195 units ranging from 380-square-foot studios ($238,000) to 1,230-square-foot three-bedroom suites ($724,000).
So affordable..
A man signed a waver, and finds his image used in a 23 ft mural promoting yet another condo project..
The closest I’ll ever get to one of these condos is when I tiptoe into the presentation centre. I am a lifelong renter. I have no credit history. My mortgage application would make even the kindliest banker bust a gut. This isn’t a complaint. I’ve made a conscious choice to live my life a certain way, to eschew money for time — time to write, to stroll, to enjoy an afternoon espresso — and now my lifestyle is being used to sell a condo that I could never afford — because of my lifestyle.
Read more here.
Showing posts with label Sheep. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sheep. Show all posts
Monday, January 30, 2012
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Tocondo condo investors flee as there are too many pens for the sheep
Investors rushed to buy Toronto condos in the good times, now there is a worry that they will rush for the exits as the economy weakens and they realize that profits are hard to come by in an overbuilt market.
A record number of condos were built in the past year in the Greater Toronto Area, with some 43,000 units under construction. Anecdotal evidence suggests many of the units were sold to investors who plan to rent them out, but a flood of supply hitting the market at once could drive rents below what’s needed to generate a profit.
Read more here.
A record number of condos were built in the past year in the Greater Toronto Area, with some 43,000 units under construction. Anecdotal evidence suggests many of the units were sold to investors who plan to rent them out, but a flood of supply hitting the market at once could drive rents below what’s needed to generate a profit.
Read more here.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Tocondo's rich to have yet another erection
It's so...big.
City-owned development agency Build Toronto announced Tuesday its first partnership will be with widely known developer Tridel, which will collaborate on a 75-storey, $295-million residential building in the downtown area.
The partnership, the first since the city established Build Toronto as an independent and self-funding real estate and development corporation, will develop the project at 10 York St. in the emerging Harbourfront neighbourhood.
"This is, pardon me for saying so, one hell of a deal," said Lorne Braithwaite the CEO of Build Toronto, at a news conference announcing the project.
Condo builders, modest as always...
"I [Mayor Ford]* can assure you we have some of the brightest real estate minds in the entire country ... sitting on Build Toronto's board," he said.
Tridel president Leo DelZotto said the site "offers the opportunity to create a condominium development that will be spectacular."
Read more here.
* No one in Tocondo is better suited to judge what constitutes a bright mind than Rob Ford...
We're fucked.
City-owned development agency Build Toronto announced Tuesday its first partnership will be with widely known developer Tridel, which will collaborate on a 75-storey, $295-million residential building in the downtown area.
The partnership, the first since the city established Build Toronto as an independent and self-funding real estate and development corporation, will develop the project at 10 York St. in the emerging Harbourfront neighbourhood.
"This is, pardon me for saying so, one hell of a deal," said Lorne Braithwaite the CEO of Build Toronto, at a news conference announcing the project.
Condo builders, modest as always...
"I [Mayor Ford]* can assure you we have some of the brightest real estate minds in the entire country ... sitting on Build Toronto's board," he said.
Tridel president Leo DelZotto said the site "offers the opportunity to create a condominium development that will be spectacular."
Read more here.
* No one in Tocondo is better suited to judge what constitutes a bright mind than Rob Ford...
We're fucked.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Toronto condos badly built...well knock me over with a feather
And one can be yours, starting at only $300,000!!
Many of the glass condominium towers filling up the Toronto skyline will fail 15 to 25 years after they’re built, perhaps even earlier, and will need retrofits costing millions of dollars, say some industry experts.
Buyers drawn to glass-walled condos because of the price and spectacular views may soon find themselves grappling with nightmarish problems, including:
Insulation failures.
Water leaks.
Skyrocketing energy and maintenance costs.
Declining resale potential.
One developer calls glass-walled condos “throw-away buildings” because of their short lifespan relative to buildings with walls made of concrete or brick.
Read more here.
Many of the glass condominium towers filling up the Toronto skyline will fail 15 to 25 years after they’re built, perhaps even earlier, and will need retrofits costing millions of dollars, say some industry experts.
Buyers drawn to glass-walled condos because of the price and spectacular views may soon find themselves grappling with nightmarish problems, including:
Insulation failures.
Water leaks.
Skyrocketing energy and maintenance costs.
Declining resale potential.
One developer calls glass-walled condos “throw-away buildings” because of their short lifespan relative to buildings with walls made of concrete or brick.
