Toronto Real Estate Blog

A Toronto Pioneer in Loft Conversions

Mitchell & Associates is a design/build firm that has been creating new loft conversions in the City of Toronto for the past twenty six years. In 1982 they designed, developed and built the first legal loft conversion in Toronto at 41 Shanly Street, previously the Dominion Felt Company, and won the Ontario Renews Award in 1984 for that project for excellence and innovation in design. Since then, Mitchell and Associates, through subsidiary project specific companies, has converted numerous factories, churches, and institutional buildings into high quality hard lofts.

The principal of Mitchell and Associates, Robert Mitchell, holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Civil Engineering, and a Master of Science degree in Urban and Regional Planning. He is a registered member of the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario, and the Canadian Institute of Planners, and has over twenty years hands-on experience in all aspects of the retrofitting and conversion of buildings into lofts.

Within the context of built form, the two primary defining characteristics are spatial volume and light. Working with existing non-residential structures (factories, churches, schools, etc.) the potential exists to create astonishing living environments. Large volumes of space, high ceilings, long clear spans, and visible structural elements are common denominators for industrial and institutional space. Articulating and subdividing space within the building envelope is an holistic design process involving the existing structure, its external environment, planning and code constraints, and the end user, a random variable in every equation, bringing different values, goals and ideas to the table and resulting in an evolutionary design process with consistently unique results.

Maximize space and light. Work with and not against existing structure. Be aware of the surrounding environment. Ask the right questions. Listen to the answers. Consider colouring outside the lines.

41 Shanly Street
Originally constructed as the Dominion Felt Works, this ugly industrial building was transformed in 1981 into 10 two and three storey loft units. Mitchell and Associates won the Ontario Renews Award in 1984 for this innovative conversion of a non-residential to a residential building, the first legal residential loft conversion project in Toronto.

289 Sumach Street
Originally constructed in 1898 as the Ontario Medical College for Women, this historically significant and now designated Romanesque Revival building had fallen on hard times by the early 80’s, enduring a series of industrial uses, most recently as a machine shop. Purchased in 1983, the facades were restored according to 1898 photographs from a medical calendar discovered behind the original baseboards, and the interiors were transformed into ten multi-storey hard loft residences, internally maintaining elements of both its historical and industrial precedents.

The Oxford-on-Markham
The Oxford Lofts are located at 75 Markham Street in Toronto, and originally housing the Oxford Picture Frame Factory (which had recently relocated from Oxford Street) this outdated industrial anomoly was converted in 1986 into 16 multi-level lofts, retaining many of the original heavy timber and brick details from its previous use. Remember Anne Margaret’s fabulous ‘Manhattan’ loft space in the movie “The Four Seasons”?

Hepbourne Hall
Located at 110 Hepbourne Street, Toronto, the Hepbourne Hall Lofts were originally constructed as a collegiate gothic style extension to the Dovercourt-St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church. Conn Smythe was a Church elder and taught Sunday school there. As a sidebar, the building’s gym was also used by the 1940’s Toronto Maple Leafs as an off season training facility. Several units in this twenty-one unit 1990 loft conversion have the original gym maple flooring (cleaned, sanded and relaid) installed in their living spaces.

Claremont Hall
The Claremont Hall Lofts are situated at 34 Claremont Street, originally constructed in 1950 as a secular extension to the St. Cyril and Methodius Roman Catholic Episcopal Church, this very solid masonry structure was converted into 13 hard lofts in 1995. The adjoining Church and manse were severed and developed as three additional and very large freehold custom loft spaces. The property also included a land parcel to the south, allowing the ground floor units to walk out to large private gardens at grade.

676 Richmond Street West
Located in the heart of the vibrant Queen Street West area, in Toronto, this nineteen unit loft conversion of a garment factory, completed in 1996, retained and exposed major structural steel elements of the original building. Units in the Industrial Revolution Lofts are two and three storey layouts, most with private gardens or roof terraces. Oversized window arrays were cut through the south elevation, and a new architectural facade was created to unify the “growth by accretion” effect of the original industrial building and subsequent extensions.

