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Two New Condo Projects Rejected Based on Height

The City’s love/hate affair with tall buildings continues. Toronto is one of most high-rise friendly cities in the world, with more projects proposed, under construction, or recently completed than just about every city in the developed world. Still, developers face an uphill battle when looking to build ‘up’. Last week, two condo project proposals were rejected based primarily on the fact that the proposed towers were too tall.

Giraffe Condos at Bloor and Dundas (27 Storeys, TAS DesignBuild) had their project rejected at the OMB, and Theatre Park at King and University (45 Storeys, Brad Lamb) had their project rejected by City Hall. Both decisions were focused on the height of the buildings making them ‘out of context’ for the area they would occupy.

On the surface, the news for Giraffe is potentially worse than for Theatre Park, as once a project is rejected at the OMB level, there is no higher authority for developers to appeal the decision in front of. Brad Lamb can and likely will take their case directly to the OMB as the city is unlikely to concede what they are seeking (45 storeys).

No word yet on what will happen to purchasers at Giraffe, or whether TAS will appeal the OMB’s decision. The future of what would have been a landmark condo tower and potential neighbourhood changer is definitely in doubt. Giraffe has been selling units for about 2 years. Theatre Park has not opened a sales office or started marketing the project in any way, but word on the street is they have been selling units to insiders since the fall.

While I am by definition in favour of more high-rise development downtown, and especially on the subway lines, I believe there is a case to be made for ensuring our condo towers fit into the context of their surroundings and do not adversely affect the street life at the ground level.

To follow some of the discussions on Giraffe or Theatre Park, check out the UrbanToronto.ca message boards.

Questions or comments on these projects? Leave a comment or email me directly.

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5% Deposit Available at Liberty Market Lofts, Victory Condos, & M5V

This week I’m excited to announce an excellent investment/purchasing opportunity available exclusively for my clients at Liberty Market Lofts, Victory Condos, and M5V.

For a limited time, my clients have the ability to purchase select suites at these three highly successful downtown developments with only 5% total deposit. Normally the deposit structure would be 15% + 5% at occupancy.

The suites that qualify at Victory and Liberty Market Lofts are all the remaining 2 bedroom units. At M5V, the suites that qualify are all remaining units priced over $600K.

This offer is not available to the general public, and this offer is not available to general agents and brokers. This is a one-time perk that my clients can enjoy with these developments because I am a member of the “Platinum Agent” club for Lifetime Developments, BLVD Developments and TAS DesignBuild.

Please contact me asap if you are interested in purchasing a unit at one of these projects. This is a very limited and exclusive offer-don’t delay!

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Giraffe Condos: Building Redesigned and Prices Lowered

Giraffe condos launched with significant fanfare and acclaim almost exactly 1 year ago. It was about one month later that the real estate market in Toronto all but collapsed. Sales at Giraffe were less than spectacular and like many Toronto developments, they had to react to what the market was telling them.

I’m pleased to announce that Giraffe has significantly lowered their prices across the board, introduced new suites, and kept nearly all the distinctives of the project in place that made it so appealing in the first place.

Prices are now starting as low as $360 per square foot. Prices have essentially been reduced as much as $50-60K for some units. 565 sq ft 1 bedrooms from $212,000, 612 sq ft 1+dens from $224,000, and 833 sq ft 2 bedrooms from just $302,000.

The major changes to the building are these:

• Eliminated the roof-top garden/patio area resulting in significant construction and maintenance savings
• Ceiling heights on lower half of building reduced to 8′ instead of 9′
• Depth of balconies reduced from 6′ to 5′ (but will still have gas lines on them)

Deposit structure is 15% in 180 days + 5% at occupancy (standard). Parking spots are $28K (very reasonable). Maintenance fees are $0.45/sq ft.

Giraffe is a LEED designed building by Teeple Architects.

All these changes have come about with little to no advertising on the part of the developer. Despite this, suites are selling fast with over 30 units sold in the past few weeks. Don’t wait for the mainstream media marketing hype (radio ads, newspaper ads etc) to tell you this is a great opportunity! This project is a great investment NOW. If you are thinking about buying at Giraffe, contact me today.

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Giraffe Condos Offers Confidence Guarantee

Giraffe Condos is offering a three-part guarantee for buyers. From their website:

EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE:

Worried about the financial crisis and possibly losing your job? Purchase with confidence that in the case of a job loss, we will refund all deposits made towards your new home.*

PRICING GUARANTEE:

Take the fear out of buying at the wrong time and dropping home prices.  Purchase with confidence knowing that if the price of your home is lowered we will pass on the savings to you.*

FLEXIBLE DEPOSIT STRUCTURE:

Talk to our sales representatives about structuring your payments so that it makes financial sense to your personal savings and cash flow needs.*

They all have *asterisks* behind them, so make sure you read the fine print, but nonetheless another sign of the time we  are in and kudos to TAS Design Build especially for including the 2nd point about the pricing guarantee. These types of incentives are now a major trend in the Toronto market. If you are buying into a development and they are not offering you good incentives, demand that they do!

I wasn’t around for the last major real estate correction in 1989, but I highly doubt developers at that time were introducing programs like these to stimulate a slagging real estate market. Expect developers to get more and more aggressive with the incentives for the remainder of 2009.

Questions? Comments? Contact me.

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Giraffe Condos: International Design Comes to Toronto

Coming soon from TAS DesignBuild to Dundas St W and Bloor W, Giraffe Condos.

Register with me now for you chance to purchase before the public at a VIP sales event.

Giraffe will be a 29-storey tower with 275 units and a unique architectural style that has potential to put it on the international map. The building will be designed to meet LEED standards, and will have many ‘green’ features including an 8000 sq ft roof top garden where residents will be able to grow their own vegetables!

Giraffe is kind of a strange name for a condo but this one is supposed to be unique and independent much like the animal it is named after. Very funky design for sure and I have a hunch that Torontonians will embrace the project in a big way. I can only hope that this will also encourage other developers to take chances and get creative with the architecture in their condo towers. Glass wall towers can be great, but we also need variety.

Giraffe Condos VIP event coming soon! Contact me for more info.

Oct 24 update: Now booking appointments for Preview Sales. Contact me for more info, floor plans and pricing.

Nov 3 update: Thinking about buying a unit at Giraffe condos?  Hire me as your Exclusive Buyer’s Agent.

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