Toronto Real Estate Blog Downtown Condos » Don River Park

Early Details on River City Phase 3

Mark Savel — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:00:05 +0000

Big news from the River City development in the West Don Lands… For starters, construction is well underway at Phase 1 and work is moving forward at Underpass Park, Don River Park and the Pan Am Village!

In keeping with the good news trend, Phase 2 has started releasing units to it’s VIP Realtor community and have had a great response thus far!

And now for the best news yet…The first design meeting for River City Phase 3 has taken place and it’s looking like the third tower may be as tall as 30 storeys! Situated directly on the Don River Park, with views of the park, the lake and the downtown skyline… this is definitely going to be something many will want to get in on!

If you’d like to be kept in the loop for River City Phase 3, I’d love to help… please fill out the form below:

River City Start of Construction Update

Mark Savel — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 23:17:28 +0000

After spending a week in sunny Varadero, the end of vacation and the start of work officially commenced with an update letter from the River City team!

The letter was sent out to all the purchasers and their Realtors in an effort to keep us up to date with progress on this changing part of Toronto. To summarize the changes thus far:

- Commencing construction of Underpass Park, which saw work start in late November;

- Installing “silva cells” for the boulevard trees on Mill Street and elsewhere in the West Don Lands;

- Installing sanitary and storm sewers and watermains on Bayview Avenue;

- Continuing work on Don River Park, including a pavilion and park steps which are an integral feature of the park’s design that will enable visitors to easily navigate and take full advantage of the park’s

unique contours, elevations, walkways and boardwalks; and finally

- Prequalifying teams to design, build and finance the development of the section of the West Don Lands that will be home to the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Athlete’s Village.

The letter also went on to say “As for River City itself, we are now ready to proceed with construction as the technical drawings have been completed and trade tendering is now underway. Waterfront Toronto had advised us that the site preparatory work that needs to be done prior to our getting access to the site will be completed this spring, allowing us to begin construction in June. On this basis, we are confident that we will be able to deliver your new home to you within the time frame of our Agreements.” Great news for purchasers excited about making the move!

As many may already know, another 3 phases are scheduled to launch with phase 2 rumored to be coming soon! Phase one is well over 80% sold but still has some great layouts remaining. As an incentive to those interested in Phase 1, River City is offering an attractive 10% down payment (5% in 30 days and 5% in 150 days) followed by a final 5% on occupancy! Below are few of my favourite layouts available. If you’d like to know more about prices and availability…give me a call or send me an email, I’d love to help!

Ground Breaking at Don River Park

Mark Savel — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 05:08:42 +0000

Wednesday September the 8th marked another milestone for the West Don Lands revitalization…although work has been going on at the site for over a year, yesterday marked the official ground breaking at the Don River Park!

Everyone from Mayor Miller to Jim Flaherty were on hand to mark the momentous occasion…by now you’re probably asking yourself “What’s so big about a park, and why do these high paid politicians need to be there to break ground?” The second part of the question, I don’t have an answer for, but in regards to the park…

The Don River Park will transform an abandoned post-industrial site into a dynamic, year-round, public space for the River City residents! Renowned design firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, has been assigned the task of transforming the 18 acre site! Once complete, the Don River Park will be offer playgrounds, sports fields and open parks and other leisure activities for Torontonians to enjoy.

Aside from all the above mentioned features, the transformation of the land also acts as a flood plain! The Don River Park will double as a protection landform covering over 245 acres including the West Don Lands AND Toronto’s financial district.

The construction of this park is a brilliant move by all involved! They’re taking a barren brown field, creating a flood protection plain out of it,all the while transforming it into an open space for the public to enjoy.

To tie it into River City… Once the land transformation of the Don River Park is complete, Waterfront Toronto will hand over the land to Urban Capital to allow for the construction of River Cities Phase 1! 270 of the 348 units have already been sold at River City, but some great units are still available. If you’d like to get a unit before they’re all gone …give me a call or send me an email, I’d love to help!

BILD Award for Best Building Design – River City

Mark Savel — Mon, 31 May 2010 15:58:56 +0000

And the award for Best Building Design goes to……….*drumroll*

RIVER CITY!!!

Congratulations to all that have been involved in making the project so special. And even bigger congratulations goes to the purchasers who now live in the best designed building according to BILD (Building Industry and Land Development)

The first phase is over 70% sold with a variety of layouts still available. Designed by Saucier + Perrotte, River City will be a four phased community of over 900 loft-style condominiums and townhouses, together with street level restaurants, cafes and boutiques! I’ve been covering the project extensively since it first launched back in 2009 and will continue to as the West Don Lands transform into one of downtown Toronto’s newest neighbourhoods!

