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Canada’s richest man expands Rosedale home
Billionaire David Thomson is joining the house he lives in with the one next door
By Tony Wong – Toronto Star MoneyVille
Canada’s richest man is in an expansive mood – at least when it comes to his home.
David Thomson, chair of global media company Thomson Reuters, has started renovations on a historical property next door to his Toronto house in the exclusive enclave of Rosedale leaving his neighbours abuzz as to whether he is creating his own Kennedyesque compound.
The construction on Roxborough Dr., one of the best streets in the city, has been the talk of the leafy area that is known for housing Canada’s corporate titans.
Construction workers and trucks are busy at the site, while a large hoarding has been placed in front of the home, obscuring much of the front elevation.
“I’ve been really puzzled as to what’s going on. It’s one of the more impressive properties on the street, but it sat in a sort of semi-derelict state for a long time,” said Bill Herridge, director emeritus of the North Rosedale Ratepayers Association.
In March, Thomson applied to the city of Toronto’s committee of adjustments to have a two storey addition connecting two properties, a three storey detached dwelling at 196 Roxborough Dr. and his existing home at 200 Roxborough Dr. The committee gave him permission to increase density on the lot and exceed building depth and length by several metres.
Connecting two homes on the street is “certainly unusual, it’s not something normally done,” said Michael Rodger, past president of the association. “When these kinds of renovations are done we like to see that it is in keeping with the heritage status of the neighbourhood.”
Unlike other upscale areas of the city, such as the Bridle Path, where bigger is often seen as better, Rosedale residents have been protective of the quiet, stately character of the neighbourhood’s Tudor, Edwardian, and Victorian-style homes.
At the age of 54, Thomson’s family fortune is ranked the 16th richest in the world, worth an estimated $23 billion, according to Forbes Magazine. With the death of his father, Ken, in 2006, control of the family wealth built on media properties such as the Globe and Mail, passed to son, David, who became 3rd Baron Thomson of Fleet.
Thomson’s holdings run deep. Thomson Reuters alone hires 55,000 people in 100 countries. Through Osmington Inc., his private real estate company, he has an enviable portfolio that includes One Yonge St., the headquarters of the Toronto Star.
According to land registry records, the property at 196 Roxborough Dr., built in 1913, was purchased for $5.8 million in 2007 by a numbered company.
Title of the property was then transferred to Thomson on June 18, 2010. The company is registered to The Woodbridge Company Limited, which Thomson chairs.
Geoffrey Beattie, president of privately held Woodbridge, was not available for comment concerning the transfer of the property. Thomson Reuters did not respond for a request for an interview.
However, a source who has close business ties to Thomson and works with some of his properties said the renovations would be in keeping with the area.
“A lot of consideration has gone into the heritage aspect, we did everything possible to maintain the character,” he said. “David has a lot of wonderful neighbours on the street, and he’s connected very closely with many of them. Everyone seems to be curious, but so far no one has said anything negative as far as we know. It’s a great street and a great area and David is happy with the progress.”
The source said the frontage of 196 Roxborough will remain essentially the same.
“We rebuilt the dormers up top, we are redoing the woodwork and the trim. I think residents will be very pleased.”
Despite owning a media company, the 54 year old magnate who was once married to actress Kelly Rowan, a star in the O.C. television series, is known as an intensely private man. Divorced, and a father of three (two from a previous marriage and one with Rowan) he has an extensive art collection, and is considered to have the premiere private collection of 19th century English seascape painter John Constable.
“Both of his properties are quite different, one is very modern and the other historical, but I am sure whatever he does will be tasteful and in keeping with the community,” said Ray Heard, a media entrepreneur and a neighbour.
Others aren’t so sure.
“I hope he isn’t building some kind of monstrosity that will dwarf the other homes,” said a Rosedale resident who lives on an adjoining street. “We don’t need a repeat of Gerry and Heather part two.”
Power couple Gerry Schwartz and Heather Reisman of Onex Corp. and Indigo Books & Music earned the enmity of many of their neighbours about ten years ago after they bought four homes in Rosedale on Cluny Dr. – almost an entire city block – and started to rebuild.
“The rich are different. If you and I need more space we move to Aurora. If you’re David Thomson or Gerry Schwartz you just buy out your neighbour,” said a luxury realtor. “It sure beats having to pack.”