Read more here.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Bend over customers, here comes Bank of America
Bank of America will charge customers $5 per month to use their debit card starting in early 2012, according to Dow Jones Newswires...
...The added fees are an effort to generate revenue that bank officials expect they will lose as a result of recent regulations -- passed through the Dodd-Frank Act -- that curb overdraft and other fees, according to the Detroit Free Press.
A banking industry group told the Free Press in May that creating or charging fees is one of the few ways banks can recoup revenue lost through through the new rules.
Read more here.
...The added fees are an effort to generate revenue that bank officials expect they will lose as a result of recent regulations -- passed through the Dodd-Frank Act -- that curb overdraft and other fees, according to the Detroit Free Press.
A banking industry group told the Free Press in May that creating or charging fees is one of the few ways banks can recoup revenue lost through through the new rules.
Read more here.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Lanterra Developments gets their glass handed to them
The Toronto condominium developer at the centre of a controversy over glass falling on the city's streets, has announced it is replacing all of the glass in the balconies of three of its buildings.
The buildings, all in downtown Toronto, will have the existing tempered glass used in their balconies replaced with laminated glass.
The company, Lanterra Developments, said in a statement the new glass "loosely resembles the type of safety glass utilized in automobile windshields. The advantage of utilizing laminated glass is that in combination with using the latest available railing technologies, these laminated panels retain their structure in the event of a fracture and stay in place on the balcony should any breakage occur."
Will they still charge obscene amounts for the shoeboxes they call condos. You bet your glass threatened life.
Read more here.
The buildings, all in downtown Toronto, will have the existing tempered glass used in their balconies replaced with laminated glass.
The company, Lanterra Developments, said in a statement the new glass "loosely resembles the type of safety glass utilized in automobile windshields. The advantage of utilizing laminated glass is that in combination with using the latest available railing technologies, these laminated panels retain their structure in the event of a fracture and stay in place on the balcony should any breakage occur."
Will they still charge obscene amounts for the shoeboxes they call condos. You bet your glass threatened life.
Read more here.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
More glass falls from crappy built million dollar condos
Another glass balcony has shattered in a downtown Toronto condominium complex, slightly injuring a woman.
Glass fell from the balcony on the 31st floor of the south tower around noon Monday. There have been five such recent incidents at the twin tower Murano complex near Grosvenor and Bay streets, but the others have involved the north tower.
Read more here.
Glass fell from the balcony on the 31st floor of the south tower around noon Monday. There have been five such recent incidents at the twin tower Murano complex near Grosvenor and Bay streets, but the others have involved the north tower.
Read more here.
Tuesday, August 02, 2011
Toronto's Lanterra Developments and the Condos of Death
We have to cut Lanterra Developments some slack here. Condos need to be built quickly, so that the sheep that buy them don't notice how they've paid hundreds of thousands for nothing.
Lanterra Developments is under siege in the wake of falling glass at their Murano Condos near Bay and College. According to the Toronto Star, last night was the fifth time glass has fallen from the building at 37 Grosvenor Street this year. The highest one was from the 35th floor and thankfully residents and passerbys have remained unscathed to date.
Read more here.
Lanterra Developments is under siege in the wake of falling glass at their Murano Condos near Bay and College. According to the Toronto Star, last night was the fifth time glass has fallen from the building at 37 Grosvenor Street this year. The highest one was from the 35th floor and thankfully residents and passerbys have remained unscathed to date.
Read more here.
Friday, March 18, 2011
BlogTO has verbal orgasm over what might be Toronto's ugliest new condo
This is what gets Tocondo's cold dead heart a'beating.
This might be Toronto's most exciting condo project
It gets worse...
Read more here.
This might be Toronto's most exciting condo project
It gets worse...
Read more here.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Ontario Municipal Board tells Tocondo that size doesn't matter
Tocondo continues its drive to bulldoze the entire city and replace it with wall to wall condos.
In 50 years this city will be (more of) an architectural nightmare, with aging decaying broken glassed shadows of a former age dotting the landscape, to the horror of our grandchildren, who will curse our names and time.
The European-style King West neighbourhood west of Spadina, long considered to be a showcase of progressive planning, could soon go the way of Yorkville or West Queen West following an Ontario Municipal Board ruling this week that gives Freed Development the go-ahead to build two condo towers that will be almost 60 per cent higher than permitted under the official plan...
...Officials with Freed, which has developed several high-concept projects in the area, declined to comment directly.
Hard to comment when you're dancing around wildly in a victory induced frenzy.
Read more here.
