WIDE-SHALLOW LOTS - AN OXYMORON

What is the appeal of this new lot configuration that five years ago didn’t exist and now commands a 22% market share?

Is wide shallow an oxymoron, like jumbo shrimp, cruel kindness and postal service?

The wide shallow concept’s origin can be traced to Southern California the often-maligned incubator of first ideas. Its creation was primarily in response to two factors, affordability and protruding garages on narrow lots.

As land and housing prices zoomed to the stratosphere in the roaring 80’s lot frontages for single detached homes shrank dramatically. Small lot singles originally on

30-foot frontages, reduced to as little as 15 feet. Affordability was delivered often at the expense of streetscape. As the lot frontage got narrower the garage protruded offensively to the street. The result was often a streetscape of two car garages. These “traditional” lots maintained a depth of 110 feet and created a long narrow design with a net rear yard of useable area of about 25 to 30 feet.

Affordability had been conquered but design and street appeal suffered.
Then along came the recession of the early 90’s. The unintended consequence of difficult economic times is innovation. In these times the development industry becomes introspective and explores new alternatives.

In response municipalities became more flexible and cautiously allow these new alternative developments to proceed.

In the early 90’s Mattamy Homes was a medium sized production builder with a strong heritage in the custom home business. It is this custom history that makes Mattamy so consumer smart.

Mattamy jolted the recession and the industry with the launch of “The Orchard in Burlington in 1995 - the first significant wide shallow lot development in the GTA. The results then and now are astounding.

In the new millennium wide shallow product accounts for 22% of new housing built in the GTA. Mattamy produced over one-third of that total to lead the industry as number one volume builder at over 2100 units - so successful that they even trademarked the phenomenon - “wide lot” designs.

“The consumer is always right”, so sayeth Wal-Mart - and the “wide lot” concept met consumer expectations head on.

The development industry, led by Mattamy, said, “How can I maintain affordability and eliminate this ugly garage from the streetscape?” At the same time rear lane product surged onto the market in Markham at Cornell. This concept accomplished the above noted objective by removing the garage to a laneway. But rear lane had two key limitations; it was very expensive to build that extra street of lane and our lovely Canadian winter meant dancing in the snow across the backyard to the house. Rear lane developments have had some success, like Tributes Oak Park but nothing like wide shallow.

There were a lot of questions to be answered. A traditional lot of 32 x 110 is 3,520 square feet. Would the consumer accept a lot configuration of similar square footage but 42 x 85 dimensions? Now, what if I brought the house closer to the street so the net useable rear yard depth was similar to a traditional lot - 25 to 30 feet? With a wider frontage could I recess the garage into the unit coverage thereby eliminating the unsightly street of garage doors? Could I narrow the street width creating greater design intimacy and at the same time greater density and overall project yield?

The answer to all of these questions produced the phenomenon of wide shallow. The added bonus with the wider lot was the return of the front porch.

The consumer endorsement of the concept is proven in the results. The Orchard was one of the GTA’s best selling projects in 1995 and from that foundation Mattamy was just named Builder of the Year by the Great Toronto Homes Builder Association.

Wide shallow is not an oxymoron - the concept continues to evolve with exceptional innovation being delivered by firms like Tribute, Runnymede, Metrus and Aspen Ridge. If imitation is the greatest form of flattery then Mattamy has received considerable praise indeed. Mattamy’s leadership, innovation and creativity is paramount in an industry often criticized for its sameness.

Wide Shallow lots within the next five years will become the norm - what will be the next great idea.

Keep Positive!
PMA Brethour Group
Andrew Brethour
Marketing & Sales Consultant to the New Home Industry
andrewb@pmabrethour.com