Posts Tagged ‘buyer’

“Downtown Condos” may not be the most creative name for a new project…but building a condo with the ability for owners to combine or divide suites definitely changes it up!

The proposed 11 storey building by Parallax Investments will have only 89 suites including Penthouse and Town homes.  Located at 508 Wellington West in the King West part of town, the project will be built directly next to Bar Wellington and diagonally across from Victoria Memorial Park.  Downtown Condos will have the usual amenities of a lobby with concierge, second floor party room and a theatre room to name a few BUT the truly unique feature is in the units…

Parallax and &Co Architects will be implementing a state of the art idea not seen yet in Toronto, they’re calling it the FlexNatür planning system.  According to their sales literature:

We finally got our first glimpse of what Tableau will look like!  On Thursday, brokers were invited to hear David Wex (of Urban Capital) speak on the unique characteristics that Tableau has planned for future residents!

The play on words of “Tableau”, (French for table) is apparent throughout the marketing of the project!   The features of the condo are broken down in 3 different parts of the Tableau…below, on and above! To add to my previous post of what the condo will offer:

BELOW THE TABLE –  will feature a combination of design powerhouses.  Starting with my favourite part of the project is Shayne Darks “Nova” piece (seen above) that will  shoot through the table and add a dynamic display to the condo.  Below the table will be Claude Cormiers mosaic tiled plaza that will give a “ying and yang” contrast with the green space his firm is also working on across the street from Tableau.  To whisk you to and from your unit will be 4 high speed elevators. The lobby will house a 18′ high marble clad wall on one side with a floor to ceiling windows over looking the public plaza. Residential and commercial lobbies will be designed by Cecconi Simone. The current site of Embassy Night club will be worked into the building…sort of.  The tower and table will sit on top of the existing building with the facade being worked into the design instead of demolished!  Below are a few photos of what the corner currently looks like:

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Shooting up from the base of X condos is Shayne Dark’s latest installation, entitled: Double Vision…admittingly, that’s exactly what I did when I first saw it!  Located on the corner of Charles St and Ted Rogers Way, the dark red columns appear to be blasting through the concrete, nearly reaching the 3rd floor.  It wasn’t so much the installation that made me do a double take, it was more the shock of seeing art and architecture finally together in a Toronto condo project! Tableau is taking a similar approach by having Shayne do and installation at their project as well.  There’s will feature neon green columns piercing through the base (tableau) of the condo!

Here’s to hoping more developers follow the trend!

What an exciting time to be growing up in the City…before are very eyes, many of the social districts and areas in downtown Toronto are changing!  Take for example, the “Club District”.   The tastes and styles of the party goers who once dominated the area have shifted and because of this many have flocked to different areas such as Queen and King West!  Although the partiers may have left…many of the 20th century warehouses still stand!

Enter: Tableau Condos!

The brains of Urban Capital (Think River City, St. Nicholas and Mondrian for the Ottawa readers), Malibu Investments (think Boutique Condos and LTD) and Alit Developments (think Murano and Water Park City) will be collaborating their experience and skills to transform the Peter and Richmond corner (117 Peter to be exact)!

Where should I start on why I like this project?… let’s say the bottom!

A tableau (French for table) will sit at the base of the building with the residential component above.  For me this is a welcoming change in design as most condos dedicate their base to a boring podium that tends to isolate the building from the environment around it.  The “table” will help preserve the facade of the current building (Embassy Night Club) and give a more airy feel to pedestrians at street level.  The warehouse facade will be worked into the space and will be home to ground level retail and over 25,000 square feet of office space on the two stories above!

Bursting through the Tableau will be vibrant green 90’ high art installation by Shane Dark called “Nova”.  Many may not recognize his name, but if you’ve passed by X Condo (at Jarvis and Charles) recently, you sure to have seen his work!

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In less than a month one of the 5 candidates pictured above will be your new mayor.  The thought of it to me is both exciting and scary…exciting because of all the opportunities a fresh mind can bring to the City BUT scary because none of the potential candidates have shown that side of them.

I’ve attended 3 mayoral debates in person and watched several on TV. All of the candidates have made some big promises from abolishing the Toronto Land Transfer Tax to extending Allen Rd!  But not one has addressed their agenda for condos…with over 2,100 condo corporations registered in Toronto, there are a lot of issues that these mayoral hopefuls need tackle!

For example, if there are 30 condominium units stacked high on one parcel of land, why does each pay property tax at the same percentage rate as a single home on a plot of land?  Shouldn’t there be an incentive for living in a maximized use of limited land?  Will the next City Council approve as many condo developments as the last?  What are the Councillors plans to reduce urban sprawl, and keep more residents in the City?  With roughly 50,000 people making Toronto home every year, are we building enough condos to house them…or too much?

Thankfully the Toronto Chapter of the Canadian Condominium Institute will be holding a debate this Thursday (September 30, 2010) at the Novotel North York Hotel (3 Park Home Avenue) to tackle some of these exact questions!  The debate starts at 2 pm and is free to attend, but registration is a must…and if you care about the future of condos in Toronto, I’d say attendance is must as well!!!

Goodbye Leslieville Lofts…Hello Riverside Towns!

Back in 2008 Lamb Development Corp and Hyde Park Homes (think The King East) had plans of building Leslieville Lofts at Queen E and Broadview.  The plans were calling for a 9 story loft to be constructed on the site…only problem was, the City and the residents weren’t behind them.  The City had issues with height and the residents weren’t too keen on having a project in Riverside being named Leslieville (Leslieville starts a few blocks East). The site has sat vacant for the past few years with not much changing.

And now the good news…

On a recent sushi lunch in the area, I noticed new signage posted over the vacant building announcing the new RIVERSIDE TOWNS!  The redesigned site will eventually be home to one and two bedroom stacked town homes! According to the application amendment (pictured in the gallery below) approximately 65 units will make up the Riverside Towns.

Early renderings show the exterior taking the shape of a red brick Victorian home, with the potential of rooftop terraces for upper units and patios for the lower units!  Based on the projects registration page, units should range from 500 to 1,100 + square feet! No launch date has been announced, but if you’d like to be kept in the loop with this project …give me a call or send me an email, I’d love to help!

This weeks Photo Friday takes us 25 storeys above Toronto in the Lanterra built building know as Murano!  The Murano is made up of two towers (35 and 45 storeys respectively) that rise up from a two story podium along Bay St (north of College).  The developer was inspired by the “glass making” island off of Venice, aptly named: Murano! Architect Peter Clews definitely made the historic connection of island apparent with the fusion of glass cladding around both buildings!

The cladding allows for some of the most desirable sweeping views of the City. In the above picture (looking North East) you can see Casa and X condos emerging in the skyline! The North towers lobby is also quite significant with it’s two way fireplace, sitting area, library and travertine floors.  All of these elements are tied together by a beautiful blue and gold glass sculpture that greats residents and guests as the enter the building…just like the ones found in the art galleries of Venice.

I came up with the name “Business as Usual” for this photo because the breath taking views of Toronto are what I usually see on a daily basis!  If you’d like to buy a place with similar sights…give me a call or send me an email, I’d love to help!