Toronto Condo and Real Estate Blog

Life under vaulted ceilings in a former church

By Sydnia Yu - Globe and Mail

This loft has two bedrooms, three bathrooms, living and dining rooms and an upper-level office and family room.

The main floor - with 10-foot ceilings - features a dining room with built-in cabinetry, an oval staircase and a living room with a gas fireplace and two sets of French doors. They open to a 180-square-foot terrace.

Oak hardwood flooring in the living and dining rooms gives way to marble floors in the kitchen. The latter includes granite countertops, a glass-mosaic backsplash, breakfast bar, wine fridge and upscale appliances. A powder room completes the level.

Upstairs, the master suite has a wall-to-wall closet, glass-block windows and a private bathroom with a whirlpool tub. The second bedroom and three-piece bathroom are also on this level.

A third-floor media/family room has a wood-burning fireplace and 26-foot cathedral ceiling. It is pre-wired for a home theatre system. French doors open to an office with heated limestone floors, a vaulted ceiling, built-in bookcases and heat-blocking windows.

A laundry room is located on the lower level, which provides access to a garage with two parking spots and a locker.

The large third floor requires its own furnace, air-conditioning unit, air cleaner and humidifier, so there are two of each system in the home. The top floor also has an auxiliary AC system.

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

In the heart of the Toronto’s Summerhill community, this century-old, former Baptist church on Macpherson Avenue is revered by the handful of residents who live there.

“[The developer] took a large church and converted it into only five units … as opposed to trying to cram in as many one-level condos as possible,” Susan Bandler says of the converted structure near Avenue and Davenport roads. “It gets a ton of interest because it’s so unique.”

There is a unit there for sale right now, and it happens to be the loft mentioned above. “The only reason [the owners are] moving out is because they want to be closer to their daughter, who is having their first grandchild,” she explains.

Ms. Bandler believes this building is one of the most coveted church conversions in Toronto, saying it’s quite unlike anything else she’s seen. She cites its spacious suite sizes, multiple levels of living space, and unique floor plans that preserve the brick building’s grand architectural features.

“[The conversion] maintained the integrity of the original church, and used only the finest of materials,” which is not typical for newly built projects,” she explains.

It’s believed that the congregation of the Century Baptist Church began meeting in members’ homes on nearby Birch Street in 1888. The group was formally organized in 1901 and decided to build a church that could accommodate 500, and a basement that could hold 400 Sunday school attendees.

The structure was built in the early 1900s, and was expanded and renovated over the years until the parishioners left in 1970. It was sold a decade after that to a group practising theosophy.

After a devastating fire in 1986, the building was sold to a developer, who renovated and restored it to its present state. The structure was ideal for a loft conversion project: The walls between units are solid concrete and completely sound proof.

This unit features arched windows and 26-foot vaulted ceilings with exposed roof trusses on the top floor.

“It’s very, very special,” Ms. Bandler says. “You go in and your jaw drops.”

Similar to other suites, it has a three-level plan measuring about 2,600 square feet. Windows face east and west and residents have direct access to the street and garage.

“It’s perfect for people downsizing, for example, from Rosedale or Forest Hill,” Ms. Bandler states. “It still feels like a home, yet you’re in a smaller, more unique space in an amazing location.”

Unlike most conventional homes, however, the third level was dedicated to an office and media/family room rather than sleeping quarters.

“This was the most logical place for a media room because it has a big stone fireplace and there is no bathroom,” Ms. Bandler says.

“With the ceilings being so high, I don’t think that’s conducive for a bedroom.”

The owners prior to the present one hired local design firm Powell and Bonnell to remodel the interiors. Several projects were carried out between 2000 and 2005, one of which was updating the third floor.

Improvements made in the family room included a new fireplace surround, cabinetry, lighting and herringbone-patterned oak hardwood flooring.

An artist hand-painted the walls so that they get gradually darker as they approach the ceiling, an effect meant to de-emphasize the unit’s narrow and vertical dimensions and create a more intimate atmosphere. It took nearly a month to create the effect, which mimics an old European building lit by candles and its fireplace.

On the main floor, the designers remodelled the kitchen around existing appliances; created special wall panelling, cornice mouldings and lighting fixtures for the foyer, living and dining rooms; added a storage unit beneath the circular staircase; and spruced up the powder room.

Recently, the present owner put up glass mosaic backsplashes in the kitchen; installed new shower heads in the second-floor bathrooms and installed an auxiliary air conditioner for the third floor.

Interior designer Linda Schwartz was brought in to, among other things, select furniture and paint colours.

For entertaining outdoors, there is a private space with an interlocking patio, a gas hookup, new landscape lighting in the rock garden and antique brass and glass terrace dividers.

Gargoyles and water fountains provide interesting focal points, and wild pear trees and boxwoods in planters soften the edges.

The grounds surrounding the building are well maintained, complete with heated walkways and driveways and lush greenery, Ms. Bandler says.

The condo board has replaced the roof and put about $350,000 into landscaping,” she adds, noting that the work on the grounds was done by Janet Rosenberg and Associates.

“The second you step off the sidewalk of MacPherson, you can tell it’s a unique, high-end and very well-cared-for condo.”

