Mark Savels Toronto Real Estate Blog » Savel Sells

Construction Continues at Underpass Park

Mark Savel — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:52:57 +0000

On a recent visit to the River City Sales Centre, I noticed something different about the street… the old commercial buildings that once stood on the North side of Eastern Ave were gone!

The demolition of the buildings was to make way for Underpass Park, the most extensive park to ever be built under an overpass in Canada, and the first in Toronto. The Park will cover approximatily 2.5 acres under and around the Eastern Avenue overpasses. I had thought the park would be much smaller, but after seeing the work being done, it’s much more clear of how far the public space will stretch!

According to the Waterfront Toronto website:

“Designed by renowned landscape architects Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg in association with The Planning Partnership, Underpass Park embodies design excellence and is the epitome of innovative urban park design. The design creates a socially-engaging park for community members of all ages and abilities by incorporating public art, recreational space, playful climbing structures and play areas, flexible community space, community gardens, and public gathering places.”

Here are a few photos I took of the park under construction:

Here are a few renderings from Waterfront Toronto of what the Park will look like once complete:

Not only will the Park be an upgrade from what’s currently there, it’ll also bring added value to those who have (or plan to) purchase at River City! Some great layouts are still available in the first phase of the project!

…and check out a video I filmed of the park being built!

Toronto Outdoor Pools Now Open

Mark Savel — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:37:18 +0000

Pool season has officially begun! With the hot June summer weather rolling into town, 12 outdoor pools opened their doors early this year. On Saturday June 26, the City’s remaining 47 outdoor pools opened up along with more than 100 wading pools. Outdoor pools and wading pools will remain open for the season, until September 5. It’s expected to be a hot one this year, so check out the City of Toronto’s website for a full list of pools, locations and hours of operation!

…or better yet, why not buy a condo with pool already in it! Give me a call or send me an email…I’d love to help!

Underpass Park at River City

Mark Savel — Thu, 06 May 2010 19:30:14 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

River City announced the start of Underpass Park earlier in the week. The public space will be located under and around the Eastern Ave overpass. It will be the biggest park ever to be built under a bridge in Canada. The Underpass Park is scheduled to open in spring 2011 and will we a welcomed addition to the future residents of River City!

hotDocs 2010

Mark Savel — Mon, 03 May 2010 05:01:15 +0000

Ladies and gentlemen, boy and girls, movie buffs and doc-heads alike…step right up and get ready for hotDocs 2010, live from various cinema’s across Toronto!

In it’s 17th year, the hotDocs festival will be in town for 11 days (April 29 to May 9). North America’s largest documentary festival will have over 170 films from more than 40 countries! This will be my second year attending the event. Last year I had the chance to watch “Jazz Baroness”, the story of a white British Baroness (Pannonica ‘Nica” Rothschild) who fell in love with the musical genius Thelonious Monk. (one of my favourites!)

Click here to view the embedded video.

This year, I have my eyes and appetite set to watch “Candyman: The David Klein Story“. He’s been called the real life Willy Wonka because of his idea for Jelly Belly jellybeans!

Click here to view the embedded video.

From docs about Canada’s own Josh Dolgin aka “socalled” to films about Choirs singing songs of complaints (you’ve gotta check this one out…they even complain about haiting their condo association! lol) hotDocs is sure to have something you’ll enjoy! Check out their full schedule here.

If you’re thinking of moving up to “Hollywood North”, give me a call or send me an email, I’d love to help!

Daniels Coming to River City?

Mark Savel — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 04:41:24 +0000

I was at the River City sales office the other day getting some updates on availability of units…after chatting with the wonderful staff (I can truthfully say that from experience) I took a walk over to the see the progress at the site! To the average person it pretty much looks the same, but from what I saw back in October to how it looks now is quite substantial. For a project of this size, tons of parts must first be put in place before the actual project gets off the ground. In the coming days I’ll have some video footage showing some of the changes at the site….

BUT the bigggggest update I discovered was almost camouflaged by some graffiti on the hoarding. Posted towards the end of the construction wall was a white sign that read “Daniels”!!! I instantly got on my laptop and started searching to see if anyone had picked up on this! (As of writing this post, no one has)… before I go on, let me take a step back to explain why this finding is so HUGE!

