Posts Tagged ‘Mark Savel’

Trinity Lofts is running a summer special, offering buyers either $10,000 in cash back or $15,000 in upgrades on units priced over $350,000!  The  location of the lofts offers downtown living next door to the Distillery District and West Don Lands Redevelopment.

The 8 story building will have just 81 lofts plus 2 townhouses.  The building will also have a dog room on the main level, resident “bike share” program and a on-site autoshare parking space.  Below is an example of a 2 bedroom plus den.  The unit is approx. 813 sq.ft  plus a 101 sq.ft balcony.  This floor plan starts at $446,900 and includes parking, storage locker and HST!

(prices and specifications subject to change without notice.)

Give me a call or send me an email to set up an appointment to preview full floor plans and price lists!

Last week I attended the 6th annual PUGs, the peoples choice awards for architecture in the City! I’m a big fan of the PUG’s since it involves the products I make my lively-hood from…Toronto Condos! The awards allow the public to vote on their favorite residential and commercial buildings from 2009! This year the PUGs were held at the AGO (last years winner in the Commercial/Institutional category) with an hour and half discussion with the  2010 mayoral candidates. Sadly none really impressed me with their vision for architecture and planning of the City, but i’ll have more on that in another post ;)

On a positive note, this years winner was quite different from last.  One St. Thomas – a 29 storey multi million dollar limestone luxury condominium, won the award in 2009.  For 2010 it was the Housing Co-Operative at 60 Richmond East designed by Teeple Architects that took home the PUG!  It’s good to see that architecture in our city sees no division in social class.   It also gives inspiration and proof to other developers and architects that good design isn’t just for the rich, but rather for all to enjoy!

So how did your condo’s design preform at the PUGS?

Read the rest of this entry »

Do you have an extra 80 inches in length and 40 inches in width in that den of yours? If yes, then that’s just enough room for 2 beds! The clip above is from New-York-based Resource Furniture. Watch in awe (as I did) as they demonstrate how a little ingenuity can give a small space a lot of room!

I’ve never been a fan of the 300 sqf studio, be it for living or an investment but as the price of land in Toronto goes up; the spaces we call home are becoming smaller! It’s inevitable as developers try to facilitate as many units possible into their towers to maximize the profit on the project. Even traditional 2 bedroom units are being built with less square footage than their older counter parts.

If you look at a building like The Esplanade, it’s very common to see 1 bedroom units pushing 700 sqf. Compare that with many of the newer buildings going up and the same square footage is now housing 2 bedrooms! Space saving decor like the ones available from Resource Furniture are the key to using every square inch in your condo and making the most out of the limited space available!

…I wonder if there’s a foldable garden available?

Ready to find your own space in one of Toronto’s many condo towers? Give me a call or send me an email… I’d love to help!

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!

Toronto is a City full things to see and do…and like most cities, one would have to pay in order to do them!  This weekend, (May 29th and 30th 2010) 150 buildings of architectural, historic, cultural and/or social significance open their doors to the public.

A few of my ‘must-see’s’  are:

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Historic Walls – The southern section of the present CAMH historical wall was built by unpaid patient labourers at the then Provincial Lunatic Asylum.

City Hall- Podium Green Roof – From concrete to living garden, the Toronto City Hall podium roof, where visiting dignitaries were once welcomed at the “front door” of the Council Chamber, will be reopened as the city’s largest, publicly accessible green roof garden.

Stephan Caras Design Inc. - The building is currently owned and operated as the world headquarters and couture fashion house of Stephan Caras Design. The interior is stylistically modern and designed by Stephan Caras himself.

This is an excellent opportunity to get into some of Torontos hidden gems…and admission is FREEEEEE!

Check out the Cities website for a full list of participants.

Ever wonder why some people call their place of residence an apartment and others a condo?  I sure did!

It was about 7 years ago when my curiosity had gotten the better of me (I wasn’t yet licensed as a Realtor).  At the time, many of my friends were either buying or renting a place of their own.    It was common to hear my renter friends say “come to my apartment this weekend” while the purchasing friends would say “you’ve got to check out the views from my condo”…or something like that.

For the most part I thought I had the terminology all figured out…the renters lived in apartments and the owners lived in condos. I’m sure some of you have thought…or at least asked the same question! After correcting numerous people on the differences, I’ve decided to put together a simple explanation that should clarify this often confusing use of terminology!!!

Here we go:

An apartment is a word used to describe the style of building!  For example an apartment can take the shape of a high-rise or low-rise.

A condo (or condominium as they’re legally known) is a style of ownership and could come in a variety of forms…townhouses, detached houses, high-rise, low-rise, industrial or even retail!  Therefore, a condominium is not defined by its physical structure but rather the way in which owners have agreed to share the ownership of the common elements of the property while retaining individual ownership of parts of the property which make up their units!

Now that we’ve gotten that straightened out, let’s get you a condo of your own…send me an email or give me a call I’d love to help!

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!