Archive for the ‘New Condo Developments’ Category

Take a drive in downtown Toronto and you’re guaranteed to see two things: cranes and sandwich boards for condos!  Problem is, neither really tell you much about the projects they’re promoting.  Alas, a solution is here!

Homebuyers.com has just rolled out it’s user friendly iPhone and iPad app!  I downloaded the app today and took it for a test run to see how well it works.

The download from the app store was quick, seemless and took seconds to load!  The first step is to either sign-in under your Facebook or Email account.  I started by skipping, but I’d highly suggest doing so as more features are available once logged in.

After asking for your location, a “Google map” based screen loads up with your current location and near by pre construction projects! With a pinch or pull of the screen the user can zoom in or out from the given area. Pink and blue pins represent the different condos.  Each pin has a starting price of remaining units.

Clicking on a pin will take you to the individual listing of the building. It’s a very clean and simple layout that features a rendering of the building, starting price, mortgage caluculator, favorite button, priority registration, info, models (some contain floorplans and some renderings), current promotions, notes and contact button.

When the user clicks the star button the building get’s added to your “favourite list”.  The pin on the main screen is changed to yellow, this helps keep track of what you’ve seen and to narrow down the process.

The mortgage button is a handy addition to the app that gives the user 5 financing scenarios.  You can go into each option and customize the scenario.  Once done, you can email the results!  In future updates, a deposit calculator would also be helpful.

The descriptions of the buildings are short and concise, skipping all the normal broker babble and cutting straight to the goods!

The “models” and “promotions” tabs still require a lot of updating (at time of writting this). For some buildings, the “promotions” tab shows model suites and in others – floorplans.  A tab just for floorplans would be incredibly powerful.  Most promo tabs don’t have any specials listed, but as more builders take note of the app, I could see that changing.

The “My Notes” section does exactly what the name describes!  Users can take and store notes for each building.  You’ll need to have an email account activated in order to use this part of the app.

Lastly is the “contact” tab… users can email the developer directly from the app! The address and (sometimes) phone numbers are also listed under this section.

For an even quicker search you can narrow the criteria by a ton of variables such as location, price, type, bedrooms, square footage, status (coming soon, under construction, move-in now etc) and developer!

I was most impressed with how fast the app loaded.  Typically with map based apps there’s an annoying lag before the user can even start the search.  With the homebuyers.com app, you’re up and running right away! I love that the individual listing pages are so easily shareable through other social media sites like twitter and facebook.  In a time where developers are still creating incredibly hard to navigate websites, this app saves a ton of time getting you the info you want.  There’s even the option to sign up for priority registration… this will notify you when new projects open up to the public!

The only criticism I could offer about the app is that I didn’t really see the point of having a “regular” vs “featured listing” option but hopefully there’s a bigger plan for it down the road. Also, a few of the smaller builders were missing from the list and a couple of projects were not yet available. My small comments aside, For it’s first version I give the app 4 high-rises out of 5!

Download the app here: http://app.homebuyers.com/

Look along our downtown skyline and you’re guaranteed to see two things – cranes and highrises!  It’s beauty to some, but often times sad to me (and no, not because a catastrophic bubble is about to pop).  For you see, once you peel back the glass and concrete cladding… they’re all pretty much the same on the inside!

The formula for developing a condo in Toronto these days is pretty straight forward:
1. Buy downtown lot (bonus points if it’s “steps to” anything.)
2. Select from a one of five “starchitects” to design your glass box.
3. Once you have the outside mapped out, start on the interiors.  Here you choice is even more limited… there’s roughly 3 to select from.  Who you select won’t make much of a difference as they will typically suggest any or all of the following – granite in the kitchens with a  modern or European cabinetry (from what I’ve seen, the words are used interchangeably), some form of hybrid hardwood/laminate concoction in the main living areas and a natural stone tile for the bathrooms.
4.  Now that you’ve got 3 of the main ingredients in play, you’re going to need choose from one of the 2 big name preconstruction brokers.  Both are equally good, it really comes down to who can sell a better story about your project.  They’ll suggest a few marketing firms to bring the “vision” to life – actions words and pretty people are a must for all glossy brochures.
5.  Hold a few VIP releases to the ever busy real estate community, and voila you’ve sold a condo.

I’ve left a few sub steps such as floorplan design, coming up with a price, and my personal favourite - music selection for flash based/non smartphone loading website… but i’m sure you get the (sarcastic) point i’m trying to make!

I recently stopped into the sales centre of 277 Davenport, expecting the same as usual. What I found was anything but!  They used the same formula I described above, but did it soooo well it doesn’t seem wrong at all!