For floorplans, prices, and availability…give me a call or send me an email, I’d love to help!

The Don River Park Under Construction

Mark Savel — Tue, 18 May 2010 05:29:45 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

Check out the progress at the Don River Park…what is no more than piles of dirt will soon be a 17 acre park in the West Don Lands part of the City (which is actually the East side of the City. Confusing, I know!).

In this video update, I take a look at the early evolution of the Don River Park. Once complete, the green space will link residents of River City to the future site of the Pan Am Village. See for yourself in the video above!

If you’re interested in calling River City home, give me a call or send me an email… I’d love to help!

River City Condos Toronto – Building Green

Mark Savel — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:02:03 +0000

In my last post, I took a step back and looked at the West Don Lands Park and the value it provided River City. In this one, I’m taking a step forward and looking at “green” initiatives offered at the development.

River City will be the first residential development going for a Gold LEED Certification in Toronto! LEED ranks building design, construction, and operational practices that provide high quality and high performance advantages to increase occupant health, comfort, productivity while reducing environmental impacts. The exact details of green initiatives at River City have not been officially released but according to their website, the 4 main goals are:

Reduce as much as possible to what it take to build and then live in River City
Create healthy living environments
Reduce as much as possible what we actually throw back into the community
Offset any remaining impacts so River City is carbon neutral overall

A few newspaper reports I’ve been reading even mentioned River City as having – a hybrid car and bike-share program as well as parking garages pre-wired for electric-car charging stations! Any buildings over 3 stories high will have green roofs to absorb rainwater, insulate and help mitigate the urban heat island effect. Buildings will be heated and cooled from a central energy plant, with water supplied through a system of underground piping. This eliminates the need for boilers, furnaces, hot water heaters, chillers and air-conditioning units.

There are other green advantages to building an environmentally friendly condo. Financially speaking, these green initiatives translate into: utility bill savings, less consumption and overall lower maintenance fees! The more I research this development, the better it gets! It’s such a rare opportunity to buy into something that offers so much. The first phase will be made up of two buildings connected via a three-storey industrial-looking glass bridge. Those suites include 1,000- to 1,600-sq.-ft. town homes, 400- to 900-sq.-ft lofts, and 515- to 1,600-sq.-ft. penthouses, all ranging from $179,900 to $769,900. I’ll be getting floor plans and price lists in the last week of November. From November 25th to 30th I’ll be meeting with clients interested in purchasing at River City. On December 2nd agreements of purchase and sale will be signed. I’m taking names as of today, so if you’d like to be part of River City, give me a call or send me an email… I’d love to help!

Toronto’s River City Condos and the Don River Park

Mark Savel — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:51:00 +0000

Pop quiz readers! What’s the number ONE rule in real estate? Thaaat’s riiight! LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!

No matter what type of real estate you’re buying, you should always be familiar with the lay of the land. Last week I blogged about River City Condo’s, but for this one I wanted to take a step back and look at some of the others features in the area that make River City such an advantageous opportunity!

Located to the south of the future River City Condo Development, the Don River Park will bring a refreshing change to the 5000 people planning to call the West Donlands home. Waterfront Toronto has plans to transform the abandoned and contaminated post-industrial site to an 18 acre greenscape that will feature an urban meadow, water play, a skating area, a multi-use sports field, a skateboard park and new playground equipment geared to a range of ages.

Perched on one of the highest points in the park, will be the pavilion (pictured above). It will also act as a informal amphitheatre and future focal point of the development. Michael van Valkenburgh Associates, with over 20 years experience in restoring lost landscapes throughout North America will be the team behind the transformation. The park is scheduled for completion in 2011. When the residents of River City start moving into West Don Lands they’ll be moving into a new neighbourhood, not just a new development.

The first phase will be made up of two buildings connected via a three-storey industrial-looking glass bridge. Those suites include 1,000- to 1,600-sq.-ft. town homes, 400- to 900-sq.-ft lofts, and 515- to 1,600-sq.-ft. penthouses, all ranging from $179,900 to $769,900. I’ll be getting floor plans and price lists in the last week of November. From November 25th to 30th I’ll be meeting with clients interested in purchasing at River City. On December 2nd agreements of purchase and sale will be signed. I’m taking names as of today, so if you’d like to be part of River City, give me a call or send me an email… i’d love to help!

More images of the park can be seen here: http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/dbdocs//464dcccae9e23.pdf