The Beach isn’t immune to the city’s condo boom—five buildings are proposed or under construction in the neighbourhood—but it’s fighting development harder than most. Last Monday, a vocal and well-organized group of residents gathered for a tense meeting about Reserve Properties’ plan to build a six-storey condo on Queen Street East (a city staffer’s hands reportedly even shook as she faced them) and another homeowner is refusing developers’ offer of more than $1 million for her house, which sits between the sites of two planned condos. However, a small contingent of locals welcomes development, saying that the lakeside community is getting too expensive and that more density would combat sprawl and fill retail vacancies. Others also think buildings could bring some much-needed diversity to the ’hood (8.5 per cent of Beach residents are members of visible minorities, compared to 42.8 per cent citywide). Some (small) changes could be good, according to one condo-sympathetic Beach dad: “Why not have some single young professionals? Maybe a hipster or two — not too many.” [Toronto Star]
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Detached home sales soar as condos continue to take over the real estate market
(Image: Jeremy Burgin)
While developers build ever more condominium towers across the city, the classic object of any potential homeowner’s yearning—the detached home—is surging in value at a pace that far exceeds that of the ubiquitous apartment unit. Detached homes have become a “precious” commodity (realtor Richard Silver’s words) as the condo craze has rapidly increased the skyward share of Toronto’s housing stock. According to Moneyville.ca, demand for detached homes is so strong that sales jumped 22 per cent across the GTA last month, which, in turn, pushed the average price of all homes up to $517,556 (an 8.5 per cent increase over April 2011). Of course, none of this is much of a surprise—10 years ago one condo was built for every three houses and today there are three condos for every house. Demand meet supply. Supply, demand. The only question left to be answered is whether or not this red-hot housing market can last. [Moneyville]
Condomonium: $3.2 million for a Queen Street East penthouse loft with its very own (very private) courtyard
ADDRESS: 43 Britain Street, Unit 200
NEIGHBOURHOOD: Moss Park
AGENT: Carl Langschmidt, Royal LePage
PRICE: $3,200,000
THE PLACE: The massive two-story penthouse in the Stonecutters Lofts, a century-old warehouse whose conversion into five luxury living spaces netted the Ontario Association of Architects design award in 2011.
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House of the Week: $1.6 million for a Scarborough home with hints of Frank Lloyd Wright
ADDRESS: 9 Annis Road
NEIGHBOURHOOD: Guildwood
AGENTS: Caroline Ilaqua and Ron Baldwin, Royal LePage Estate Realty
PRICE: $1,650,000
THE PLACE: Architect Wayne Olson transformed a once boring ranch-style bungalow on a hill overlooking the Scarborough Bluffs into a roomy modern home.
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Vote on Toronto’s best new architecture for this year’s Pug Awards
One Bedford, one of this year’s Pug Awards nominees (Image: Gary Baker)
The time has come again for architecture buffs (or bored Internet users) to vote in the annual Pug Awards, Toronto’s people’s choice awards for architecture. Last year, the TIFF Bell Lightbox won in the commercial category and the 75 Portland building won the residential prize, and this year there are some similarly high-profile projects in the mix: the Ritz-Carlton, the Shops of Summerhill and the One Bedford condo building. However, we’re disappointed to see that many of the candidates have a certain tall, glassy sameness about them. Head to the Pug website to vote “love it,” “like it” or “hate it” on each of the 44 nominees and help choose which among them will receive this, er, lovely trophy.
While Toronto buyers rage against rising real estate prices, the City of Pickering is giving away houses for free. Four heritage homes, currently slated for demolition by Transport Canada, are available gratis, with one teensy catch: the new owners would have to pay to haul the properties off the federal airport lands. Among the free goods are a stone house and a rare plank-on-plank house, but potential saviours of the historic buildings will have to move fast: the city is only accepting bids until Friday. Our pick: the Richardson-Will House, a one-and-half-storey stone farmhouse that was built in the 1850s and features original floorboards, wainscoting and a charming iron boot scraper outside. ’Cause who doesn’t need a boot scraper? [Pickering.ca]
Leasing an apartment in the city is a bloodsport already, and now there’s another thing for Toronto renters to worry about. Police are warning apartment-seekers about a series of fake rental ads created using photos and property details from sale listings. In one case, a Riverdale house that was for sale back in March was listed as a rental property at a tantalizingly low rate, but when renters inquired by email, the scammers wrote the “landlord” couldn’t show anyone around because he lived in New Jersey (and then asked for a deposit, natch). Understandably, the legit home-owners of the Riverdale place are creeped out that someone was impersonating them—perhaps some of TREB’s scare-mongering over making listings public was actually warranted. [CBC News]
Eight and a Half play a private show for hipsters and real estate developers at a soon-to-be Ossington condo
Last night, a strange brew of Queen West hipsters and condo developers packed into the transitional space at 109 Ossington for an invitation-only concert from Eight and Half, a Can-con indie music super collaboration featuring Broken Social Scene drummer Justin Peroff and Dave Hamelin and Liam O’Neil of The Stills. While the concert, which was promoted as a “pop-up” (aren’t they all?), was ostensibly pretty much the most cartoonishly hipster event ever—exclusive affair (check), warehouse environs (check), on Ossington Avenue (check), cool new indie band (check)—the show was actually clever bait for a preview of a new condominium development from Reserve properties. The party on the ground floor, with drinks and canapes, served as a de facto showroom for the funky and surprisingly spacious suites (some of the fourth- and fifth-floor units even sport sizable terraces looking west and east), while the unfinished second floor held an intimate experience with Eight and a Half. True to form, no one was dancing (of course, no one was purchasing a pre-build condo either).
