Suzanne Win­trob, National Post

Look­ing to own a piece of water­front? By the looks of it, devel­op­ers think every­one does and are eagerly pump­ing their high-rise and low-rise water­front prop­er­ties to any­one who will listen.

From Cobourg to down­town Toronto and all the way to Oakville and Burling­ton, the water­front is abuzz with activ­ity. Projects already on the mar­ket are push­ing their last remain­ing units, while new devel­op­ments are either await­ing final approval or are under con­struc­tion and set to launch.

“Peo­ple every­where view water­front own­er­ship as a sound invest­ment, espe­cially in high demand areas,” says Marc Hewitt, pres­i­dent of Niche Devel­op­ment Ltd. build­ing Oakville’s Edge­mere Pri­vate Res­i­dences. “Water­front land is a com­mod­ity, and in urban areas such as the GTA, it’s a scarce com­mod­ity. That makes it a sound invest­ment and some­thing peo­ple take great pride in owning.”

While Muskoka chairs and pesky black flies may be miss­ing from this urban water­front equa­tion, it’s the idea of wak­ing up and gaz­ing out at the lake — or walk­ing the dog a block or two to it — that has pur­chasers hooked. Even the well-chosen names — among them Bluwa­ter, River City, South Beach and West­lake — con­jure up thoughts of sand cas­tles and seag­ulls in a bid to heighten sales.

The lifestyle is so desir­able that a decade ago the gov­ern­ments of Toronto, Ontario and Canada joined forces to cre­ate Water­front Toronto, charged with over­see­ing the renewal of Toronto’s water­front. Derek Gor­ing, direc­tor of devel­op­ment at Water­front Toronto, says the cor­po­ra­tion is tak­ing a “holis­tic” approach to water­front devel­op­ment by cre­at­ing people-focused neigh­bour­hoods with a mix of res­i­dences, com­mer­cial and retail space, pub­lic spaces, plus com­mu­nity neces­si­ties such as child­care, schools, com­mu­nity cen­tres, libraries and access to transit.

Ini­tially, 13,000 res­i­den­tial units are planned for Toronto’s East Bayfront and West Don Lands areas — 7,000 and 6,000 respec­tively — with another 27,000 units expected over the next decade in those ‘hoods plus North Keat­ing by the Don River. At least 20% will be afford­able hous­ing, says Mr. Gor­ing, and 20% will be rental. All will be LEED Gold-certified. One-quarter of res­i­den­tial design will be devoted to pub­lic green space, he adds. In fact, this sum­mer, Canada’s Sugar Beach at the foot of Jarvis Street and Sher­bourne Park at the foot of Sher­bourne Street will open in the East Bayfront area, with con­struc­tion start­ing later this fall on Under­pass Park and Don River Park in the West Don Lands.

“What makes Toronto’s new water­front com­mu­ni­ties so appeal­ing is that, not only are they at the water’s edge, but they are also in the heart of the city,” says Mr. Gor­ing. “This water­front gives peo­ple the best of both worlds — the beauty and tran­quil­ity of life at the lake and the cul­ture and vital­ity of the urban experience.”

The first two devel­op­ers to sign up are Great Gulf Group devel­op­ing East Bayfront’s Park­side, a 540,000-square-foot project includ­ing a res­i­den­tial tower (launch date expected in 2011); and, Urban Cap­i­tal build­ing the West Don Lands’ River City, com­pris­ing 900 loft–style con­dos, pent­houses and town­homes over the next five to seven years. Phase 1 — two high-rises totalling 348 units — is now sell­ing at $239,900 to $750,000 with occu­pancy in late 2012.

Although River City is a Water­front Toronto ini­tia­tive, it is not tech­ni­cally “water­front” because it is not on Lake Ontario. But it will have beau­ti­ful views of the revi­tal­ized Don River and will sit on the new 18-acre Don River Park. Ben Rusonik, River City’s sales man­ager, says Phase 3 will be sit­u­ated closer the lake, so it will have actual lake views. But at this point, he says, River City’s slo­gan is “This is Where it Starts,” a ref­er­ence to it being the first pri­vate devel­op­ment on the Water­front Toronto property.

