Toronto Condo and Real Estate Blog

Purchasers turn to Camrost-Felcorp for a condominium builder they can trust

From The Condo Guide Magazine

When Lindsay Stark first visited the sales centre for iLoft at Mystic Pointe, she quickly fell in love with the community. Before she could buy the suite of her dreams, though, she had to find a roommate to take on the purchase with her. That’s where her brother, David, came in.

“We both wanted to break into the real estate market somehow, but both of us are single and couldn’t take it on alone,” she says. “When I told the sales staff at iLoft that I was looking for a place to probably buy with my brother, she pointed out this perfect unit for us. I fell in love with it, then David looked at it and he fell in love as well.”

The first-time buyers ended up purchasing a two-bedroom, 735-sq.-ft. corner suite at iLoft. Not only is the loft perfect for their needs, but the location itself is also ideal – away from the hustle and bustle but only 10 minutes from downtown, making it an easy commute for Lindsay. It’s also close to the Gardiner Expressway, a great set-up for David, who drives throughout the GTA for his job.

When Lindsay found out Camrost-Felcorp was the developer behind iLoft, she was even more excited. In fact, she was already familiar with the Camrost-Felcorp name, since she works in one of the company’s many buildings across the GTA.

“I work in the Royal Bank building, and I know that Camrost built it,” says Lindsay. “I was even more impressed with iLoft when I found out that it was the same developer. It’s not like an unknown builder is behind this project and I know the end result will be of great quality.”

The building is part of Camrost-Felcorp’s Mystic Pointe master-planned community on the Etobicoke waterfront, located close to the Gardiner Expressway, the Mimico GO Station and the TTC, as well as Humber Bay Park, a 24-hour Sobeys, Ikea, Sherway Gardens and the spectacular Humber Bay Shores waterfront for biking, picnicking or a leisurely stroll. “I think the location is really hot,” says Lindsay.

Lindsay also loved the site amenities, which will let her cancel her gym membership and take care of all of her workout needs inside the building instead. The luxurious list of standard suite finishes appealed to her as well, when she saw them firsthand in the on-site model suite.

“The model kitchen in the showroom is actually a standard kitchen, and it’s absolutely gorgeous,” says Lindsay. “I kept asking ‘is this an upgrade?’ and the sales person said ‘this is standard.’ Everything was really, really well finished and trendy, modern.”

Among the other benefits of living at iLoft will be 24-hour concierge service and the 14,000 sq. ft. Camrost Sports and Entertainment Centre. In the centre, a landscaped sky-garden set atop a four-storey podium encompasses an outdoor swimming pool with whirlpool and sundeck, barbeque area, jogging track, indoor whirlpool, well-equipped exercise lounge, aerobics studio, and two squash courts with a spectator gallery.

For entertaining, residents will have use of a party room, private dining room, billiard and cards rooms, library, and screening room with theatre-style seating, a large-screen projection system and DVD player. For entrepreneurs and business people, a Business Centre will prove enormously helpful, and for anyone wanting to relieve stress, cedar saunas will provide a place to unwind and spa studios will offer professional services.

The hip professionals who are snapping up these suites appreciate the innovative, contemporary living spaces they find here, plus the fabulous standard features and finishes. Kitchens come complete with an exclusive stainless steel “ibar” breakfast island, custom-quality cabinetry, plus five brand-name appliances including a stainless steel dishwasher, stainless steel frost-free refrigerator and stainless steel self-cleaning range with ceramic top. Laminate plank flooring in the living and dining rooms, rich ceramics and spa-like bathrooms are just a few of the other highlights.

iLoft’s two-storey lofts range in size from 720 to 1,080 sq. ft. and are priced from $221,400 to $351,900. The flats come in one-bedroom, one-bedroom plus den, two-bedroom and two-bedroom plus den layouts from 620 to 900 sq. ft., priced from $191,900 to $319,900.

The Condo Guide 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 condominiums across the greater Toronto area.

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information

by Marcia Luke - New Dream Homes and Condos Magazine

Whether you’re purchasing a home for the first time, upgrading, downsizing, or changing your lifestyle, with the multitude of housing types available today, you’re sure to find something to suit your needs. New homes really do come in all shapes and sizes, detached or linked, live/work, house or apartment, one floor or many.

But with all of these choices, how do you possibly choose? By knowing all of the differences, options, and even trends, you can make your choice easier and still find the right home.

For instance, in a live/work space, you’ll want to pay careful attention to the number and location of phone or cable outlets, for Internet, phone lines, and fax. Will you have enough outlets for the equipment you plan to use? What kind of service is offered in the area? Will you be able to use the beautiful corner desk that you bought last year?

If you’re interested in purchasing a loft, you’ll want to carefully consider the square footage. The high ceilings and open concept make it look bigger than it actually is, so carefully plan out how you’re going to furnish the space. Is your couch going to fit? Will you need custom drapes or blinds to cover the huge windows? Is the loft built on an existing foundation—this will affect its warranty coverage by Tarion.

Unfortunately, Tarion only covers new homes, including the foundation. Is this an issue? Toronto Building has a good idea of what’s happening in residential development; they have their eyes and ears on all projects across the city.

Ann Borooah, Chief Building Official and Executive Director for Toronto Building, says “we’ve had pretty sustained levels of construction… volumes have been steady and high, due to high-rise developments.” Based on planning approvals and sales information from this year, Borooah indicates that this trend will continue into 2007.

