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Address: 189 Queen Street East, Unit 2
Neighbourhood: Moss Park
Agent: Erica Reddy, Royal LePage Signature Realty, Brokerage
Price: $849,000
The Place: A one-bedroom unit on two levels with original oak floors, brick walls and exposed wooden beams. It’s one of 11 condos in the Boiler Factory Lofts on Queen Street East.
Address:155 St. Clair Avenue West, Unit 1401
Neighbourhood: Casa Loma
Agent: Leslie Lyons and Jamie Sarner, Royal LePage Johnston & Daniel Division, Brokerage
Price: $3,260,000
The Place: A two-bedroom suite on the 14th floor of The Avenue, a high-end building at Avenue and St. Clair.
Jet-setting philanthropist Peter Munk, the 85-year-old founder of Toronto-based Barrick Gold Corp., is taking a rogue approach to real estate: he’s dumping big money into condo developments at a time when Toronto’s already overflowing with high rises and other developers are backing away. Munk is using his personal wealth to help finance CD Capital, headed by Todd Cowan and Jordan Dermer, who were previously execs at another real estate company backed by Munk. The developers’ projects include, among others, the 300-unit Sixty Colborne project near St. Lawrence Market and 155 Redpath at Yonge and Eglinton, an area Dermer argues is ripe for development. Munk, meanwhile, says the city’s starry future is reason enough to invest. Hard to argue with a billion-dollar man. [Globe and Mail]
The slew of five-star hotels that popped up downtown in recent years did more than increase Toronto’s appeal as an tourist destination. They also upended the city’s upscale condo market. The high-end residences have stacked amenity lists (with steep condo fees to match) that appeal to jet-setting business-types accustomed to all the conveniences of hotel living and wealthy A-listers with a love for high-profile luxury brands. From a party-ready suite in the Thompson to a unit in the Four Seasons with incredible views, we break down five of the units currently on the market.
Address: 766 King Street West, Unit 403
Neighbourhood: Niagara
Agent: Sean Mayers, Century 21 Regal Realty Inc., Brokerage
Price: $715,000
The Place: A two-bedroom, three-level unit on the top floor of the Tecumseth Lofts, a former commercial warehouse divided into 28 units in 1999.
(Image: Jason Paris)
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s new mortgage rules sparked a rapid decline in home sales and reinforced just how central regulations are to housing markets. Below, we unpack three recent stories about navigating the regulatory landscape, covering everything from rent controls to tax breaks.
Address: 120 Homewood Avenue, Unit 617
Neighbourhood: North St. James Town
Agent: Andrew Harrild, Royal LePage Your Community Realty, Brokerage
Price: $999,500
The Place: A two-bedroom corner penthouse in The Verve lofts, a mid-rise building attached to a condo tower with a rooftop pool.
Address: 206 Bloor Street West, Unit 302
Neighbourhood: Annex
Agent: Elli Davis, Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd., Brokerage
Price: $2,400,000
The Place: A two-bedroom residence on the third floor of the Museum House, a building aptly named for its proximity to the Royal Ontario Museum, the Bata Shoe Museum and the Gardiner Museum.
Canadian homebuyers have long been jealous of the detailed home sales information available on American real estate websites like Zillow—and, unfortunately, they’ll have to remain jealous for now, because the federal Competition Bureau has lost its high-profile bid to force the Toronto Real Estate Board to loosen its grip on the info. The bureau had accused the 35,000-agent board of unfairly keeping sales data from low-cost brokerages (and through them, homebuyers and sellers) for fear of losing out on commissions. (For its part, TREB says it has concerns about homeowner privacy and safety.) After a five-year investigation, two months of hearings and an eight-month wait, a federal tribunal dismissed the case at least in part because it was filed under the wrong section of the Competition Act. The bureau is considering whether it will appeal or re-file. [Globe and Mail]
(Image: Shane Fester from the Torontolife.com Flickr pool)
Real estate commentators usually reach for sales figures and average prices to explain what’s happening in the market, but there are a ton of other figures that are equally illuminating. This week, we’ve seen stories about the number of new condo projects in Toronto, the amount a typical first-time buyer is planning to pay and more. We round up the notable numbers below.
Address: 195 Poplar Plains Road, Unit 203
Neighbourhood: Casa Loma
Agent: Dagmar Hansen, Chestnut Park Real Estate Ltd., Brokerage
Price: $729,000
The Place: A one-bedroom, two-level condo in a converted Georgian mansion around the corner from Scaramouche restaurant.
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The number of so-called “hard lofts” in Toronto has ballooned since the early 2000s as developers wised up to the moneymaking potential of turning old factories and warehouses into residential units. True loft conversions have an artsy vibe that’s nearly impossible to imitate, and some buyers feel they’re a smarter investment than new builds because supply is, in theory, limited by the number of available buildings to convert. Even would-be loft owners with sub-$1 million budgets can find a range of options: some units maintain the original raw, industrial feel, while the rough edges on others have been smoothed away (some repurposed buildings are even packed with luxury amenities). Below, five recently-listed hard lofts from across the city.
Address: 391 Brunswick Avenue, Penthouse 1
Neighbourhood: Annex
Agent: Daena Allen-Noxon, Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd., Johnston and Daniel Division
Price: $1,749,000
The Place: A two-level penthouse in the Schoolhouse Lofts, a 19-unit building that was previously home to Loretto College girls school. (We featured a neighbouring suite last year.)
The buyer: Abeer Islam, a 29-year-old music producer and owner of Ivory and Hammer Music House.
The story: Two years ago, Islam bought his first home, a 600-square-foot one-bedroom loft at Bathurst and Queens Quay. It was a bargain at $260,000, but the layout was highly impractical: there was no separation between his living space and his home studio. When friends came over, they’d often end up sitting on his expensive recording equipment. Last year, he decided it was time to upgrade. He hoped to find a two-bedroom place, preferably in a west end neighbourhood with good resale potential, for less than $350,000. His six-month search took him all over the city and ended in a place he never expected.
Address: 384 Sunnyside Avenue, Unit 202
Neighbourhood: High Park-Swansea
Agent: William Peter Mohan, Sutton Group Realty Systems Inc., Brokerage
Price: $969,900
The Place: A three-bedroom, two-level unit in the Abbey Lofts, a former Methodist Church converted into 24 residences in 2008.
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