Let’s start with step 1 – Location.  As the name signifies, the condo is being built at 277 Davenport Rd. just a few doors down from Chef Massimo Capra’s Mistura and across the street from Brian Gluckstein’s gorgeous courtyard. The development is being built in a tucked away part of Davenport and the sales centre is almost hidden from plain sight. Panning out, you’ll notice that the project is smack in the middle of 3 of the most sought after neighbourhoods in the City – Casa Loma, Annex and Yorkville.

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The wait is over for The Bold Towns at Broadview and Danforth!  Floorplans and prices for the project were just released to the public.  In total only 14 towns will be built on the site. The collection is comprised of 6 different configurations.  Each town comes with a parking spot (included in the price), a rec-room, a terrace, and 3 bedrooms.  The master bedroom makes up the entire 3rd and comes with a walk-in closet and a private ensuite with a separate shower, tub and bathroom!

Preview pricing has homes starting at $809,990. Purchasers are required to put down a 15% deposit on the towns. Move-in date is scheduled for approximately Spring 2013. You can preview the floorplans below:

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During last weeks “peak and enter” at the newly completed Don River Park… I stopped by the River City development to take a few photos of phase one under construction!

The 7 storey River St. building is well underway and already taking shape.

The two storey townhomes line the base of the building along River St.

Here’s a close up of the King St. building… eventually the two will be connected by a bridge!

Interlocking stone was used in the construction of sidewalks and roads for the area!

Looking for more updates from River City?  Waterfront Toronto recently relocated one of its web cameras to capture the construction progress of the development! The web camera, which was previously used to capture the construction of Sherbourne Common north, is now on the rooftop of Edge Loft condominiums at 625 Queen Street East.  Still images of the site are taken every 15 minutes and can be viewed on Waterfront Toronto’s construction webcam page and on the River City page.

Images are archived and once the project is complete, a two minute time lapse video is created that showcases the transformation of the project from start to finish.

One of the most exciting things about being in the business of selling the City is watching how it changes over the years. In 2008 I started focusing on the West Don Land (or River City) part of town.  At the time it was no more than a contaminated brown field with a bunch of old industrial buildings.  With the announcement of Toronto hosting the Pan Am games in 2015… plans quickly got underway to improve the look of the area.

A new school, daycares, and condos are just a few of the things planned for the area… but before any of this could happen, the City had to deal with a potential flood hazard at the base of the redevelopment. Reshaping the floodplain would not only protect the West Don Lands but also a 99 hectare (245 acre) area, including Toronto’s financial district, from sinking underwater!

The solution they came up with was both practical and useful for the area residents and the overall look of the area! Approximately 400,000 cubic metres of fill is being used to construct the Don River Park.   According to WaterFrontToronto’s website: “The centrepiece of the West Don Lands, Don River Park will be a 7.3 hectare (18 acre) active, vibrant and inviting park that will not only serve the local community, but residents from throughout Toronto and visitors from far and wide. Construction of the park, which will occupy the south eastern portion of the neighbourhood and will run along the Don River from King Street to the rail corridor in the south, started in September 2010. When completed, the beautiful green space will invite people to the Don River and offer inspiring experiences along the river’s edge as well as spectacular views of downtown and Lake Ontario.”

I’ve visited the site several times since 2009 and been blown away by it’s progress each time! Shortly before the park opened, I took a self guided tour of the almost completed park!  Check out the photos below:

Starting at 12:00 pm on Tuesday March 20th, I’ll be live blogging from the South Hill on Madison VIP Broker Launch. This exclusive Platinum Broker lunch is taking place at Mistura’s Upper Lounge and will go from 12-2. The project is being developed by Burnac Holdings Limited and will be constructed next to The Madison Avenue Lofts, at the foot of Casa Loma.

12:30 – arrived at Mistura, beautiful spread for lunch. A lot of excitement!

1:28 – Hunter Milborne taking the floor to discuss the details.

Sales office to have a one bedroom suite!

1:30 – History of Burnac development. Built over 1000 condos in the past 20 years. Currently working on a highend boutique on Davenport

1:33 – priced in the 600 per square foot. 15% for VIP downpayment.

1:35 – only 159 suites available. Parking available for everything over $300,000.

Prices and floorplans now available!

Prices range from $239,900-$989,900 and in size from 384-1259 sq. ft.

Check in here for all the live details. And if you’re interested in purchasing at South Hill, fill out the form below anytime!

Today we got our first look of what South Hill on Madison will one day look like!  BuzzBuzzHome released the rendering on twitter earlier today.  It’s hard to tell which way the building will front in relation to Madison lofts next door, yet it’s still better than the vacant lot that currently sits on the site!

South Hill Condos will sit at the base of Casa Loma and have the Dupont subway station literally minutes away.  A brand new eco park is also in the works for the are and will be developed on the vacant parking lot to the south of Macpherson!

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