It seems that the market really does respond to the needs of the buyer, but also the many changes in the surrounding environment, like the availability of land or the need for energy efficiency. Different developments attract different buyers and high-density developments seem to be the future of residential building.

John Humphries, Program Manager and Technical Advisor to the Chief Building Official and Borooah’s colleague, describes some of the initiatives and unique uses of land in residential development. Industrial buildings are being converted into lofts and, Humphries says, “lofts are combined with row housing to maximize the use of the space.”

There’s a trend toward row housing mixed with single-family homes where the townhouses are built around the perimeter to define the development, explains Humphries. Condos in downtown Toronto are popular with first-time buyers, but also a second market of individuals that are upgrading or moving deeper into downtown and spending more money.

There are also more interesting uses of land, like the old Greenwood Raceway, at the junction of Kingston Road and Queen Street East. Greenwood was replaced by residential and commercial developments, with a mix of housing all on one site as well as small commercial spaces, like a miniature community. In the last five years or so, live/work towns have been developed where the ground floor is ‘work’/commercial space and the unit portion is at the back or above the commercial space.

“In 2005, Toronto Building issued about 35,000 building permits including renovations.” Humphries explains that this number includes all types of development, such as commercial, industrial, residential, etc. “There’s a slow down coming up [in residential development]. We’ll see more commercial buildings and hotels like the Ritz and Trump, also institutional and cultural projects, like opera houses. Interest rates are going up and inventory is catching up [to demand] so it’s slowing.”

What’s the Difference?

Below are some of the types of new homes available throughout the GTA—use this as your starting point for deciding what shape and size fits you best!

Condominium: This is usually a unit in a high-rise building where you share common elements, like the lobby, laundry facilities, or exercise room, with the other owners in the building. For this reason, in addition to purchasing your condo unit, you pay a monthly condo fee to the condominium corporation for the maintenance and repair of these common spaces. The condominium corporation governs the building and property as a whole.

Condo townhouse: A townhouse is a row of housing where each unit is linked completely to the next. These are generally low-rise developments and units are stacked one above the other. With a condo townhome, there are also condo fees and common elements as explained above.

Freehold townhouse: This is the same as a condo townhome, except that there are no condo fees. You simply arrange with your neighbours to take care of the grass, fencing, etc. and you own only your unit.

Semi-detached: Semi-detached houses are linked by an entire side of the house, a portion of the house, or by the foundation/basement to varying degrees. Semi-detached houses are usually paired, so you have only one house joined to your own.

Singe-family/detached: These homes are built on their own away from other homes and have their own foundation.

Loft: An apartment style home which has been modified from a converted industrial building or built new to appear this way. Lofts have high ceilings, exposed pipes, cement pillars, large windows, and very open concept design. If the foundation of this building is from an existing building, then the units and the building are not covered by the Tarion New Home Warranty.

Live/work: This is a home where a separate space on the ground floor has been designed for use as commercial space. In this way, the residents can live and work in the same building, but still maintain a professional appearance.

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information

From The Condo Guide

While it wasn’t as scintillating as Hockey Day in Canada, the Home Series running on CBC News recently was followed closely by industry insiders and, no doubt, many of you.

The first segment dealt with the economic impact of the building industry on Canada’s economy, and while the main point of the story was that the impact is huge, the reporter couldn’t quite put his finger on what he called “the big number” that could encapsulate the total economic impact of residential construction in Canada.

We did our own digging (actually, we penetrated some firewalls and pored over some lengthy reports and complex spreadsheets) and we have “the big number” and lots of other real estate economic impact statistics to share.

According to data compiled by the Canadian Home Builders’ Association and housing economist Will Dunning, the total value of residential construction investment (primarily new-home building and home renovation), based on current levels of activity, comes in at a whopping $84 billion dollars – that’s a big number.

The jobs number is a little easier to grasp. Basically, any time a new home is built, two full-time jobs are created for one year. In reality, a house is constructed by hundreds of individuals from various skilled trades working in symphony with the builder as the conductor, but when you put it all together and add in renovation (and we all know how huge that has become), you get 854,000 jobs – that’s a big number.

How much do all those workers make? A cool $38 billion is paid to workers involved in residential construction and renovation – wow! It is well known that construction jobs are high paying. In fact, the research reveals that average weekly wages in construction are 106% of the average wages of all other industries.

Last, the big number for taxes paid – this one hurts a bit – you might even feel some pain here. The total taxes paid based on that $84 billion in economic activity amounts to no less than $22 billion, including almost $8 billion in income taxes paid and approximately $6 billion in GST.

When you put it all together, residential construction accounts for about six per cent of national GDP. Clearly, the CBC reporter was on to something, however it doesn’t end there.

The rubber really hits the road when new homeowners actually take possession. The typical new homeowner spends approximately $10,000 in their first year of occupancy, buying all the home-related products that go with the joys of home ownership, everything from love seats to lawn mowers.

Local business owners, be they hardware stores, restaurants, dry cleaners, electronics stores, video rentals, gardening centres, pubs, you name it, certainly notice the sharp uptick in business when the new homeowners start occupying developments in their area.

GTHBA-UDI builders are very proud of these big numbers and the contributions we make to the economy and quality of life, however the part of our work that gives us the greatest satisfaction is turning over the keys to brand new homes to excited young couples, knowing that families will soon begin, and communities will soon grow and thrive. That’s worth at least $84 billion.

The Condo Guide 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 condominiums across the greater Toronto area.

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information