Are Mixed-Use Developments Offering A 'Live, Work, Play' Environment For The Future?

Updated attitudes towards home ownership and space sharing are changing the social fabric of urban communities and creating a demand for multi-use developments.

The real estate needs of the North American and European population are changing, requiring developers to adapt their schemes. Where once the retail and office elements were the drivers of any development, the explosion in digital technology has changed how space is utilised.

Not only has the growth in online commerce led to a steady decline in retailers' space requirements, but the demands made on office space have also evolved. A workforce that would once have made a daily commute to an urban conurbation is now working more flexibly: be it from home or a co-working space.

And with this digital revolution has come a different mind-set to the way that property is held. While baby boomers aspired to home ownership, for the digital generation and their offspring renting property is as commonplace as streaming music and entertainment from Spotify and Netflix.

Quality rental properties

House prices continue to outstrip incomes globally, and the trend to rent was initially driven by the unaffordability of home ownership, as well as a lack of supply. However, space sharing has now become a recognisable concept and has led to a renewed interest in good- quality rental property in Canada, and an unprecedented commitment to the private rental sector by institutional investors in the UK who would not previously have considered it.

Mixed-use developments that offer a "live, work, play" environment are in high demand on both sides of the Atlantic.

Joel Camley, Gowling WLG's real estate practice group leader in Canada who is based in Vancouver, explains that "geographically, Vancouver is surrounded on three sides by the ocean and the mountains" meaning space is at a premium in the city. Add to this population growth and desirability, and home ownership becomes an expensive prospect.

"What's really driving development in British Columbia is redevelopment of existing sites. We have seen several retail and commercial properties that have lived out their usefulness being redeveloped into high density street-level retail with residential towers on top. It's all planned as a multi-community development."

Residential-led schemes

Manuel Martins, a Gowling WLG real estate partner based in Waterloo Region, Canada, adds that in Ontario, restrictions prohibiting development on greenbelt land exist, leading...