After a slow start two years ago, Vancouver’s multiplex is proving to be a sleeper hit with the housing industry.
The multiplex, as it’s known, is a four- or six-plex unit building that is poised to replace the single-family detached house after a sweeping zoning change aimed at increasing density.
Since the prezoning of most areas with detached houses in 2023, Robert Veerman, commercial broker with CBRE, has been specializing in multiplex property sales for his developer clients. And last year, after initial skepticism from the industry, the housing type took off.
By the end of 2024, property purchases intended for redevelopment into multiplexes represented about one-third of all residential dollar sales, said Veerman.
“If total residential land sales were about $1 billion, multiplex was about one third of that, which is a surprising stat to me,” he said.
According to his 2024 Multiplex Land Sales Report, there were 124 multiplex land sales in Vancouver, at an average sale price of $2.45 million. In the tony Shaughnessy neighbourhood, there were three transactions averaging $4.4 million. The most transactions were in the east side neighbourhood of Hastings-Sunrise, where 27 sales occurred averaging $1.8 million.
He knows of at least 20 multiplexes under construction right now that will be completed and ready to go to market later this year. They will be an important indicator of how much demand is there, said Veerman.
“I think everyone is watching Vancouver in my opinion because it’s the best market to do multiplex.”
This year will be something of a trial period, when designers and builders figure out the best layouts, what people want in terms of space and parking.
“Everyone is watching for these first projects to see how they do. From there we will start to see an expansion of this multiplex [type] to the rest of the country as well. I know Toronto is leading the way as well. But I think there still needs to be that learning period.
“It’s the most affordable built form in Canada,” he added. “It is basically slab on grade, pour a concrete pad, no basement, build three storeys. So, in terms of construction cost and timeline, and ease of execution, you can’t get simpler than that. I think once it’s accepted in Vancouver, it will spread to other cities and the rest of the province more rapidly.”
The reasons that he, and other brokers and builders are choosing to specialize in the multi-unit form of housing is pretty simple: it pencils out. Because the city had created a zoning policy that turned detached houses into multiplex zones, the timeline is far shorter than other building forms, at about nine to 12 months. Small builders experienced in duplex and townhome construction are pivoting. And even mid-size developers who build six-storey wood-frame condo projects are inquiring about the new pre-zoned housing.
“Talking to builders, most of them can’t make the numbers work for building new residential towers or six-storey wood frame, or even townhouses, because construction cost is so high, and the timeline takes so long, and there’s so much uncertainty there,” said Veerman. “I’ve had a lot of builders ask me about multiplexes, who are curious and keen to get into it because of the simplicity of the build and quick turnaround time.
“A lot of developers like these multiplexes because they can buy land and sell the units within a two-year timeline.”
Daniel Winer, Executive Co-Lead with non-profit advocate Small Housing, was pleased to see City council approve a motion this month for staff to come back with a report on streamlining the multiplex zoning process and allow even more properties to be included in the pre-zoning. That would include allowing large lots to be subdivided, or allowing more units on them, and allowing multiplexes on oddly shaped or smaller lots, or lots without lane access. Also, City staff will take a look at Burnaby’s approach, which is to allow more floor space, and four floors, with three above-grade.
Next to a single-family house, the multiplex unit is the most desirable type of housing in BC, said Winer, who was previously executive officer for the Canadian Home Builders’ Association, Central Okanagan. And in tandem with the federal government’s funding of prefabricated housing, the prefabricated multiplex could become the next post-war building boom, he said. He emphasized that prefabrication will be critical to the success of the multiplex.
“Across Canada, if you were to redevelop [detached houses] at a rate of about 1% a year, you could actually start talking about getting to those crazy CMHC updated housing targets they put out last month,” said Winer.
“We believe it's the most apt way to actually make a significant dent in the housing crisis,” said Winer. “We think that, you know, for the years it takes for developers to do the land assembly, to do the planning, to get the building through council, to build something that's going to be featured on Broadway. You could build a dozen, two dozen, and three dozen fourplex in that same amount of time with a wider, more diverse audience of builders. Um, it kind of democratizes the economy a little bit more.”
While a custom home might cost $600—$750 a square foot, he has seen multiplex pricing of about $275 a foot.
“We’re talking about housing costs that literally can get cut in half when we’re redeveloping these lots.”
The biggest challenges, he said, is the “knowledge gap of small-scale builders” and the lack of capital that they need. And while the first ones might need to make a few mistakes until they get the hang of it, he forecasts a lucrative business model. Also, policy makers need to tweak current policies around financing, for example, to make the model viable for small developers.
“I think you're going to see small scale builders become kind of a developer-light, that are able to flip properties because they're going to be able to understand the pro forma and what they can actually net out as a return. I think that's the next frontier of the small builder business.”
Builder Suraj Jhuty is Co-Principal of Theorem Developments with Faizan Alam. The company has several multiplex sites underway in Burnaby and Vancouver and recently won a Georgie Award for Best Multiplex Home Project 2025. Theorem has nine multiplexes underway ranging between four and six units, both their own developments that they will bring to market, and projects where they’ve been hired by a client, such as a west-side family that has hired them to redevelop a large character house in Kerrisdale.
Jhuty said they recently finished a triplex in East Vancouver that sold for $1,050 per square foot and another on the west side that sold for $1,250 per square foot.
“I'm definitely a proponent of this multiplex rezoning,” said Jhuty. “I think, you know, it's providing gentle density into these neighborhoods, where essentially, predominantly, they are single family. And duplexes nowadays have even got so expensive. Now, we're able to provide four units that are smaller sized, and it provides a little bit more attainability for buyers. And also, as a developer or as we develop for investors, they're able to sell four units as opposed to two. So, you know, it just makes it a little bit more profitable.”