The Thomson project is on a much more modest scale. His family, including mother Marilyn lives in the area. His sister Taylor has also bought several homes in the neighbourhood. But no one else in the family has joined two homes together in this fashion.
This is not the first time he has made extensive renovations on his Rosedale properties. The notoriously shy billionaire has had run-ins with neighbours before.
In the 1980s, he purchased the Geary House on Park Rd., a distinctive yellow-brick home in Rosedale that he commissioned a major restoration on.
But he was met with resistance by angry neighbours worried about the scale of the development. The home sat wrapped in a bright orange construction fence, overrun at one time by raccoons and vagrants. He gave up on the project, selling the vacant property in 1994.
Thomson has lived in his current two-storey modernist home for almost two decades. The home, painted in white, stands out strikingly from the largely heritage homes in the neighbourhood.
In 1992, during a downturn in the market, he purchased a property, which backs onto a ravine, for $2.2 million. Under power of sale, it had taken 322 days to sell and was originally listed for $4.2 million.
Tax records show the current home is assessed at $6,528,000 million, based on 2008 values.
Roxborough Drive has been home to some of Canada’s wealthiest and most powerful families. Thomson’s new home is also beside Integral House, the landmark and recently built modernist building belonging to math textbook author James Stewart.
Former and current residents on the street include Lorna Marsden, former president of York University, Jack Cockwell of Edperbrascan Corp., philanthropist Nancy Jackman and Jean Monty, former CEO of BCE.
“You have a lot of heavy hitters living in that neighbourhood. But the top dog is still a guy named Thomson,” said the realtor. “And if he needs a little more space, then maybe it’s the price you pay for having the richest guy in the country live on your street.”
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416−388−1960
Laurin & Natalie Jeffrey are Toronto Realtors with Century 21 Regal Realty.
They did not write these articles, they just reproduce them here for people
who are interested in Toronto real estate. They do not work for any builders.
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An exclusive look inside Toronto’s Trump Hotel
By Tony Wong – Toronto Star
At the age of 42, Alex Shnaider has built the tallest residential tower in Canada — and the second tallest building in Toronto, after the CN Tower.
It is a noteworthy accomplishment. But perhaps even more so for a rookie developer who acquired the land in 2002, when he was just 34, and already the country’s youngest self made billionaire.
But Shnaider is a man of action, not words. And self praise does not come easily. Not even when you have owned your own Formula 1 team and soccer club. Or just happen to be the builder of the landmark Trump International Hotel & Tower in Toronto’s financial district.
“Well, I think it is very nice,” says Shaider of his new project.
The gross understatement brings a snort of laughter in the opulent hotel suite that Shnaider and his partner Val Levitan, president and CEO of Talon International Development are sitting in.
“Very nice? Alex likes to downplay everything. It is an incredible, huge accomplishment to get this built,” says the more animated Levitan. “This is a true trophy building.”
Certainly, the suite may not as be as nice as Shnaider’s 205 foot yacht that he is building (trading in his smaller 170 foot Benetti that he used to rent for $270,000 a week when he wasn’t using it) or his private Global Express jet, or the chauffeur driven $450,000 Maybach that he arrives to the interview in. Or the new home on the Bridle Path that he moved in just before Christmas.
But if you are looking for a hotel in Toronto, it doesn’t get much, well, nicer. Like Shnaider, the typical Trump customer lives large.
The 950 square foot one bedroom the partners are sitting in will rent for close to $1,000 a night. The largest suite, at 4,000 square feet will have 11 foot ceilings and decorated in furniture by Italian couture house Fendi. It will go for $20,000 per night, a record price for a room in Canada.
And then there are the condominiums above the hotel. Average asking prices for the suites are $1,650 per square foot. Shnaider has yet to move into his 8,000 square foot penthouse with the 20 foot high ceilings, valued at more than $20 million.
The Star got an exclusive interview with Shnaider and a sneak peak at the hotel before it is scheduled to open in late spring. Last Friday Shnaider was given an occupancy permit for the hotel. A milestone that has taken almost nine years.
“It is a landmark building. Something that the city can be proud of,” says the slightly more effusive developer later on. “This is now part of the landscape of the city, a vital part of the skyline, a building that you will see on postcards.”