Check out our photo gallery from the exclusive performance »
Condomonium: $1.3 million for Charles Khabouth’s Casa Loma suite
ADDRESS: 1 Benvenuto Place, Unit 503
NEIGHBOURHOOD: Casa Loma
AGENT: Corinne Pencer, Slavens & Associates
PRICE: $1,345,000
THE PLACE: A two-bedroom suite in The Benvenuto, a modernist apartment building designed in the 1950s by Peter Dickinson (the architect behind the Sony Centre and Park Plaza Hotel) that recently went condo.
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Canada’s first virtual concierge is now greeting condo-dwellers and accepting packages at Rêve, a new condo built by Tridel near King West and Bathurst. A futuristic system of 50 security cameras, motion sensors and video and voice technology allows an actual human (in this case, a 24-year-old named Vanessa Singh) at an off-site control centre to monitor the building and garage and unlock and lock cabinets for deliveries—plus, chat about hot restaurants and attend the building’s Christmas party, according to the Toronto Star. For now, the virtual concierge will communicate via screen, but we’re hoping this all leads to Tupac-style hologram doormen in the very near future. [Toronto Star]
The corporate governance problems at Magna International continue—and now there’s a possibility billionaire Frank Stronach could lose his directorship as a result. Investor-advisory firm Glass, Lewis & Co. has recommended shareholders withhold their votes from Stronach as a director for two infractions. First, the firm says Magna sold Stronach and former co-CEO Siegfried Wolf $43 million worth of corporate real estate in 2011 at a loss. (According to Glass Lewis, Magna lost $9 million in a series of deals that, though approved by an independent board and negotiated by Mike Harris, then a director at the company, were “contrary to shareholders’ best interests.”) Second, Stronach missed three of 10 board meetings last year, meaning he hasn’t hit the expected 75 per cent attendance threshold. Shareholder advocates have been criticizing Stronach’s mammoth compensation packages for years, but not showing up for meetings just seems irresponsible. Come on, Frank, you made $61 million last year—the least you could do is make an appearance. [Globe and Mail]
House of the Week: $1.75 million for a hip family home in the heart of downtown
ADDRESS: 50 Sullivan Street
NEIGHBOURHOOD: Kensington-Chinatown
AGENT: Julie Han-Emery, Re/Max Realtron Realty
PRICE: $1,749,000
THE PLACE: A modern renovation on a sleepy side street in the heart of the downtown core. With four bedrooms and five baths, it could be a great family home or, for the rich and adventurous, perhaps the nicest shared accommodation in the city.
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One more reason Toronto’s condo market is crazier than Vancouver’s
(Image: Benny Lin)
The latest expletive-laced tirade from Toronto-based FML Listings goes beyond ranting over $1.6-million bungalows and tackles the issue of maintenance fees—specifically, who’s more screwed when it comes to such fees: Toronto or Vancouver. Sadly, after a couple of hours of research, the anonymous blogger Melissa Hart concludes that Torontonians are way worse off: “I was hard pressed to find any maintenance in Vancouver that was over $500 a month if it wasn’t a massive unit. Meanwhile in Toronto, I can barely find a condo UNDER $500 a month. So, what’s up with that?” That rhetorical question may be answered by a recent TD Canada Trust poll of condo buyers in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal. The results say Torontonians are suckers willing to pay the highest monthly fees for convenience and amenities, with 40 per cent willing to pay more than $400 per month versus 21 per cent nationally. But hey, some of the condos here come equipped with bowling alleys now, so maybe it’s kind of worth it? Probably not. [FML Listings]
Despite Donald Trump’s efforts, his Toronto tower is off to a “weak start”
(Image: Gage Skidmore)
The Wall Street Journal says Toronto’s high-profile Trump International Hotel and Tower has had a “weak start.” According to the paper, the Trump Tower (which recently opened with much fanfare) has only sold 60 per cent of its condos and 85 per cent of its hotel condos—stats that compare poorly to other rival luxury towers popping up in the city. Moreover, at least eight investors have contacted lawyers to help them slide out of their contracts and recoup hundreds of thousands of dollars in deposits for a variety of reasons: they (and many others) are worried Toronto’s condo bubble will soon burst; they invested ahead of the economic downturn and no longer have the cash to complete the purchase; or, according to one real-estate lawyer, they “were dazzled by the Trump name and marketing, and they did not take into consideration that they were paying in excess of a thousand dollars a foot.” Whoops. [Wall Street Journal]
Bubble Trouble: the latest (and heartening) analyses of Toronto’s housing market
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Sometimes it feels like real estate watchers aren’t even talking about the same city when they’re discussing Toronto’s market. Mere weeks ago, columnists and analysts predicted government regulation and oversupply could sap some of the energy from Toronto’s condo boom and hot home sales. Now, the latest flurry of opinions on the market are, confusingly, optimistic.
