in babysitters in the form of grandparents or an aunt and uncle. But even the best families come with baggage.

Speaking of baggage, a big thing that people dreaming of a suite might gloss over is “stuff.” Another family on the property means another car, or more likely two. But this is Squamish, so where do the extra family’s four bikes, two kayaks and assorted ski equipment live?

No matter who the tenants are, good neighbourly relations require upgrading to the soundproofing in the home.

Above all, that most crucial element of real estate — location, location, location — matters in secondary suites as it does in everything property-related. The neighbourhood of Squamish you are in is a significant determinant of how — and whether — you can add a suite.

Parts of Squamish, including downtown, are at or below the flood control grade, which pretty much makes a basement suite out of the question. At higher elevations, basement suites are viable.

Once you’ve determined a suite is allowable, and that it’s an accommodation you really want, the technical questions arise. There are a lot of factors that the average homeowner, especially first-time buyers, might not have considered.

“You have to make sure there’s a fire separation between the two living spaces,” Zavitz said. “That’s something that is often overlooked by potential clients because they are thinking, all we have to do is put a kitchen in here and we are done. But we’ve got to get fire-rated doors and it requires an added layer of drywall on the ceiling, that kind of stuff — unforeseen costs that any layman wouldn’t really think about.”

Flexibility is something else to consider. A family with toddlers now might be happy to live upstairs, but in a decade or so, when cute tots turn into brooding teens, can the downstairs be easily reintegrated into the main house to give everyone more room?

Bottom line: How much does it cost? Zavitz responds with a riddle: “What is the cost of a bag of groceries?” A bag of groceries

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could be $6 or $160. Likewise, the cost of constructing a secondary suite depends on size, existing infrastructure, location of services, quality of components and a dizzying array of factors.

“No two suites cost the same,” he said.

Ryan Mcloughlin, owner and manager of Woodridge Construction, shares many of Zavitz’s concerns and raises a few additional considerations. If the house is more than a couple of decades old, asbestos removal could be a hidden cost — and a big one. Start poking around the insides of a 40-year-old home and you never know what you might find. Mcloughlin knows of one instance where asbestos remediation set the owner back $30,000.

For those who live in the flood risk areas where basements suites are out of the question, a possible solution is a carriage home. The District permits a carriage home of up to 70 square metres (around 700 square feet), as well as a garage of commensurate size underneath. Not only does this ease the possible tensions caused by noisy neighbours and the loss of the homeowner’s basement, it can provide that extra garage space for canoes and jet-skis.

“The big-ticket with carriage homes is getting the services there, the groundwork,” said Mcloughlin. “The District only allows you to have one tie-in for your sanitary. You can’t have two connections.” The utilities for the carriage home have to be connected to the existing systems — or a new system has to be installed and the existing house connected to it. Either way: Ka-ching.

Whether for a basement suite or a carriage home, Mcloughlin is also emphatic that homeowners should engage an interior designer.

“They are educated and their job is to provide the best possible layout with the space that’s available,” he said. “I can advise so much, but a designer can maximize space and has lots of tips and tricks to keep the client happy. The same goes with moving through the construction process – picking materials, keeping up with what’s current, selecting materials that are going to reflect the budget. Homeowners that have full-time jobs, that’s a huge challenge and workload for them.”

Intimidating? Possibly. Worth it? Maybe. A job best undertaken by professionals? Unquestionably. Please feel free to reach out aboutyour dream project

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Going green Two companies with global aspirations to better the planet set up shop in Squamish

PAT JOHNSON

Squamish is a community built on resource extraction — and while natural resources remain an important part of the local and regional economy, Squamish is noted as home to a growing number of green technology innovators. This reputation is growing significantly as new and expanding businesses set up shop here.

Buildings and construction are the world’s leading source of climate pollution and Nexii Building Solutions has a plan to reduce that impact and save builders and consumers money at the same time.

The company advertises that it builds “for speed and strength,” creating new buildings and retrofitting existing ones with building components, like pre-finished panels, that are manufactured in a company plant and then assembled onsite, reducing build times and construction costs.

In addition to reducing environmental impacts during the construction phase, Nexii’s buildings are also marketed as airtight and energy-efficient, highly resistant to water, mould, mildew, and insects, and resilient in natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes.

Based in Vancouver, Nexii is about to open a 90,000-square-foot Squamish plant that will have the capacity to produce more than three million square feet of green building products annually. They expect to be hiring 150 local workers.

“Squamish is a hub for cleantech companies and Nexii is excited to join this community of forward-thinking businesses,” said Nancy Maribel, marketing director at Nexii. “Its close proximity to Vancouver and the West Coast of the United States means we are uniquely positioned to increase our supply of Nexii green construction products to this region, meeting the escalating customer demands in this market.”

A great location and good logistics mean Squamish is more than just a pretty face. But Nexii and other businesses acknowledge that the pretty face of the town is an added bonus.

“We’re excited to work in Squamish because of what it represents,” said Maribel. “Squamish is an area of great natural beauty, and having a plant in this beautiful location surrounded by nature constantly reminds us of what we are working to protect — our planet and the people within it.”

Another company acknowledges that locating in Squamish is both practical and symbolic. Carbon Engineering Limited (CE) develops Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology

to extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Unlike more conventional strategies that capture emissions from industrial flue stacks, preventing the substances from entering the atmosphere in the first place, CE’s DAC technology captures CO2 directly from the air, targeting the large quantities of carbon dioxide already emitted and trapped in the atmosphere.

“We first began operations in Squamish with our pilot facility in 2015,” said Steve Oldham, Carbon Engineering’s CEO. “Today, we have more than 100 employees working full-time in the town and are constructing our permanent global headquarters and Innovation Centre in the District’s upcoming Oceanfront development. We couldn’t be happier to call Squamish home and look forward to continuing our expansion here and to supporting the development of B.C.’s burgeoning low-carbon industry.”

The company’s goal is to license its technology globally, which the company says will allow any country or company to capture megatons of CO2 from the atmosphere.

“As a quickly growing clean energy company, it made perfect sense for Carbon Engineering to be based in the Vancouver Lower Mainland — a hub for green businesses and the green economy,” said Oldham. “More specifically, Squamish has proven to be the ideal location for scaling our business as it offers great infrastructure, proximity to downtown Vancouver, and an excellent quality of life for attracting talented employees. Being located in such a beautiful part of the world is also a constant reminder to our staff of what we’re working so hard to protect.”