In 50 years this city will be (more of) an architectural nightmare, with aging decaying broken glassed shadows of a former age dotting the landscape, to the horror of our grandchildren, who will curse our names and time.
The European-style King West neighbourhood west of Spadina, long considered to be a showcase of progressive planning, could soon go the way of Yorkville or West Queen West following an Ontario Municipal Board ruling this week that gives Freed Development the go-ahead to build two condo towers that will be almost 60 per cent higher than permitted under the official plan...
...Officials with Freed, which has developed several high-concept projects in the area, declined to comment directly.
Hard to comment when you're dancing around wildly in a victory induced frenzy.
Read more here.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Montreal tenants attempt to slow unbridled condo conversions
Developers flock to condos like flies to shit.
"Owners are buying entire buildings," says Paula Lesperance, community organizer of the Housing Committee. They then hunt all tenants by offering them money or expelling them. Finally, they renovate and sell to benefit the apartments as condominiums. "
Read more here.
"Owners are buying entire buildings," says Paula Lesperance, community organizer of the Housing Committee. They then hunt all tenants by offering them money or expelling them. Finally, they renovate and sell to benefit the apartments as condominiums. "
Read more here.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
How condo developers in Tocondo fleece the sheep
The article contains this tidbit:
Some 18,000 new condominium units were completed in the Greater Toronto Area last year, according to the market research firm Urbanation. Another 17,000 will pop up this year, and 20,000 will rise next year—meaning Toronto will have more condo units for sale than any other city on the continent. Despite sluggish employment in the province and the threat of rising interest rates, condo sales are hitting a near-record pace, up 20 per cent in 2010 from 2009.
Helps explain why Tocondo feels so trashed.
Developers have found in Tocondo the most gulable market in North America.
On Jan. 10, just before noon, more than 100 real estate brokers descended on the corner of The Esplanade and Scott Street. They queued on a snow-and-ice crusted red carpet, shrugging their shoulders against the stiff breeze, chatting in Cantonese, Mandarin, Farsi, Arabic, Korean and even, occasionally, English.
These brokers were so-called VIPs, and each held a specially numbered card sent out by the developer Cityzen (and its partners Fernbrook Homes and Castlepoint Realty Partners) to enter the Living Room Condo Store, a new, high-tech sales centre for Backstage condominiums. Backstage is a modern, D-shaped tower that will one day rise 36 storeys into the skyline atop an awkward 20,000 square-foot parcel of land, right where Yonge Street meets the GO train bridge.
Bahhhhh.
Nice amusing graphic on condo naming conventions: Class Envy, Climate Envy, City Envy and Alphanumeric Hijinx.
Read more here.
Some 18,000 new condominium units were completed in the Greater Toronto Area last year, according to the market research firm Urbanation. Another 17,000 will pop up this year, and 20,000 will rise next year—meaning Toronto will have more condo units for sale than any other city on the continent. Despite sluggish employment in the province and the threat of rising interest rates, condo sales are hitting a near-record pace, up 20 per cent in 2010 from 2009.
Helps explain why Tocondo feels so trashed.
Developers have found in Tocondo the most gulable market in North America.
On Jan. 10, just before noon, more than 100 real estate brokers descended on the corner of The Esplanade and Scott Street. They queued on a snow-and-ice crusted red carpet, shrugging their shoulders against the stiff breeze, chatting in Cantonese, Mandarin, Farsi, Arabic, Korean and even, occasionally, English.
These brokers were so-called VIPs, and each held a specially numbered card sent out by the developer Cityzen (and its partners Fernbrook Homes and Castlepoint Realty Partners) to enter the Living Room Condo Store, a new, high-tech sales centre for Backstage condominiums. Backstage is a modern, D-shaped tower that will one day rise 36 storeys into the skyline atop an awkward 20,000 square-foot parcel of land, right where Yonge Street meets the GO train bridge.
Bahhhhh.
Nice amusing graphic on condo naming conventions: Class Envy, Climate Envy, City Envy and Alphanumeric Hijinx.
Read more here.
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
F*ck grandma and her meds, I want my new Liv Loft!!
Leaving aside the usual observation concerning pretentious condo names...
Seniors will have to access their medical services elsewhere once the commercial building beside the Shops at Don Mills is converted into lofts.
Many in the large population of seniors in the area consider the building, at 75 The Donway West, a one-stop medical shop that fulfills most of their medical needs—from a pharmacy, to a lab, to various doctors' offices—all in one location.
"[Seniors] are very upset. We had everything, so whoever was coming was doing everything, having their lunch, and going home. Now to go for everything they have to go all around," says May, a pharmacist in the building, who wouldn't give her last name.