670 Richmond Street
Originally constructed in 1950 for Decca records, and most recently used as a garment factory, this building was converted into the Industrial Revolution II Lofts – with 12 residential two and three storey lofts – in 1997. Existing window openings were enlarged and the reclaimed brick from this was used to extend the building parapet to conceal private roof gardens. Redeveloped immediately after the successful loft project at 676 Richmond Street West (next door), 670 sold out on referrals before the first ad.

Printers Row
Printers Row in Toronto is a loft conversion of an existing vintage architectural gem originally designed by W.F. Carmichael, Architect, in 1911 for the Bell Telephone Company world headquarters, and most recently used in the printing trade as ABSO Blueprints. The present loft conversion created a row of six double stacked two and three storey loft spaces, all facing south and all opening out into private roof gardens or terraces. Retained features of the massively overdesigned original structure include 18″ thick terracotta and concrete floors acoustically separating units.

The Glebe
The Glebe is a fabulous loft conversion of the architecturally magnificent Riverdale Presbyterian Church, located at 660 Pape Avenue, in prime Riverdale and just steps from the subway. Very rarely does an opportunity come along to live in history. Designed by renowned period architect J. Wilson Gray, originally constructed for the trustees of the Riverdale Presbyterian Church, this imposing architectural building was retrofitted, entirely within the existing envelope, into only 32 astonishing multi-level loft residences. Erected in 1920 as an extension to the original 1912 Riverdale Presbyterian Church, this loft conversion pays homage to the soaring height of the original sanctuary in all of its two storey primary living spaces, featuring large open plans, expansive interconnected to flow with the building space.

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

At home on the factory floor – lofts make great live/work spaces

By Kathy Flaxman – Globe and Mail

Carlaw Avenue south of Dundas Street was a sleeves-rolled-up, working-class area for decades. In the 1950s, factories such as Colgate Palmolive and Wrigley spit out shampoo, toothpaste, spearmint gum and other products by the railcarload.

But with those factories closed, the area on the eastern edge of Riverdale is now a mixed bag of buildings. Graphic designers and architects nose up against car-repair bays. You’ll never find a Gap or Holt Renfrew there, of course, but there are places to buy custom lighting and a really good sandwich. And there also are authentic hard lofts in those old industrial structures.

That’s what lured professional photographer Chris McKie to an area he had once disliked – a bright, high-ceilinged loft conversion that could also be his studio.

Mr. McKie had driven through the Dundas and Carlaw intersection many times, always thinking to himself that he’d never want to live there. It possessed none of the serenity of his home in the Beaches, steps from Lake Ontario.

One corner of the intersection, occupied by a towing lot complete with sadly ticketed and somewhat derelict cars, could be described as “early wrecking yard.” A series of serviceable-looking former factories were similarly unprepossessing. “I was used to being able to step outside and enjoy the lake from my patio or front steps,” he says.

But, after months of looking across Toronto for an apartment/studio, Mr. McKie decided to take a look at a converted factory in the Carlaw and Dundas area. Driving through the area was one thing, checking out a loft was another.

When he first opened the door to the authentic loft in the former Wrigley factory, he was immediately captured. He loved the space and the lighting, and yes, the view. He thought it was all stunning.

“I knew immediately I had found what I was looking for,” he recalls. “I’d seen a series of dark and depressing places; it’s appalling what some people endure. I was the first person to call about this place and the first to see it – I was half an hour early for my appointment. The door opened and that was it.”

Bright, almost blindingly so, Mr. McKie’s loft on the top floor of the five-storey building can be dazzling even on a cold and drizzly April afternoon. It’s partly the quality of the light that enchants him.

“Facing east, I get the morning sun – fully,” he points out. “In the evening, the view is illuminated by the setting sun. That apartment building over there is entirely lit up, naturally. It’s a breathtaking sight. In the middle of the day, the light is beautiful and clean – exactly the type of light that lends itself to the black and white portraits I like to do.”

The light, described so vividly and dramatically, pours in through a wall of windows – nine feet, top to bottom – along the entire east wall. Most of the loft is painted white, which adds to the impact, with one dramatic blue wall and a red one opposite. Ceilings are 13 feet high, and there are soaring mushroom-shaped pillars, the actual structural bones holding the building together.