Down the road in Eto­bi­coke, sales at South Beach Con­dos + Lofts are brisk. When com­plete, the four-acre project will com­prise two 27-storey, 313-unit Art Deco-styled glass-and-steel tow­ers, 30,000 sq. ft. of ameni­ties includ­ing pool, squash courts hotel guest suites and a pet day­care, 16,000 sq. ft. of retail space, and reflec­tive rooftop solar pan­els to gen­er­ate energy. Tower 1 is sold out and Tower 2, with sum­mer 2012 occu­pancy, is more than 80% sold.

After years of build­ing up Mon­treal, Amexon Devel­op­ment Corp. decided to bring its exper­tise to Toronto’s water­front with this four-acre site con­jur­ing up thoughts of Miami’s funky Ocean Drive. Jason Shiff, Amexon’s exec­u­tive sales man­ager, says the com­pany had owned the land for a while but was wait­ing for the right moment to bring it to market.

“We wanted some­thing that would enhance water­front liv­ing,” he says. “It’s really vacation-type liv­ing to the tee. It emu­lates South Beach and Ocean Drive. It gives you the exact same Art Deco features.”

Nearby, Vancouver-based Onni Group of Com­pa­nies is final­iz­ing plans for its sec­ond Toronto project after The Gar­ri­son, this one at Lake Shore Boule­vard and Park Lawn Road. West­lake — described by exec­u­tive vice-president Chris Evans as “an urban vil­lage” with inter­nal roads and store­fronts — will com­prise 1,300 units in three tow­ers, the tallest with 48 floors, plus 85,000 sq. ft. of retail includ­ing national gro­cery and drug stores, and 25,000 sq. ft. of ameni­ties. Units will range from 500 to 1,500 sq. ft., though pric­ing has not been announced.

Oakville’s cov­eted water­front is also see­ing some action. Daniels Corp.’s exec­u­tive vice-president, Niall Hag­gart, describes the 12-storey, 68-unit One Eleven Forsythe as “a quin­tes­sen­tial bou­tique con­do­minium nes­tled on the shores of 16 Mile Creek in down­town Oakville.” Only a hand­ful of suites remain, priced from $1.2-million to more than $2.5-million, with all suites on the east side of the build­ing over­look­ing the water.

In Oakville’s Bronte Vil­lage, The Pem­ber­ton Group has taken over an old piece of land that once housed a grand her­itage home. In its place will sprout Bluwa­ter Con­do­minium, with three eight-floor build­ings and 10,000 sq. ft. of ameni­ties infused with a well­ness theme. The 220 units will range from the low $400,000s for a 600-sq.-ft one bed­room to more than $1-million for a 3,200-sq.-ft. com­bined suite with wrap­around bal­cony. All pur­chasers will receive a one-year mem­ber­ship to the Oakville Club. The project will launch this fall, con­struc­tion will start next year, and occu­pancy is expected in 2013.

“[This is one of] the most sought-after loca­tions in real estate,” says Christo­pher Invidi­ata, team leader at Re/Max Aboutowne Realty in Oakville who has worked the area’s real estate mar­ket for 25 years. “[Bluwa­ter] is also set in a resort-type set­ting, which ele­vates the liv­ing expe­ri­ence. The com­bi­na­tion of those two facts will drive a lot of buy­ers to our doorstep.”

In Burling­ton, Moli­naro Group is work­ing on a 21-storey, 186-unit tower called Strata Con­dos. It is 75% sold, with remain­ing units sell­ing for $265,000 to $900,000. Billed as “lux­ury condo liv­ing for the hip, fit and green,” com­pany pres­i­dent Vince Moli­naro says he expects Strata to receive at least LEED Sil­ver cer­ti­fi­ca­tion. Besides the oblig­a­tory fit­ness cen­tre, Strata will include a 5,600-sq.-ft. med­i­ta­tion gar­den, a 3,000-sq.ft, ground-level bicy­cle stor­age room to encour­age cycling, and a car share program.

But the real draw will be the water­front, says Mr. Moli­naro, even though the project is not right on the water’s edge.

“With Burling­ton being close to down­town, the water­front is the focus,” he says. We have prob­a­bly one of the biggest parks that will not be devel­oped. … The down­town is all focused along the water­front — all the shops, all the restau­rants are [there]. That’s the big draw for most people.”

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