Location is the most important factor when considering any real estate investment. You can change many things about a property, but you can’t change its location, therefore it’s vitally important for any condo buyer to understand exactly what makes a good location good. Why do some condos appreciate at higher rates and command higher resale prices compared to others that are often located just steps away?

Just being downtown is not enough with today’s buyers. Buyers want to experience the best of urban living.  Today’s urbanites are more sophisticated than ever. They know the difference one block in the wrong direction can make on quality of life and resale-ability down the road. They know the impact of having a Starbucks in your building can make versus having a Coffee Time.

The best locations are those that combine two key factors:

1) Highly visible. Being in a highly visible location is critical to attracting people, businesses, services, and even government dollars to fund things like transit and infrastructure. You need to be seen from the street by pedestrians, people in their cars and on transit. You need to be in a spot that is well-known and familiar with the average person in Toronto. This is why condos located immediately on the crossroads of two major streets are always tremendously popular with buyers (One Bloor at Bloor and Yonge, The Hudson at King and Spadina, L Tower at Front and Yonge, etc.). This is also why condos located busy pedestrian and transit-friendly streets like King or Queen tend to out perform those located on one-way, transit-less streets like Richmond or Adelaide.

2) Highly visited. Just because a condo is located in a highly visible location, does not mean it will be a highly visited location. A great example of this is Cityplace. Everyone knows where Cityplace is, and the towers dominate the skyline when you are coming in from the west on the Gardiner, however, no one except the people who live in Cityplace ever go to Cityplace. This is one reason why prices in this area continue to lag significantly behind that of other nearby neighbourhoods.

Recently a fairly high profile project launched in the heart of the downtown to much fanfare. Many Realtors were pushing this project as a great investment to their clients, however, I quietly told my clients to ‘pass’ on this project even though the building was located a few minutes walk from the multiple subway stations. Why? It was essentially located on a side street of a side street. Most people including Realtors had to Google the address and still didn’t know where it was! The location of this building is neither highly visible or highly visited, thus I advised my clients to hold out for other projects.

Questions or comments? Thinking about buying a condo this fall and want to be sure you pick one with a great location? Contact me.

The anticipation is growing for Number One Bloor.  Great Gulf Homes acquired the site a few months ago from Bazis International – the former developer of “1 Bloor” who ran into financial troubles and was unable to proceed with the development. Great Gulf Homes is definitely one of the good guys when it comes to condos in Toronto having already completed successfully several Tier-1 buildings in addition to several more in the pipeline.

So what should buyers expect for this time round for this historic address? Expect lineups. Expect a great deal of coverage from the mainstream media. Expect a launch sometime around March 2010. Expect price per square foot to be in the $800-$1000 range. Did I mention lineups? Finally, expect Great Gulf Homes to get this project built!

If you are wondering how there could be lineups to buy condos at $800 PSF, consider the build up and anticipation surrounding this condo (in March it will have been 3 years since they first announced the original 1 Bloor), the intensity of the overall pre-sale market, and the fact that no matter what anyone says, Yonge and Bloor is a very important intersection and always will be. They aren’t making any more land on Yonge Street!

Interesting that the old Bazis website for “1 Bloor” has been removed and now both 1bloor.com and 1bloor.ca redirect to NumberOneBloor.com which is the developer’s official site.

If you would like to be updated when more information becomes available for Number One Bloor, including details on any upcoming VIP sales events, please contact me.

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1 Bloor was the most celebrated and most reviled symbol of Toronto’s recent real estate boom.

Realtors lined up for weeks (or paid students and homeless people to do so) for the chance to buy units there only to learn that the developer increased prices by 25-50%  from what they were told they would be paying. It didn’t matter as they bought anyway and hundreds of units were sold in a matter of days at prices in the $1000 per square foot range.

Now, more than 2 years after the initial hype began, no shovel has hit the ground and no one is moving into their piece of Toronto real estate history any time soon. Still the million-dollar question remains:

Will 1 Bloor actually get built?

The latest rumours news on the project is this: it will be built, only it is going to be scaled back to 68 stories instead of the original 80. This is according to the Globe and Mail. So that would mean it is no longer Canada’s tallest residential building, and purchasers who bought units on floors above 68 are…screwed.

