New condo high rises are creating residential areas where strip malls once reigned
Influx aids neighbourhoods in transition
By Derek Raymaker - Globe and Mail
Etobicoke, on the western flank of Toronto, has quietly emerged as a beehive of activity for condominium builders and buyers.
Many of the high-rise condominiums built west of the Humber River since 1998 have been risky ventures, often guinea pigs that were a long way from the bustle of downtown Toronto, where most condo dwellers preferred to live.
The market is still evolving, but it seems to have found a niche among older people who have lived in the leafy and quiet neighbourhoods and are looking for a low maintenance option in which to wind down. But it also includes younger professionals who work in the outlying areas, thanks to the myriad of highways pumping commuters down the Queen Elizabeth Way and up Highway 427.
Etobicoke’s active condominium pockets basically shake down like this:
The most mature submarket is the Etobicoke lakeshore west of the Humber River. Real estate agents and developers have taken to calling it the “Humber Bayshore” lately to jazz it up. With the exception of the Palace Pier towers, it was home to no-tell motels for years until 1998, when the Newport Beach project’s two towers with townhouses were launched. Since then, seven more towers have been erected, with four more in pre-construction sales, and all have proven very popular with buyers thanks to a peaceful lakeshore location, quick highway access and several commercial upgrades, such as a nearby Sobey’s supermarket.
The next submarket stretches along The Queensway artery from Park Lawn Avenue to the massive Sherway Gardens shopping centre at Highway 427. This area had been a smattering of strip malls, but recent amendments to Toronto’s Official Plan designated it to be a mixed use area in the hopes of making it more residential and pedestrian friendly. Unfortunately, the weak transit service here makes this goal somewhat wishful thinking.
For budget buyers, there’s Lake Shore Boulevard west of Islington Avenue. Once a dodgy part of western Toronto, the area remains one of the last few affordable condo outposts in the 416 area code. In spite of its rough-around-the-edges history, the surrounding neighbourhood is laden with detached homes owned by aging owners who are greatly attached to the area. It is also a short walk to a peaceful network of parks along Lake Ontario, one of which includes a nicely redeveloped campus of Humber College at Kipling Avenue.
The most established condominium pocket runs along Bloor Street, west of Royal York Road, and is expanding north to Dundas Street West. The scale and cost of these projects reflect the suburban ethos of convenience, but the area has one feature that will always keep demand high: it’s on the subway line.
One of the biggest Etobicoke condominium projects is a joint venture between Menkes and Great Gulf Homes, a four-tower, 1,150-suite community called One Sherway, adjacent to the Sherway Gardens shopping centre.
One Sherway got off to a rocky start due to complaints from local residents south of Evans Avenue who were displeased by its height and scale and the effect it would have on traffic (an odd complaint considering that it sits at the intersection of Highway 427 and The Queensway arterial road.)
It’s the local residents, however, who are the single largest component of purchasers in the first two buildings so far, according to Menkes’ marketing director Mimi Ng.
“The most interest comes especially from a lot of local buyers who want to downsize from a single family home,” Ms. Ng said. “But we’ve also been seeing younger buyers who grew up in the area. They seem to like it because it is still in the city, halfway between downtown and Mississauga city centre, with excellent highway access.”
About 75 per cent of Phase 1 (26-storeys) is sold, while about half of Phase 2 (32-storeys) is spoken for, for prices ranging from $183,990 to $410,990. A one-acre park is also included on the site, where a plant nursery used to sit.
“We’re going to add a residential dynamic to the area, and the park will help soften the project,” Ms. Ng said.
It is the residential dynamic that is specifically lacking in these Etobicoke condo pockets. One almost-complete project that builders and brokers are watching closely is Loggia, a product of Brandy Lane Homes, in the hopes that it will turn the Queensway into a more residential-friendly ramble.
The project has sold well, with only a handful of the 140 suites in 10 storeys are still available, ranging in price from $162,990 to $374,990 in two sleek glass mid-rises across from Cineplex-Odeon’s Queensway Cinemas.
“Once they do move in, it will be really interesting to see how it evolves,” said Ms. Ng of this particular community.