The choice site at Adelaide and Bay streets is surrounded by the city’s bank towers. The hotel has 261rooms and suites. It also has a 18,000 square foot spa built over two floors.
The hotel is still in various stages of construction. The rooms are mostly completed, but the common areas still need significant work.
Surprisingly, there is no hint of the signature Trump brass and gold in sight. Instead, there is black marble, dark woods, in an elegant palette of cream and grey.
While the decor of the newly opened Ritz Carlton is awash in convention centre beige and burgundy, the sleeker Trump is the style winner.
“People always ask me where is the gold?” says Mickael Damelincourt, the general manager of the Trump hotel. “But the theme is champagne and caviar. This reflects the influence of the children. In a way this is more Ivanka than Donald Trump.”
There will of course, be fine dining. Sources say Todd Clarmo, the former executive chef at Bay Street stalwart Canoe will head the new restaurant at the Trump. The Oliver and Bonacini flagship restaurant and favourite of Bay Street expense account holders has lately been raided by the new influx of luxury hotels.
Joanne Chimenti, the general manager of Canoe and chef Tom Brodi have already decamped to Toca at the Ritz.
Meanwhile, superstar American Chef David Chang of Momofuku is opening two new restaurants at the new Shangri-La nearby.
Fashion insiders will get a the first peek of the new Trump on Thursday when the grand salon ballroom will make its debut for a much anticipated fashion show by Mark Fast and Mikhael Kale during Toronto fashion week.
After a dearth of five star hotels, Toronto now has a plethora of ultra-luxury lodgings.
A new Ritz Carlton opened on Wellington Street in the entertainment district in February. The Trump will open soon, followed by a new Shangri-La Hotel and a new Four Seasons hotel. Smaller boutique hotels such as the Thompson Toronto and a new Le Germain have also opened recently.
Analysts have said that the competition, while good for consumers, means potentially tough times ahead for new hotel operators. And there are continuing concerns over an oversupply of new condos on the market.
“I think Canada is still attractive to a lot of foreign wealth and prices will continue to go up,” says Shnaider. But he acknowledges that the road ahead will not be easy.
But getting this far has already been an accomplishment. The project has been the subject of skepticism from some in the real estate community, that it would never get built.
“If someone had told me it would take this long to build, I would never have believed them,” says Shnaider.
It has been a bumpy road. Shnaider’s property was originally supposed to be a Ritz Carlton when it was launched with much fanfare back in 2000.
But the Star revealed that the original developer had been convicted of bankruptcy fraud, which caused the Ritz to back out and eventually move to a new location near the entertainment district.
Shnaider’s Talon development eventually took control of the project. Trump is managing the hotel, but this is Shnaider’s money on the line, along with minority partner Levitan.
The Trump name has not been a guarantee of success. The American billionaire and star of TV’s The Apprentice has placed his name on everything from golf courses to vodka and mattresses.
In Chicago, the 92 storey Trump International Hotel & Tower still has almost one third of its units unsold after closing on units more than two years ago. And in Florida lenders foreclosed on the developer of the Trump Hollywood, where he had licensed his name. At the time only 22 of the tower’s 200 condos had been sold. It has since been bought by new investors.
So far the hotel rooms in the Toronto Trump are 85 per cent sold and the residences above the hotel are 60 per cent sold. And Shnaider says he has confidence that the project will sell out once buyers can see the bricks and mortar.
“When you are paying that much you want to be sure of what you’re getting,” says Shnaider.
One bright spot is that the Canadian economy continues to outperform the G-7, and hotel rates and occupancy levels have slowly been inching up from the depths of the recession.
Luckily, Shnaider has deep pockets. Canadian Business magazine ranks him as the 23rd richest man in Canada with a net worth of $2.06 billion, putting him ahead of players such as Michael Lazaridis and Jim Balsille of Research in Motion Ltd., and Gerry Schwartz and Heather Reisman of Onex Corp. and Indigo Books.
The Russian born Shnaider immigrated to Canada at the age of 13 where he went to high school at William Lyon Mackenzie and at York University.
He got his break trading steel when the Soviet Union started to decentralize. He has since divested himself out of the steel business, and branched into real estate, retail, transportation and agriculture across Europe and North America.
