Toronto Condo and Real Estate Blog

When it comes to making positive choices for the planet, where you live can be just as important as how you live

By Andrew Pride - New Dream Homes and Condos

Today’s environmentally friendly condos offer residents a wide range of features that make “living green” a natural way of life.  From whole-building systems that save energy in common areas to empowering features in individual suites, what’s inside your condo is key to living in an environmentally responsible way.  What’s outside your building—your home’s location—is important too. Here’s why.

According to a 2006 report by Pollution Probe and the Canadian Automobile Association, climate change brought about by greenhouse gas emissions is warming the environment by an unprecedented 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade in Canada.

About one-eighth of Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions come from personal vehicle use, including passenger cars and light trucks (including minivans and SUVs). To reduce global warming, and to clean up our city’s air at the same time, one of most positive things each of us can do is drive less. Right now, the City of Toronto is encouraging all residents to reduce vehicle use, and home energy use as well, by 20%. It’s a target that’s easier to achieve if you live in the right location.

Is your home within walking or cycling distance of your workplace? Are you close to the subway and streetcar or bus routes? Can you shop for all of your home and food essentials in your neighbourhood? Can you walk to the movies and to restaurants? If so, you’ll find it easier to leave the car at home… or simply not own one.

Today, green-thinking developers understand the importance of location. MintoMidtown, the 39-and 54-storey condo at Yonge and Eglinton, is located steps from the Eglinton subway in a vibrant neighbourhood known for popular shops and restaurants.

MintoMidtown and MintoSkyy at Pottery Road and Broadview—also provide car-share memberships to residents. Car-sharing members can, for low hourly fees, have access to a fleet of well-maintained vehicles including Smart cars, hybrids and mini-vans. With larger developments, hybrid vehicles can be located on-site and exclusively for the use of the condo residents.

Once you’ve found a condo in the location best for you, it’s time to consider the building’s overall green profile. Is the development a candidate for LEED® certification from the Canada Green Building Council?  Will an “all-off” switch and individual heating and cooling controls in your suite give you the personal power to conserve? Is any of your new condo’s energy being sourced through Renewable Energy Certificates to offset traditional power use and encourage the production of greener sources of energy?

If you can answer “yes” to these questions, you’ll find that green-living solutions are truly close to home.

Andrew Pride is  Vice President of Minto Energy Management. He champions the green design elements of MintoUrban Communities condo and rental buildings.

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Buying a first home can be overwhelming and, as buyers, we tend to become wrapped up in the physical aspects of a home– the amount of rooms, a condo’s amenities — and neglect less obvious, but equally as important issues that will affect our quality of life. Well, here’s a little list of reminders to keep you on track…

The obvious ones are the first to come to mind:
* the distance to work
* the quality of schools in the neighbourhood
* neighborhood shopping and recreation.

Those factors, while important, may not touch the issues specific to your situation. For instance, you may be one of the thousands of families who have an aging parent living with them. The average age of our population has grown older, meaning we are living longer lives, spending longer periods as widows and widowers and increasingly taking up residence with our children.

In such situations, the distance from our homes to the nearest hospital is vitally important. Public transportation is also something we tend to overlook in a nation of drivers. As more of us get older, many of us elect not to drive, which makes having public transportation nearby even more important.

Public safety is a also major issue and you shouldn’t overlook proximity to police stations, emergency medical services and fire stations. Community groups — including homeowner, business and residents’ associations, PTAs and a neighborhood crime-watch — are also important to keep an area safe and vital. You can look into whether there are any of these groups in your prospective neighbourhood and, if so, research their vitality and level of involvement or clout.

You might want to consider the parking situation in the neighbourhood, too. If the property has a garage, or a driveway, or pad parking, this won’t be an issue for you. But if there’s no parking on the property, you’d better call the city and find out if there are street parking permits available. As well, don’t assume that you can install front-pad parking (in lieu of your front yard) just because you want to; once again, you’re best to call the city to check on costs and whether you’re allowed to create such parking spots on your street.

And even if YOU can park, how hard will it be for your guests to park their cars? Will they have to circle the area for 30 minutes? (Bear in mind, too, that many areas where parking is tight usually have “secret” and legal parking spots that only residents know about — the people selling the home may be able to pass on this information to you.)

Another issue is property taxes: You know what the owners pay today, but in Toronto, it’s well worth your while to find out what the house has been reassessed at and to figure out whether the latest tax hike has been fully enacted, or if it’s being phased in.

Here’s one more: if you’re buying a condo, you may want to inquire about any pending maintenance fee increases.

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information

Concord CityPlace’s new Panorama Tower sets new standards for luxury, elegance

From New Homes & Condos Magazine

In a boldly innovative move, Concord Adex Developments has announced a spectacular new condo tower, which promises to be yet another glistening gem in its already substantial Concord CityPlace crown.

The company has acquired a prime site just south of CityPlace near Lakeshore Boulevard and Bathurst Street, and plans to create a project that promises to set new standards for luxury in the Toronto real estate market. Panorama will be a 25-storey spire, rising from a six-level podium. Floors 15 to 25 will house what it calls “Elite Suites,” tributes to the designer’s art.

Of special note will be the elegant corner suites. Each offers unparalleled city and lake views. Each will boast dramatic window treatments, kitchens that define the word “gourmet” and bathrooms that lift luxury to an entirely new level.

To give a hint at the exclusivity and pleasures the Elite Suites offer, each will have its own private elevator, which zips from special exclusive lobbies in both the P1 level of the underground parking garage and the soaring ground-floor main lobby directly to the suite’s foyer.

The P1 level lobbies are a special grace note. Elite suites have their own gated access parking area, perfect for discreet, untroubled comings and goings.

“What we will create in Panorama will raise the bar for all other so-called ‘luxury’ condos in Toronto,” says Alan Vihant, Concord Adex Vice-President of Development. “To date, the focus of Concord CityPlace has been meeting the needs of first-time buyers and those seeking family homes of superb value.

“With Panorama, we have a chance to reach out to another demographic – men, women and families of considerable taste and sophistication who want an elegant, signature residence in one of the best, most vibrant areas of Toronto.”

Panorama will be a new extension of Concord CityPlace and will be connected by a landscaped walkway to the new neighbourhood’s exciting eight-acre park, a focal point for the development west of Spadina and the largest new park of its kind ever created as part of a new development.

Nor has Concord Adex overlooked the amenities, those touches that lift a project from the mundane to the superb. The top three-levels of the podium, for example, will be home to an exclusive club for use of residents and their guests. Yes, there will be a state-of-the-art fitness centre, but there will also be out-of-the-ordinary features such as a video gaming room, an Internet lounge, a cards and mahjong room, a fireplace lounge, a billiard room, party room with bar and kitchen, steam rooms and even a dog-walking area for pampered pooches.

For the techno-savvy, all three floors of the podium are equipped with wireless Internet access, making the podium one huge WiFi hotspot.

The roof is reserved for an outdoor patio with its own wet bar and barbeque area. It even boasts an outdoor heated whirlpool.

For those seeking the height of luxury homes, the top two floors of Panorama will feature two distinctive, ultra-luxury, two-storey penthouses. While details have yet to be released, Vihant says they can’t be matched for location, layout and luxury.

“Panorama is one of those ‘must-see’ projects,” says Vihant. “It is a real tribute to our skills as a builder of exceptional new housing, and will become an instant landmark for this city.”

New Homes & Condos Magazine is an excellent source of housing information for those looking for information on new condos in Ontario, Canada. We offer the most up-to-date information on new communities across the Greater Toronto Area.

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information