————————————————————————————————————

Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960

By Lori Mcleod - Globe and Mail

Ontario will likely follow major cities in Western Canada into a decline in real estate prices, and while its slide should be shallower it will be more worrisome due to the province’s weaker outlook, an economist says.

The average price of a resale home in Canada fell by 3.6% last month, continuing a decline that started in June when prices lost ground for the first time in more than nine years, according to data released yesterday by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

So far, the drop in average home values has mainly radiated from Calgary and Edmonton, where July prices fell by 7.8% and 5.3% respectively from the previous year.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see prices in these and other large Western cities slump by as much as 20% in the near term in a correction of markets that got ahead of themselves, said Benjamin Tal, senior economist at CIBC World Markets Inc.

“You don’t have to be an economist to predict that prices will go down in Saskatoon and Regina, but in terms of the fundamentals all the pieces there are still fine - a healthy economy, energy boom and rising food prices,” Mr. Tal said. “Other than people who bought last year thinking prices would keep doubling over breakfast, most people there [Western Canada] should still end up ahead.”

Of more concern is Ontario’s softening real estate market, he added.

Hit hard by the slump in the auto sector, Windsor-Essex became Ontario’s first major market to post year-over-year house price declines. Toronto also appears headed for a drop, with prices rising a scant 1.5% in July, while sales fell by 12.4% and new listings surged by 17.8%.

“The concern here is that the potential decline in Ontario would not reflect overshooting, but instead the further slowing of an economy that is probably already in recession,” Mr. Tal said.

“While I would expect a more modest drop in prices of about 5% in Ontario and the GTA, prices have not risen as much here and the decline would be more painful.”

July’s 3.6% drop in the average price of a resale home in Canada came on the heels of a 0.4% drop in June, according to CREA. The average price stood at $327,020 at the end of July, compared with $339,277 in July, 2007.

Listings also remained near record levels in July, with 50,782 properties listed for sale in major markets. It is the second-highest level on record, and down a slight 0.2% from the peak hit in May.

A sharp drop in consumer sentiment helped push sales down 10.9% from the year before, and the latest figures drive home the impact that excess supply is having on prices, Douglas Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., said in a research note.

“While we still doubt that Canada will stage an instant replay of the trauma in U.S. markets, even a mild version would be bad news,” Mr. Porter said.

————————————————————————————————————

Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960

By John Partridge - Globe and Mail

A little more steam seeped out of the Canadian real estate market last month, adding to evidence that the nation’s economic boilers are continuing to cool.

Figures from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. show housing starts slowed much more sharply than expected in July, as the fevered pace of condo and other multiple-unit dwelling construction in Ontario cooled, at least briefly.

Starts came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 186,500 units, down from a revised 215,900 units in June, CMHC said yesterday.

That was well below an average forecast of 210,000 for July, and it marked just the first time since December and the fourth time in 5½ years that the rate has come in below 200,000. “This report was fairly ugly, and adds to the growing body of evidence pointing to the cooling in the Canadian real estate sector,” TD Securities economics strategist Millan Mulraine said. Combined with July’s large job losses reported Friday, the data point to broad weakness in the economy.

The housing start numbers also marked another nasty recent surprise for forecasters.

Last Thursday, Statistics Canada revealed that the value of building permits issued in June was $6.3-billion, down 5.3% from May, where Bay Street had forecast a dip of just 1%.

On Friday, meanwhile, Statscan shocked observers by disclosing that the nation lost 55,200 jobs last month, where forecasters had predicted a modest gain of 5,000 jobs. It was the largest monthly loss since the 1991 recession.

CMHC released its data yesterday as other figures from Statscan showed new housing prices increased at their slowest pace in more than six years in June - 3.5% year over year, compared with 4.1% in May. CMHC said multiple-unit starts fell 20.2% to 91,600, with Ontario, and more particularly, Toronto, accounting for virtually all the drop. Single home starts dropped 6.6% to 69,800 units, with the decline experienced across the country.

However, Jason Mercer, CMHC’s senior market analyst for the Greater Toronto Area, cautioned that construction timing for large-scale high-rise projects of the sort that have dominated recent housing development in the city and its environs have “routinely resulted in month-over-month starts volatility.”

The change in year-to-date, rather than monthly, housing starts, he added, gives a “more accurate reflection.” And for the GTA, the 15,832 multiple-family unit starts for the first seven months of 2008 are running 57.1% ahead of the comparable period last year.

Real estate industry consultant Barry Lyon also argued that housing starts data can be misleading because of time lags, and that sales are a more accurate guide to the true state of affairs. “Construction is often a year or two years behind sales, so the construction being reported now is a result of sales done a year or a year and a half ago,” said Mr. Lyon, who heads Barry Lyon Consultants Ltd. in Toronto.

TD’s Mr. Mulraine stressed the slowdown “is in no way comparable to the prolonged correction that we have been seeing in the U.S. “Royal Bank of Canada assistant chief economist Paul Ferley concurred. The average declines of 5.8 and 14.8% the bank is forecasting for this year and next, he said, “represent a modest pace of slowing in contrast to the plummet in activity in the U.S., where starts fell 26% last year and are expected to decline another 30% this year before modestly recovering 5% in 2009.”

————————————————————————————————————

Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960