Toronto Condo and Real Estate Blog

In a city where the skyline is dotted with construction cranes, at least one loft conversion project is noteworthy for being built without one of these highly visible symbols of the Toronto condo building boom. The Steam Plant Lofts in downtown Toronto is the conversion of an old power plant into a six storey, loft project with 29 units.

Converting old industrial buildings - with their sturdy structural systems, high ceilings and banks of oversized windows - is a tried-and-true recipe for success in Toronto’s downtown real estate market.

However, there was one, not-so-little problem with the loft conversion process for The Steam Plant Lofts: the 61-metre-high smokestack. The solution was to build this Toronto loft conversion the old-fashioned way.

Constructed in 1953, the building that was converted into The Steam Plant Lofts was the power plant for the Wellesley and Princess Margaret hospitals. (The Wellesley and the original Princess Margaret have since been demolished and their former sites are slated for highrise condos.) The Toronto loft conversion involved doubling the power plant’s original height of approximately three storeys.

The work required adding new foundations and increasing the size of the original foundations, as well as adding new concrete shear walls and slab floors.

During demolition, old boilers and other power-generating equipment had to be dismantled and removed, along with some of the building’s original structural system of steel beams and columns.

While the smokestack may have been a curse during construction, it’s proved to be a blessing on the sales side. Three units built inside the cleaned-out smokestack have round bedrooms or dens and the stack’s original red-brick work exposed.

Straightaway, the stack was the unique feature - all the units with rooms in the stack, they all went the first day. All remaning one-bedroom condos and units with one bedroom plus den have been sold out at The Steam Plant Lofts. Storage lockers were included in the price and monthly maintenance fees are estimated at 39 cents per square foot.

Occupancy is expected to begin any day now.

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

Toronto Real Estate Agents Call On City to Give Homebuyers a Break

With the City of Toronto’s new land transfer tax coming into effect last week, even as City Council considers a property tax increase, Toronto real estate agents are calling for City Council to give homebuyers a break.

“Toronto real estate agents and the public continue to believe that a Toronto land transfer tax is an unfair way for the City to raise revenue,” said Maureen O’Neill. “The City’s land transfer tax took effect last week, even as current and future homeowners face a property tax increase at double the rate of inflation. The City can’t have its cake and eat it too. Homebuyers deserve a break.”

The Toronto Real Estate Board’s statistics of housing sales have shown an interesting trend since City Council’s approval of a Toronto land transfer tax last October. When City Council approved the Toronto land transfer tax, it also decided to exempt home purchases made by December 31, 2007. In both December and November of last year, there was a significant increase in market activity. For example, although the month of December typically sees less market activity because of the holidays, in December 2007 housing sales in Toronto were up by 26% over December 2006, significantly higher than the 6% increase for the GTA as a whole. The Toronto Real Estate Board will be releasing market statistics for January 2008 on February 5.

“Clearly, there has been tremendous market activity in Toronto since Council’s approval of the land transfer tax. Council’s decision to grandfather home purchases made by the end of 2007 means that those homebuyers will avoid the City’s tax,” said O’Neill. “With the City’s grandfathering period over, and the Toronto land transfer tax taking effect last week, we are continuing to watch the market.”

The Toronto Real Estate Board is paying close attention to the City’s 2008 operating budget, which proposes a residential property tax increase of 3.75%, almost double the 2007 average Toronto inflation rate of 1.9%.

“The City can’t keep raising tax after tax on homebuyers. Enough already,” said O’Neill. “The proposed budget released by the City last week is like a weight around the ankle of Toronto taxpayers. The new land transfer tax on top of a proposed property tax increase, at double the rate of inflation, sends the wrong message to homebuyers. The land transfer tax should be rolled back immediately.”

The Toronto Real Estate Board will be providing input to City Council with regard to the City’s 2008 operating budget and hopes that City Council will use it as an opportunity to give homebuyers a break.

“We look forward to working with City Council as they debate the budget. We hope that the panel appointed by Mayor Miller last fall will recommend some real options for savings and that the City will move quickly to prioritize its core services,” said O’Neill. “The Toronto land transfer tax is an unfair way to address the City’s financial challenges. At the very least, we expect it to be rolled back as savings from uploading and other revenue sources are realized, as was approved by City Council last October 22,” said O’Neill.

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

These Beach loft conversions to have ‘bunk beds’ for cars

Excerpt from an article by Patti Winsa - Toronto Star

Les Mallins, the former accountant is now a developer - turning an early 20th-century building that once housed a bowling alley into stylish urban lofts.

Academy Lane Lofts, at 1850-1852 Queen Street East, just west of Woodbine Ave., is the 30-year-old Mallins, first development project.

After driving by the building everyday on his way to work, Mallins finally approached architect Bill Hurst (who lived across the street) with an idea to convert it to residential lofts. Originally built in 1913, the structure at 1852 Queen Street East was once part of the East Ford sales and service station. Owner William Humphries Moore turned it into a bowling alley and dance academy in 1923.

Moore had emigrated from Ireland with his 10 children and originally lived in the west end of the city. The stonemason, who worked on Toronto’s Old City Hall, moved to the Beaches in 1906.

The bowling alley and dance academy lasted until 1927, says Joan Rasmussen, Moore’s granddaughter, who stumbled on the information when she and her sister Shirley Eglite were researching their family’s history.

“We spent a huge amount of time just reinforcing the structure of the building,” says Mallins. The four outside walls and the second floor were preserved. A small two-storey building at 1850 Queen Street East was torn down so the main building could be extended.

The 12 lofts at Academy Lane Lofts will have design-conscious touches, such as exposed sprinkler systems, sleek, oversized glass patio doors and triple-glazed, floor-to-ceiling windows in some units. Options include gas fireplaces with exposed steel vent pipes.

The living and dining area of the two-storey lofts facing Queen St. have 17-foot ceilings, constructed of cedar planking with crossbeams of Paralamb strand lumber. Paralamb is wood that has been shredded, glued and then compressed, giving it a grain that looks like it has texture.

In the largest loft, two sets of oversized double doors in the living and dining area open to the outside and have glass railings. When closed, the doors can be tipped in for airflow.

The two-storey lofts at the back of the Academy Lane Lofts building, which face north, have been altered - with a nod to the committee of adjustments and the neighbours.

The lofts have sand-blasted glass railings on balconies so the views of neighbours’ backyards are obscured and the two storey wall of windows has been replaced with a single-storey and sloped second-floor ceilings with skylights.

Many of the lofts have rooftop terraces and, as Mallins points out, there’s “a lot of outdoor space for a loft in the beach.”

It was a buyer in the glass trade who suggested the simple over-sized double patio doors. Mallins has altered unit designs, in consultation with buyers. In one of the upper lofts , he suggested creating a bath with a view - an elevated Jacuzzi tub that looks out a small set of double doors that frame downtown Toronto. The doors open on to steps that lead to a rooftop patio.

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