Low-rise features Victorian facades
By Sydnia Yu - Globe and Mail
Beaches developer Thomas Wardle plans to build a low-rise condominium building that he hopes will evoke the village atmosphere of the area more than a century ago.
The project, called the Village at Main Station, is inspired by the look of the community in the late 1800s, when it was known as the Village of East Toronto, and was anchored by the Grand Trunk Railway Station.
The new development - two four-storey buildings with a total of 32 suites - will have traditional Victorian facades, and homeowners will have their own entry via a central courtyard. There will be no interior corridors or elevators.
“We’re trying to keep it community oriented by having a small project,” Mr. Wardle explains. “[The architect] has designed these to be similar to the buildings that were here or are still here on the streets.”
Mr. Wardle, a long-time resident of and former alderman for the area, is especially familiar with the surrounding streetscapes. But he has an even stronger tie to the site itself - it’s where he and his family have run a wholesale gifts and textiles business for the past 30 years. In addition to this property, the project will utilize an adjacent site he bought last spring.
Railway tracks and a station are still parts of the community, except today they are part of the GO train system. Other urban conveniences - the subway, shops, restaurants, parks and recreation facilities - are nearby, and many more can be found to the south on Queen Street and the waterfront.
At a time when real estate prices in the area are high, having kept pace with its popularity, this project offers homes that start at $225,000 for 660 square feet of space. Since the project launch in September, more than two-thirds of the units have been sold.
“We seem to have two categories of people buying here: either retired people selling their house or… young professionals who don’t have the time or money to have a big house,” Mr. Wardle notes.
As an incentive for buyers, monthly fees will be only about 24 cents a square foot since there will not be corridors or elevators to maintain. Residents who have underground parking (priced at $9,500) will pay an extra $8 toward maintenance, and those with lockers (priced at $3,000) will pay another $4.
“We’ve eliminated the expensive things, so that’s made it affordable,” Mr. Wardle says.
Units ranging from one-bedroom to two bedrooms and a den are still available, as are two-storey penthouse suites, which will feature cathedral ceilings with dormers and skylights, as well as lofts overlooking the principal room.
The light in many suites is “absolutely phenomenal, because there are windows not only to the courtyard, but [facing]… [a] park - either Ted Reeve or Kimberley Park,” Mr. Wardle says.
Kitchens will have stainless-steel appliances, granite countertops and a ceramic backsplashes.
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