But hold on, because The Toronto Star has a remarkably different article in their paper today which says that 1 Bloor is going into receivership and that the current Kazakh financial backers of the project are in mired in a massive scandal. That doesn’t sound like the recipe for building a 68 storey tower to me.

So who is right? I have no idea, but this corner of Toronto deserves a landmark, be it 1 Bloor or something else. My fear is that if plans for 1 Bloor are scrapped, something mediocre will be built in its place. When it comes to condos, Toronto already has plenty of mediocrity but greatness is in short supply.

For a trip down memory lane, check out some of my old blog posts on the 1 Bloor development from when I was a contributor to BlogTO.

• Kazakhstani Developer to Transform Yonge and Bloor: Very Niiice!
• 1 Bloor: What will you miss the most?
• 1 Bloor: Crosshairs of Insanity

Welcome to your online guide to “The Best Penthouse Suites in Toronto“. In this installment I will be profiling the penthouse suite at 1 Bloor.

Author’s note: This blog post was originally published in 2008. Hence, some of this information may be out of date. For the most up-to-date information regarding the best penthouse suites in Toronto, please contact me.

There was so much hype when 1 Bloor launched in November 2007 that it has been hard to separate fact from fiction with this project. One of the most widely accepted rumors about this project was that the penthouse suite was sold to a Hong Kong businessman for $25 million. Despite the fact that several mainstream media outlets have reported it sold, it has not. The penthouse suite at 1 Bloor is still available and is still priced at $25 million.

The truth is they were in fact close to an agreement, but it fell apart in the end because the buyer insisted upon having his own private elevator that no one else could use and that would enter directly into his suite. The developer said it could not be done, the architects could not figure out a way to get it into the plans. But now, the developer is saying that if a new buyer wants this same feature, there is a way it can be done-too late for the original buyer apparently.

The feature about the 1 Bloor Penthouse that has garnered the most attention is the internal infinity pool. Imagine swimming in a pool in your own mansion in the sky, 80 storeys from the ground, and looking out over the skyline of Toronto.

Developer:: Bazi’s International (Based in Kazahkstan, No completed projects in Toronto, Currently also developing/selling Crystal Blu – Yonge and Bloor, Emerald Park – Yonge and Sheppard, coming soon: Exhibit Definitive Residences – Bloor and Avenue)
Penthouse: $25M for 7530 sq ft. This is the entire 80th floor of the building. $3320 per square foot.
Sub-Penthouses: 4 floor plans available ranging from $5.7M – $9.5M and 2485 – 3810 sq ft respectively. $2300-$2500 per square foot
Key Features: Infinity pool (in the penthouse suite only), 10′ or 12′ ceilings, multiple outdoor terraces (penthouse), Miele and Sub-Zero appliances
Notes: -Penthouse is totally customizable, units on the sub-penthouse levels can be combined to create a larger unit if desired
-The hotel that is going to be in the base of the tower is expected to be announced this fall. Rumor is it will be a major French chain.
-All the hotel amenities are available to residents of the penthouses
-No parking spots included ($75,000 each), but separate parking level exclusively designated for Penthouse suites
-Maintenance fees 49 cents per square foot, hydro extra
-Occupancy November 28, 2011
Potential Negatives: Developer has no track record in Toronto, Units as small as 540 sq ft in the building, very high percentage of investors/speculators purchased units in the building (non end-users)

For more information on the 1 Bloor Penthouse suites, please contact me.

Downloads:

• 1 Bloor Penthouse Floor Plan
• 1 Bloor Sub-Penthouse Floor Plans
• 1 Bloor Penthouse Preview Price List

The Best Penthouse in Toronto Series:

• College Park Aura Penthouse
• Four Seasons Yorkville West Penthouse
• Shangri-La Penthouse
• The Residences of the Ritz Carlton Penthouse

Like what you see? Read the rest at blogTO.com.

Leave it to the Kazakhstanis. Just days after Donald Trump was in town and it was announced that his 70-storey building at Bay and Adelaide was set to begin construction, Kazakhstan-based developer Bazis International declares its own plans to build an 80-storey building at Yonge and Bloor. Zing!

Like what you see? Read the rest at blogTO.com