Currently all that’s on the site is a ton of dirt and a bunch of construction workers getting ready to carve the River St extension. Once complete the street will run through the River City development (on the East side of the street. To the West of the extension will be a dedicated area for mixed use and affordable housing. Since the project launched back in November, I’ve been searching all over the City (and internet) for information on who will be building the housing. All that I was able to find was a short note reading “Toronto Community Housing Corporation is developing the first complex comprised of three buildings of affordable housing. Construction of the 243 unit development designed by Baird Sampson Neurt Architects will start in spring 2010 and occupancy is expected in early 2012.” from a March 10th Waterfront Toronto release. Even the Toronto Affordable Housing website lacked the details I’ve been looking for!

If my findings are true, and in fact Daniels is the developer selected to build at the site…this is great news for all! Daniels has an excellent reputation, already building AND selling out their One Cole project a few blocks away in Moss Park. They’re also the developers who practically sold out their Mississauga townhouse complex in several hours back in March. I couldn’t find anything on the Daniels website announcing their involvement in the River City project BUT if that little white sign is any indication of what’s to come, it’s should be a welcomed addition to the neighbourhood!

There are some great layouts available at River City! If you’re interested in calling River City home, give me a call or send me an email… I’d love to help!

Look for more video updates in the coming posts!

The New Downtown Mini by Raw Design

Mark Savel — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:03:35 +0000

I’ve been spending a lot of my time on the East side of town lately, showing and selling at the various condo sites and hanging out in its eclectic coffee shops. The other day I was in the area gathering info on Trinity Lofts, when I passed the newly opened Mini Downtown…being a Mini Cooper driver/enthusiast/owner myself I just had to stop by!

The new looking dealership is MUCH different than the old! I first fell in love with my Cooper when I saw it sitting in the “loft-like” showroom at its King West location. The space had exposed brick, wood beams, and high ceilings. Shortly after I picked up the car, the dealership moved out of its place and headed east…Located in front of BMW Downtown (the tall glass building that can be seen from the DVP) the new place is an excellent evolution of design and space compared to its old digs.

Designed by Toronto based Raw Design (the geniuses’ in design behind the Cube Lofts on College St), it’s new look has replaced wooden beams with black steel ones and substituted hardwood floors with rectangular slate-like tiles. Perched above the showroom floor is the mezzanine that allows customers to watch their car being serviced as they hang out in the “lounge” atmosphere! The showroom is mainly black, but lightens up with the colourful Coopers that line the floor. Playful greens, oranges and other neon lights accent the space and help to put you in a “mini cooper” state of mind!

Check out some photos below. The East side of town is proving to be an excellent area, with tons of potential…I think we’ll be seeing more business follow Mini by heading east! If you to have thought about making the move send me an email or give me a call… I’d love to help!

PS… if you’re looking to get into a Mini, talk to Sam Barbaro! He did an awesome job getting me into mine and I’m sure he can do the same for you!!

Network Lofts Now Registered!

Mark Savel — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 21:54:19 +0000

Over the weekend I had the chance to check out a cooool loft conversion in the Bloor and Islington area of Etobicoke! Located a few minutes away from the Islington subway station at 2 Fieldway, the newly converted loft was once home to Bell Canada offices. For the past few years, they’ve been working to transform the building into what it is today!

Last week the building finally registered with the City, meaning residents can now sell their units on the open market (ie. MLS). I previewed several units, and EVERY one was totally different. Some had polished concrete floors giving it the industrial look, while others had beautiful thick-plank hardwood floors for a more modern feel! There is roughly 205 units spread out over 12 floors with 10′ ceiling heights for most suites and 15′10″ for the 2 story lofts.

With conversion lofts, residents should often give consideration to noise levels as most of the time builders can only work with what they currently have. At Network Lofts the builders had 10 inch to 18 inch floor slabs for exceptional low noise transition (as per their website). Though I can’t verify the slab sizes myself, I can say that the units were all very quite during our visit! (a big plus)

The lobby was very impressive, with its spacious entrance surrounded by wood paneled walls and big stone accents…pictured below!

We didn’t get to see all of its amenities but original plans called for: His and hers steam rooms in exercise area, guest suite, fully outfitted fitness room with two treadmills, two elliptical exercisers, various free weights and a rooftop terrace for use by all residents for enjoying warm weather and great views that Network Lofts has to offer!

As with most newly completed builds, new listings are coming out daily! If you’re interested in living and being part of the ”network” give me a call or send me an email…I’d love to help!

Sellers, units have appreciated quite a bit since its first launch; contact me if you’d like to know what yours is worth!