HITTING THE FSR JACKPOT

One of the basic tenets of real estate is highest and best use. 

Raw land such as forest must be cleared and managed to become agriculturally productive.

Improvements can be made by servicing raw land with water, sewer, electricity, and roads.

These lots can then be improved by building a single family dwelling.

Residential lots are traditionally below 1.0 FSR.

FSR is Floor Space Ratio; some municipalities such as Langley use Units Per Acre (UPA).

A higher FSR translates into densification of the lot; for example, 1.75 FSR is a 4-storey building.

Developers seek to mitigate their building risk through economies of scale: why build 1 house when you can build 4 or 10 or 50 units.

All municipalities have an Official Community Plan (OCP) designating low, medium, and high density areas.

The City of Coquitlam has designated portions of the Lougheed Highway corridor for high-density towers allowing developers to rezone land from 2.5 FSR to 20+ FSR, exponentially increasing the land value.