Read more here.
Seniors will have to access their medical services elsewhere once the commercial building beside the Shops at Don Mills is converted into lofts.
Many in the large population of seniors in the area consider the building, at 75 The Donway West, a one-stop medical shop that fulfills most of their medical needs—from a pharmacy, to a lab, to various doctors' offices—all in one location.
"[Seniors] are very upset. We had everything, so whoever was coming was doing everything, having their lunch, and going home. Now to go for everything they have to go all around," says May, a pharmacist in the building, who wouldn't give her last name.
Read more here.
Saturday, January 08, 2011
Shaw and Primus: We own the Net now, pay up
Surfing and downloading from the internet is about to get more expensive for many Canadians as internet companies Shaw and Primus have announced plans to impose new fees and caps on internet usage.
Over the past year, the CRTC, Canada's communication regulator, let Bell and Rogers start charging extra for customers who download a lot of data. The growing demand for live-streaming and online movies gobbles up huge chunks of bandwidth on the World Wide Web.
Primus and Shaw have said they will begin passing on higher fees to their customers beginning Feb. 1. Primus, for example, rents bandwidth on Bell's networks and said Bell is inflating the costs for everyone, including them.
Read more here.
Over the past year, the CRTC, Canada's communication regulator, let Bell and Rogers start charging extra for customers who download a lot of data. The growing demand for live-streaming and online movies gobbles up huge chunks of bandwidth on the World Wide Web.
Primus and Shaw have said they will begin passing on higher fees to their customers beginning Feb. 1. Primus, for example, rents bandwidth on Bell's networks and said Bell is inflating the costs for everyone, including them.
Read more here.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Gas prices rise again, with the knowledge the public are sheep and will do nothing about it
Most Canadian commuters woke up Friday morning to find the Grinch had pumped up gasoline prices.
At $1.26 per litre, Labrador City had the highest prices. The average Canadian price is now about $1.12. Alberta boasts the lowest prices, with Red Deer residents paying 93 cents per litre.
The price of crude oil, which topped $91 a barrel on Thursday, is blamed for the increase. But analysts say speculation, not strong demand or dwindling supplies, is behind the hike.
In Quebec, the Canadian Automobile Association said retailers are also responsible for higher prices at the pump, giving themselves some extra markup — just in time for Christmas.
Read more here.
At $1.26 per litre, Labrador City had the highest prices. The average Canadian price is now about $1.12. Alberta boasts the lowest prices, with Red Deer residents paying 93 cents per litre.
The price of crude oil, which topped $91 a barrel on Thursday, is blamed for the increase. But analysts say speculation, not strong demand or dwindling supplies, is behind the hike.
In Quebec, the Canadian Automobile Association said retailers are also responsible for higher prices at the pump, giving themselves some extra markup — just in time for Christmas.
Read more here.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Toronto approves yet another f*cking condo
This could be the marketing slogan for condo developers everywhere: “There is no history, so let us make history by creating something different.”
Yet another condo development, yeah, that'll be really different.
The rich continue unopposed to transform Toronto into Tocondo...
A 47-storey condo tower that the city originally opposed will rise after all in the heart of the theatre district, but local Councillor Adam Vaughan aims to use heritage conservation powers to rein in the soaring structures that are sprouting up in the area.
The city and the team behind 224 King St. West, headed up by condo king Brad J. Lamb and prominent architect Peter Clewes, settled their differences before reaching the Ontario Municipal Board, the tribunal that rules on development disputes.
The overall height of the tower has come down slightly, to 157 metres from 164 metres, although two more floors have been added, Mr. Lamb said in an interview.
Located next to the Royal Alexandra Theatre, in what is now a parking lot, the “Theatre Park” blueprints set the tower back enough from King Street to create a public park that is heralded as the project’s centrepiece. The price of units will range from $299,900 to $3-million, said Mr. Lamb, or about $600- to $625-a-square-foot, and will go on sale next year.
“I am thrilled,” Mr. Lamb said of the outcome, which recently got a “rubber stamp” from the OMB to proceed.
Mr. Lamb is perfectly named...bahhhhhhh
Read more here.
Yet another condo development, yeah, that'll be really different.
The rich continue unopposed to transform Toronto into Tocondo...
A 47-storey condo tower that the city originally opposed will rise after all in the heart of the theatre district, but local Councillor Adam Vaughan aims to use heritage conservation powers to rein in the soaring structures that are sprouting up in the area.
