Tag Archives: Building Industry and Land Development Association
Toronto’s tale of two towers
Two new condo projects – the Aura and One Bloor – have the city abuzz with talk of urban renewal
By Martin Slofstra – Toronto Sun
When the builder of Aura officially broke ground during a special ceremony recently, it was hard not to focus on the obvious. The tower, when complete, will be a monumental addition to Toronto’s urban landscape, and at 75 storeys, will officially become Canada’s tallest condo.
The site’s developer, however, seemed less focused on the building’s immense size than with goings-on in the immediate neighbourhood.
“The real story is what is going to happen to Yonge St.,” Michael La Brier, president of Canderel Stoneridge Equity Group, developer of the project, said at the ground-breaking event. At present, with its strip joints and tattoo parlours, the area “is a bit of a disaster.”
But with its 931 condominium suites totalling over 1.3 million square feet, Aura will provide a much-needed boost to the area, La Brier believes.
Being built at the corner of Yonge and Gerrard St., Aura will include world-class retail stores at its base and a sky lobby with a two-storey glass-enclosed public gallery filled with light overlooking a three-acre green space at historic College Park. The message being sent is clear. Yonge St. is undergoing a revival, and it can’t happen fast enough.
Already, the building is 98% sold. (A luxurious 75th-floor, 11,370-sq.-ft. penthouse suite selling for $17.5 million is still on the market.)
While it remains to be seen what effect the Aura project will have on the Yonge St. revitalization effort, the mood among the developer and politicians is upbeat.
Mayor David Miller, who spoke at the opening event, sees the Aura development as not only integral to the area’s revitalization, but part of “a building boom the likes of which the city has never seen before.”
And the kick-off of Aura comes right on the heels of the relaunch of another major development, Great Gulf’s prestigious One Bloor high-rise on the southwest corner of Bloor and Yonge.
At 58 storeys and with 690 suites, One Bloor promises close access to world-class shopping at Yorkville, two storeys of prime retail at the building’s base and 27,000 sq. ft. of resort-inspired amenities, its developer says.
At the re-opening of One Bloor in late March, there was a similar strong sense that this condo project could do much to improve the livability of the area.
David Pontarini of Hariri Pontarini Architects said he literally spent months scanning the world, looking at projects in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Paris, before deciding how he could “add to the Toronto skyline at such a significant address.” Indeed a big selling feature of One Bloor is its design, described as “respecting the urban fabric of the area with its simple silhouette that is sensuously sculpted with piano curves to evoke a warm modernism.”
The hype not withstanding, what the two buildings have done at minimum is spawn a budding sense of optimism, say observers, especially given that both projects are selling well despite being launched in 2008, when the condominium market was dealt a big blow by the global economic recession and financial meltdown.
The initial developer of One Bloor faced receivership before Great Gulf came along to rescue the project.
That’s all in the past now.
The two projects in question can best be described as “signature” buildings that will define their locations for a very, very long time to come, says Stephen Dupuis, CEO of the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD).
Dupuis expects the benefits will go well beyond the immediate Yonge St. area.
“As tall, beautiful and well located as these buildings are, they are only part of the urban revival that is sweeping across the city – north, south, east and west – revitalizing the city, creating jobs and enhancing the city’s tax base,” he says.
There is no question, says Dupuis, “these buildings will spur further redevelopment along Yonge St., as will all the other new condo buildings in all the other parts of the city.”
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Free Metropasses latest condo perk
City makes builders support the TTC, but developers pass the cost to buyers
Tess Kalinowski – Toronto Star
Add free public transit to the granite counters and stainless-steel appliances on the list of amenities attracting buyers to Toronto’s hot condo market.
Under a new city policy, condo developers will have to include a year’s supply of Metropasses in each new unit they sell.
“This is the carrot that will get people onto public transit,” said Councillor Howard Moscoe (Eglinton-Lawrence), a former TTC chair, who introduced the policy approved by council in November.
But just like spa tubs and lakeside views, the cost of the passes will be reflected in the price of the condo, according to developers.
Free Metropasses latest condo perk
The rule will apply to development applications made after April 28 on buildings with at least 20 units in the downtown and central waterfront areas, city centres in Scarborough, North York and Etobicoke, and avenues defined by the official plan, including the arteries slated for the Transit City light rail plan.
“These units are in strategic locations; these are not condos in the middle of nowhere,” said Rod McPhail, Toronto’s director of transportation planning, urban development services.
The designated areas already have good transit access and many of the avenues are ripe for transit-oriented development.
The new rule is one of the trade-offs for developments in areas where the requirements for residential parking in condos have been lowered, he said. It will be about 18 months before the developments to which the rule applies are built.
McPhail believes other Canadian cities, notably Vancouver, will be watching to see whether the rule helps generate transit ridership.
But developers have made no secret of the fact they oppose the new charge and that costs will be buried in the price of units, said Stephen Dupuis, president and CEO of the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD).
“It’s wasteful because people are going to get those Metropasses whether they want them or need them (or not), and I figure a third of people don’t want them or need them,” he said.
The reduction in parking requirements is meaningless unless the threshold is placed low enough that a developer can eliminate an entire floor of parking, said Dupuis.
But Moscoe says all developers are not opposed. In fact, he claims, the original idea came from a developer. He’s convinced builders will end up marketing the Metropasses the same way they tout their locations and amenities, because people want to live near transit.
For developers it’s a good deal, he said. They can buy the passes in bulk at about a 12 per cent savings and then get 15 per cent back in a federal tax deduction — and they don’t have to pay for the passes until the unit is sold.
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960
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Moscoe credits builder for new transit ‘tax’ on condos
Toronto Star
It’s just one more tax on developers, according to Stephen Dupuis, head of the Building Industry and Land Development Association.
But City Councillor Howard Moscoe says it was actually builder Shane Baghai who first mentioned to him the idea of requiring developers to provide a year’s worth of Metropasses with each condo they sell.
The rule that comes into effect next week, makes mandatory what at least one builder has already tried with good results at the High Park subway station where residents get TTC passes with their units, said Moscoe.
Neither Moscoe nor Toronto’s affable head of transportation planning Rod McPhail could cite any research proving the new regulation will translate into more ridership and revenue for the TTC.
But they’re both optimistic based on their own experiences.
McPhail, who has tried the suburbs, saw the error of his ways years ago and moved to a smaller home within an easy subway ride of his Metro Hall office.
Moscoe uses his brother as proof. A former Vaughan resident with a three-car garage, the other Mr. Moscoe apparently gave it up to move to Wellington Street where he takes transit everywhere, boasts the councillor for Eglinton-Lawrence.
“People will use public transit if it’s convenient,” he told The Toronto Star.
Besides, he said, if somebody gives you an amenity worth $1,200 a year, you’re going to use it.
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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960
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