A transparent multiplex feasibility screen starts with verified parcel and zoning work, then makes every revenue, cost, contingency, selling, finance, tax, timing, and target-profit assumption visible. The arithmetic can expose the land budget implied by a scenario, but it cannot establish entitlement, buildability, permits, price, or project viability.
Decision points
- 01
Separate parcel entitlement and buildability from the financial model.
- 02
Keep land, acquisition, hard costs, soft costs, municipal charges, financing, tax, selling costs, and contingency on separate lines.
- 03
Run a revenue-downside and cost-upside case before treating a base result as actionable.
Start with the parcel evidence—not the desired unit count
Before a pro forma, confirm the municipality, current zoning, parcel area, transit or TOA position, overlays, servicing, site access, hazards, heritage, and the applicable local documents. The provincial small-scale multi-unit housing framework does not eliminate parcel-specific standards, site conditions, building requirements, municipal processes, or professional review.
Build the full cost stack
Land price is only one cost. Record acquisition and due diligence, demolition and site work, hard construction, design and consultants, municipal and utility charges, financing and carry, taxes, selling costs, other required reserves, and contingency separately. Development cost charges and other local-government financing tools can depend on the municipality, bylaw, development type, unit count, timing, exemptions, and facts; use current local schedules instead of copying an old per-unit number.
Define revenue without disguising a forecast
Enter a supportable sale or rental scenario and keep the date, comparable source, tenure, unit mix, size, marketing, absorption or lease-up timing, and selling costs alongside it. A revenue assumption may be useful for testing sensitivity, but it is not an appraisal, guarantee, or market prediction.
Use residual land as a negotiation boundary, not a value opinion
The calculator subtracts entered non-land costs and target profit from revenue after selling costs to show a residual land budget. Compare that budget with the entered land acquisition. A positive variance does not establish what a property is worth or what should be offered; it identifies which assumptions need evidence before an acquisition decision.
Stress the model before a commitment
Run at least a revenue-downside and hard-cost-upside case, then add project-specific stress for delay, interest, servicing, tree retention, contamination, design change, municipal conditions, tax, or absorption. If the conclusion changes quickly, preserve that sensitivity in the decision file and bring the issue to the appropriate planning, design, cost, finance, tax, legal, and market professionals.
Common questions, answered directly
What should a multiplex feasibility calculator include?
At minimum: an explicit unit or area scenario, revenue assumptions, land and acquisition costs, demolition and site work, hard costs, soft costs, municipal and utility costs, financing and carry, taxes, selling costs, contingency, a target profit, residual land budget, and downside cases.
Does BC small-scale multi-unit housing make a parcel feasible to build?
No. Provincial minimum-unit rules and local zoning are only part of the question. Parcel controls, site standards, servicing, design, code, permits, costs, financing, tax, tenure, and market evidence still matter.
Is residual land value the same as market value?
No. A residual land budget is the remaining modelled amount after the entered non-land costs and target profit. It changes with every assumption and is not an appraisal or offer recommendation.
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