“When this building was converted from a factory over 10 years ago, people just took the space they fancied,” Mr. McKie explains. “Each floor is different. The halls and individual units fall in different places. And the lofts themselves vary a great deal, too. Mine is bare bones: 600 square feet plus sleeping area, with a painted concrete floor. But some [units] have granite and marble and stainless steel.

“About a third of the building is people who live here,” he adds, “another third live and work here, with the final third work [here] and live somewhere else.”

Mr. McKie falls in the live/work category. His photography paraphernalia provides visual interest to the overall decor. Suspended from the ceiling are a series of rolled backdrops: a white, two blues, one black and one brown. The silvered umbrella-shaped lights used for subtle photographic effects serve a dual purpose.

“Those are called soft boxes,” he explains. “They’re my house lights too, because they give a nice soft lighting. And at the same time, the way things are set up, everything is ready for shooting pictures, any time.”

The windows were not airtight when he moved in, so he carefully repaired them using papier-mache. On the ceiling, along with the tubing of the sprinkler system, is a wide ceiling fan. It’s all very functional, and remarkably easy to maintain, thanks to the movable industrial stairs that are used to ascend to the bedroom loft.

“I can move the stairs and clean my loft in minutes,” Mr. McKie says, adding that “the building management is very safety-conscious, and we have frequent fire drills.”

Adapting to the neighbourhood has apparently not been a challenge. The tree-top view from what Mr. McKie calls his aerie, has made any adjustment easier. There are shops at nearby Gerrard Square, but he prefers to head further south to Queen Street East, where newspapers, magazines and coffee are available alongside fresh vegetables and fruit. There also is a growing number of good restaurants, and when he wants his car repaired, he can simply walk home.

“When I was a photography student years ago,” Mr. McKie says, “I saw a wonderful loft where my professor lived. It was stunning, and I never thought I would have the opportunity to live in one myself. I am delighted to live here, and wake up thrilled every day.

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

The downturn in the condo market may have a huge impact on renters

By Terrence Belford – Globe and Mail

Here is a question that might take the edge off the holiday season: Is Toronto about to face another rental housing crisis?

Are we indeed heading back 25 years to the mid-1980s when apartment vacancy rates fell to just one or two available units in every thousand?

Gerry DiLeo, a partner in Rental Lifestyle Group Inc., which manages rental apartment buildings and condo suites for investors, says he is concerned. He can see signs of a future shortage.

On the other hand, Jim Ritchie, senior vice-president of sales and marketing at Tridel Corp., which through its Del Condominium Rentals Inc. manages 1,400 suites for investors, says it is too soon to tell. Much will depend on what happens to the Toronto condo market this spring and summer.

The last time Toronto faced a shortage of near-epic proportions, it was because of rent controls.

Developers simply stopped building rental buildings because they could not get rents high enough to justify their costs.

What turned the situation around was the surge in new condo construction. Investors — mainly small investors plunking hard-earned savings into one or two units — found they could buy suites then rent them for enough cash to both pay the mortgage and cover monthly maintenance costs.

At the same time a flood tide of new condo buyers took a large chunk of the rental population out of the market and vacancy rates started to climb. Developers that did create new rental projects took the precaution of registering them as condominiums as an exit strategy.

If worst came to worst in the rental market they could always sell their units as condos and get out of the rental business entirely.

That free-market approach to dealing with a social issue worked well for two decades. Unfortunately, it now seems headed straight for a collision with the brick wall of economics.

Rising condo prices have made it near impossible in many parts of the Greater Toronto Area for investors to cover costs through rents.

They are edging out of the market. Since those same investors were the ones who ensured a steady supply of rental units to meet a GTA growth rate of 100,000 new immigrants a year, the inevitable conclusion is we face a shortage somewhere down the line.

It is all in the math, Mr. DiLeo says. A 750-square-foot, one-bedroom-plus-den condo can bring anywhere from $1,750 to $1,900 on the rental market.

But the cost of that condo based on the $545 a square foot being charged for new projects in areas such as the North Yonge corridor weighs in at $408,750.

That means an investor has to fork over almost $82,000 in cash as a 20-per-cent down payment and take out a mortgage for about $327,000. The problem is, $1,750 a month in rent covers only payments on about $280,000 worth of mortgages. Now add in monthly maintenance costs of perhaps 45 cents a square foot, or about $338 a month.

