You need to accept that there is NO DEMAND for highrise living in Niagara Falls. Take a look around - walk just a block or two from the few areas that are gaudy tourist traps and the city is a total dump.
Ok, I'm going to have to disagree.
Extrapolating from some 'failed' developments that were either borderline or outright fiction; that were extreme in scale and cost; and read as zone and flips from day one...........to 'There is no demand' is not a reasonable connection.
I know a Toronto physician who bought a condo in Niagara for himself as he was approaching retirement and working less in the City.
There is demand. However, that demand is not going to justify 50s + across multiple sites, typically by some mixture of zone and flippers and inexperienced would-be builders who are in over their head.
It would support, I would argue, more prudent 20-39s builds, not a lot, but a few, correctly positioned, and marketed, by experienced builders.
*****
Lets look at where demand in Toronto originates:
- Population growth (general)
- Investor Boxes (often aimed to be rented, particularly to students, so driven by nearby universities and colleges; as well as hotel substitutes (short-term rental)
- Live-in residents (limited market as condos; but good market as purpose-built rental)
- Empty nesters (looking to cash out on houses worth a lot of $$)
Lets then take a look at Niagara to see how this plays out
- Population Growth - check (but at a slower pace than the core GTA)
- Students (yes, but less, and not located anywhere near a 'Falls view' location.
- Live in residents (there is a market, but its certainly not the size of Toronto's, nor does the applicable demo have as high a median income)
- Empty Nesters ( not so much, because you haven't seen the same degree of property appreciation that demands a cash-out)
All of the above means, that you generally need a more modest proposal in costs to feed the majority of the market.
Housing with good connections to Brock University or Niagara College have greater potential.
Is there a market for 'luxury' falls view skyscrapers? I would say there is a very small one now, and one that could be enlarged; but you need not only the right builder and building, but material improvements
in the area(s) where you might site these, in order to attract a greater range of deep pocketed buyers.
If I've got money burning a hole in my pocket, a view of the Falls doesn't sound bad........but where am I getting my high-end groceries? Where am I going to dinner out? Where are my kids going to school (high end public or elite private); is the public realm in the right place for this buyer? (not now).
The potential is there; but gov't and the sector would need to make investments and then market appropriately.
The desire for an educational campus next to the VIA Station, near the historic downtown, with permissive zoning, will likely pull some interest.
But lots more to do to get serious proposals of scale to move forward.
A one-off isn't out of the question........but borderline.