Closer to home he continues to invest in the hotel business. He recently purchased the landmark King Edward hotel along with a consortium of investors, of which he is the largest shareholder.
He has also owned a Formula 1 racing team, and a soccer club in Israel both of which he sold. His empire has become so vast, and he is on the road so often, that he has not visited the Trump property in more than a month, until this week.
Over the last few months a colder than normal winter has meant construction has been slower than hoped. But there has also been much to approve of.
Before the guests leave, Damelincourt’s staff are on hand to provide warm napkins and spritzers presented on a silver platter to guests so they can wash the soot of the day away before they leave the premises. It gives a hint of the five star service that has arrived, and harkens of things to come for the city.
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information – 416−388−1960
Laurin & Natalie Jeffrey are Toronto Realtors with Century 21 Regal Realty.
They did not write these articles, they just reproduce them here for people
who are interested in Toronto real estate. They do not work for any builders.
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Incoming search terms
Posh hostelry takes on the Ritz, Four Seasons
Excerpt from an article by Tony Wong – Toronto Star
Klaus Tenter is no stranger to the demands of the client with a penchant for being self-involved.
Now Tenter — known affectionately as the mayor of Yorkville because of his larger-than-life status in Toronto’s most upscale retail district — is set to battle his former employer from a new hotel at Yorkville Ave. and Hazelton Lanes, right across the street from the Four Seasons.
Make no mistake: no one thinks the 77-room Hazelton will sound the death knell for the Ritz or the Four Seasons, both giant luxury chains that are global brands. But it will give the most demanding clients of those chains an appealing alternative as the Hazelton tries to skim the cream off the top. And there are bragging rights at stake in being considered Toronto’s finest hotel.
Cohen, an accountant and president of private real estate investment firm The Dawsco Group, and Greenberg, a lawyer whose company The Starwood Group concentrates on loft conversions and mixed-use hotel projects, were inspired by hotels they had stayed at in their travels, including The Savoy in London, the Ritz Hotel in Paris and the Hotel Cipriani in Venice.
That’s a big statement from Wassermuhl, who was the designer of the Prince Arthur condominiums in Yorkville and the Cheddington at Bayview Ave. and Lawrence Ave., Toronto’s two most expensive large-scale resale condominium projects. But the Hazelton, he acknowledges, will be in a class of its own.
If real estate is about location, then to get a prime site at the corner of Yorkville Ave. and Hazelton Lanes — ground zero for the luxury buyer — is in the words of Wassermuhl, “incredible.”
To attract the Toronto International Film Festival crowd, the developers are installing a $2 million Yabu Pushelberg designed home-theatre that seats 26.
The walls will be covered in mohair — the same kind you’d find on pricey men’s suits on Savile Row. And service will include the city’s first private-jet concierge for guests arriving on private planes.
McEwan understands over-the-top. At the Toronto-Dominion Centre’s Bymark, he introduced the city to the outrageous $33 truffle-topped hamburger — which quickly became a favourite with the Bay Street crowd. At his new restaurant, One, the restaurateur will be responsible for 24-hour dining service in the hotel.
Meanwhile, the 16 private residences above the hotel will look like the grand homes they are, since they will be finished by custom residential home builder J.F. Brennan, the builder of choice for the Canadian establishment. Brennan may be best known for his controversial major redesign of the compound in Rosedale owned by Onex Corp.’s Gerry Schwartz and his wife Heather Reisman, chief of Indigo Books and Music.
Price of entry for the sold-out condominiums is among the highest for any condominium building in Canada and not far off prices for estate homes in Rosedale.
The “starter” condo was offered at $2.7 million, while the penthouse, which included a regal 6,000 square feet (557 square metres) of outdoor terrace space, was priced at $12 million.
More than half a dozen projects have been placed on the market over the last few years, the proliferation of rooms sparked by a condominium boom that makes building them economically feasible.The profit from the condominiums pays for building the hotel, while the hotel makes some of its money from servicing condo owners. Meanwhile, the cost of building infrastructure such as parking garages and amenities such as a pool or spa are shared.
But in addition to a new Four Seasons and Ritz Carlton, there is also a Trump Hotel to be built in 2009 and a Shangri-La hotel in the works, giving the city an unprecedented supply of luxury rooms. Some analysts have warned that this will create a glut and drive down rates.
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