The shortfall is significant.

“The result is that anyone investing today needs a series of very big rent increases to get into the black,” Mr. DiLeo says. “The numbers just don’t make sense any more for most small investors.”

The signs were already visible last spring when Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. issued its rental market survey. CMHC reported that the vacancy rate for rental suites in structures with three or more units fell to 2.8% in April from 4% in the same month of 2007.

Especially hard hit is downtown Toronto, says Mr. DiLeo. Rental Lifestyle Group’s portfolio includes 600 rental condo suites and vacancy rates in that area are running at about 0.5%, he says, adding that that rate is about 1% if you take in the entire city.

“We get more than 400 calls a week from people looking for an apartment,” he says. “That is 400 people all vying for maybe 40 that we have available for rent at any one time.”

The same holds true among Del’s 1,400 suites, which are spread right across the GTA.

“We have virtually no vacancies,” Mr. Ritchie says.

Most affected are one-bedroom and one-plus-den units. The latter have been investors’ preferred buys because they can handle two tenants willing to split the rent. In a pinch, one can sleep in the den.

By comparison, Mr. DiLeo says, a 645-square-foot one-bedroom suite now goes for between $1,450 and $1,650 a month on the rental market and there is no shortage of takers.

The only area where the condo rental market still offers a reasonable supply of suites is larger units. But, at the same time, an 880-square-foot, two-bedroom suite can run anywhere from $2,000 to $3,000 a month.

Now, as for timing: Supply is already starting to shrink, and as vacancy rates fall, rent increases are certain to follow. The real crunch will not likely happen until the end of this decade.

“Right now we have under way all those suites sold to investors in 2006 and the boom year of 2007,” Mr. Ritchie says. “They will start coming onto the rental market towards 2009 or 2010.”

But with condo sales down now and with more modest sales expected in 2009, and with investors no longer snapping up about 30% of the suites in most downtown projects because of rising prices, what comes next?

“[It's] really too soon to tell,” Mr. Ritchie says. “Right now investors seem to be taking a wait-and-see attitude. What counts is what happens next year.”

“I think the situation poses grave concern for the future of this city,” Mr. DiLeo says. “Right now, nobody knows what might happen.”

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

Daniel Muzyka and Lawrence Weiss – Globe and Mail

On the roof,
it’s peaceful as can be
And there the world below
can’t bother me
– from Up on the Roof

We need to listen to this sage advice from Carole King and Gerry Goffin: It is time to gain some altitude and perspective.

Watching the past few months unfold in the financial economy, then the real economy, and now in the press, you would think that everything that is happening is unprecedented. It is not.

For starters, economic cycles have had some pretty nasty twists and turns over the past century. It is just that our money managers and brokers – who are generally in their 30s and have only seen the market for the past decade – just don’t have it in their collective memory. The relative lack of massive swings over the past few years has led us into a comfortable lull, with a false belief that “risk” only has upside.

A friend recently noted that a client of his was outraged that his investment had declined in value. The client argued that the high-risk instrument he bought had a “guaranteed track record” of high returns. Hmmm.

Second, greed, “self-dealing” and frauds have been with us for time immemorial. Have we learned nothing from the tulip bulb mania (1637), Charles Ponzi (1920), Tino’s salad oil scandal (1963), Equity Funding Corp. (1973), the Hunt Brothers and Silver Thursday (1980), Enron and WorldCom (2001) … to name just a few of the most spectacular ones? (And as 2008 winds down there is the alleged fraud committed by Wall Street’s Bernard Madoff through a Ponzi scheme.)

During good times, people get greedy and stop doing proper due diligence. When markets turn down, we panic, thinking all the self-dealing will bring on an economic Armageddon. It won’t. The ebbing economic tide is likely to expose more of the rocks that have always been there as well as those that were tossed in during the bubble. We must modify Gordon Gekko’s comment: Greed may be good, but only with some common sense and care.

Third, the economic woes of some industries, such as the North American auto industry, are neither new nor fully caused by the economic conditions today. The industry has been having difficulties since the 1970s when the consumer markets told them they were building the wrong automobiles and foreign competition started to take considerable share.

Fourth, our world of instant communication permits media not only to report information, but to focus on a continuing series of negative reports. Reading some of the reports about value destruction in real estate might make you forget that most of the “value” now lost was only created in the past five years, during a bubble. Balance and perspective is important.

All of this leads up to the point that it is time to start thinking positively. We need to get back on an upward spiral.

The world has problems, the economy will have some twists and turns, but we have made some significant progress. Unemployment may reach 8 per cent, but realize that 92 per cent are employed. Yes, some industries will get hit, but the resources unleashed will make new opportunities and renewal possible. Our lives are better than those of our parents in so many ways. We have the capacity to feed much of the world and the power to conquer diseases that made our ancestors live much shorter lives just 50 years ago.

Whatever you do, don’t simply cut off spending. Reacting to trends and issues is important, but try to keep balance in your actions. Cancelling projects may make sense, but put them in perspective. Stretching them out, modifying them or pushing forward with the realization that new capacity will likely come when the markets turn up is often better for you and the economy.

In the end, we wish you peace, health and prosperity during this holiday season. Enjoy your family and friends and count all of the good things you have. And please, take heed of Carole King’s lyrics and get “up on the roof.” We can become part of the problem or part of the solution. We prefer the latter.

Daniel F. Muzyka is dean of the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia, where he is RBC Financial Group professor of entrepreneurship. Lawrence A. Weiss is a visiting professor at McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.

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

Risky to build and costly to buy – but nothing else like them

Buyers attracted by historic buildings, but developers face the challenge of structural surprises that often lead to cost overruns

By Derek Raymaker – The Globe and Mail

They only account for 5% of the overall condominium market, but Toronto lofts have gained a disproportionate amount of influence over the marketing and consumer preferences.

The exposed brick walls and vents, polished-concrete or distressed-wood floors, lack of walls, half walls, sliding barn doors, metallic finishes, multipaned floor-to-ceiling windows — these have become popular features in many new condominium towers. But they trickled down from the first wave of loft conversions in the mid-1990s that transformed some of Toronto’s warehouse and factory landmarks.

Before that, few developers and even fewer consumers saw past the traditional condominium design, says Barry Lyon, one of the leading high-rise marketing consultants in Canada and principal of N. Barry Lyon and Associates.

“Lofts told us that a lot of conventional apartments could benefit from loft-like elements,” he says.

Developing “hard lofts” (converting older buildings into residences) has never been easy. For builders, a loft conversion is fraught with expensive surprises, not unlike the renovation of an old house, and construction difficulties and added costs are not exceptions but rules. It is also why lofts cost at least 10% more than traditional condominiums of equal square footage.

But even with those risks, loft conversions have added value as spectacular landmarks. For example, the Tip Top Lofts across Lake Shore Boulevard from the Canadian National Exhibition grounds, resurrected from the hulk of a former textile factory, has served as a memorable brand for Context Developments for the past four years of sales and construction.

Construction of the Tip Top Lofts went fairly smoothly, all things considered, according to marketing director Craig Taylor. “There was nothing drastic, but there’s always surprises,” he said.

The target market for hard lofts is made up of people who are attracted to unique design and historic structures. “It’s mostly people who really want to live in an iconic building,” Mr. Taylor says. “Traditionally, you would think of really creative people.”

After a large number of loft conversions in the 1990s, loft builders (a special breed in any event), are having trouble finding appropriate sites to take on.

Some have done conversions of churches, and while the spaces that can take shape are dramatic and unique, they are difficult ones in which to create living quarters.

“They’re extremely expensive spaces to work with, and when they’re finished, they’re very attractive,” Mr. Lyon says.

“But you rarely see a developer do a second one. You always face cost overruns and structural problems, and they don’t yield much in terms of parking.”

Another challenge facing hard loft developers is the competition for downtown office space. It turns out loft conversions are also popular with commercial real estate developers, and for their purposes, often easier to do.

They’re aided greatly by the city of Toronto’s zoning gods, who have faced intense competition from the suburbs in efforts to retain jobs in the city’s core. Toronto will often designate derelict buildings for commercial use, with the knowledge that exposed wood beams and brick walls are just as popular as business headquarters, particularly for creative, technology savvy companies, as they are for loft buyers.

The sum of these market forces adds up to a brisk and positive resale market for loft owners, which is not likely to peter out any time soon.

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