The city and the team behind 224 King St. West, headed up by condo king Brad J. Lamb and prominent architect Peter Clewes, settled their differences before reaching the Ontario Municipal Board, the tribunal that rules on development disputes.
The overall height of the tower has come down slightly, to 157 metres from 164 metres, although two more floors have been added, Mr. Lamb said in an interview.
Located next to the Royal Alexandra Theatre, in what is now a parking lot, the “Theatre Park” blueprints set the tower back enough from King Street to create a public park that is heralded as the project’s centrepiece. The price of units will range from $299,900 to $3-million, said Mr. Lamb, or about $600- to $625-a-square-foot, and will go on sale next year.
“I am thrilled,” Mr. Lamb said of the outcome, which recently got a “rubber stamp” from the OMB to proceed.
Mr. Lamb is perfectly named...bahhhhhhh
Read more here.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Griffintown and Devimco: Pretension, thy name is District Griffin
The Parade of Pretension that is condo advertising would be highly amusing if it didn't mask a very fucked up attitude.
“We could have called it Griffintown, but that wouldn’t be entirely true, as the Griffintown historical site encompasses a much larger area.”
Yes, true, fair enough, but you wanted to redevelop almost all of Griffintown and didn’t quite have all the cash for that so you have scaled back, but still want to be the major player for the area. We know what you would have called your “new” neighborhood and the signs say Phase 1.
We have seen much too much of this nonsense in Point Saint Charles with small scale projects that call themselves “Le Charles” or some such tripe. Do you really not get how much of an insult that is to locals? Oh, sorry, forgot that you don’t want there to be any locals. This reminds reminds me of Europeans discovering America – imagine how damned pissed off they must have been to discover there was already people here? People already live in Griffintown.
“The term “district” seemed to be appropriate. It was formerly home to a single industry, yet was always within reach of everything. Now it is THE District. An enclosed, autonomous area with it’s own shops and services, an enclave for those in the know.”
Enclosed? And in the know? What will the residents of “District Griffin” know that the rest of us will not? Sounds like you are building a little walled in city for the worst kind of snobs.
Condo advertising is built on snobbery.
Read more here.
“We could have called it Griffintown, but that wouldn’t be entirely true, as the Griffintown historical site encompasses a much larger area.”
Yes, true, fair enough, but you wanted to redevelop almost all of Griffintown and didn’t quite have all the cash for that so you have scaled back, but still want to be the major player for the area. We know what you would have called your “new” neighborhood and the signs say Phase 1.
We have seen much too much of this nonsense in Point Saint Charles with small scale projects that call themselves “Le Charles” or some such tripe. Do you really not get how much of an insult that is to locals? Oh, sorry, forgot that you don’t want there to be any locals. This reminds reminds me of Europeans discovering America – imagine how damned pissed off they must have been to discover there was already people here? People already live in Griffintown.
“The term “district” seemed to be appropriate. It was formerly home to a single industry, yet was always within reach of everything. Now it is THE District. An enclosed, autonomous area with it’s own shops and services, an enclave for those in the know.”
Enclosed? And in the know? What will the residents of “District Griffin” know that the rest of us will not? Sounds like you are building a little walled in city for the worst kind of snobs.
Condo advertising is built on snobbery.
Read more here.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Toronto allows condo builder to f*ck over former tentants...for a price
What a shock! Tocondo siding with developers? How rare...
After 13 years, Allan Austin and his wife Valeria Murial will lose their Beverley St. rental home to development, despite a city provision that it be replaced.
The couple’s row house is one of six rental units on the east side of the street, north of Queen St. W., which are to be demolished to make way for an 11-storey condominium.
Faced with a dwindling supply of rental properties, under the official plan the city usually requires developers to build apartments in a condo building to replace those that were lost, and to allow the former tenants to pay rents there comparable to what they had paid before.
But in a deal brokered by Ward 20 Councillor Adam Vaughan, the developer, BSäR Group of Companies, is paying the city nearly $800,000 instead of replacing the rentals, which means Austin and his wife won’t be allowed to move back in.
The agreement has outraged some tenants, who feel their interests have been ignored.
Read more here.
After 13 years, Allan Austin and his wife Valeria Murial will lose their Beverley St. rental home to development, despite a city provision that it be replaced.
The couple’s row house is one of six rental units on the east side of the street, north of Queen St. W., which are to be demolished to make way for an 11-storey condominium.
Faced with a dwindling supply of rental properties, under the official plan the city usually requires developers to build apartments in a condo building to replace those that were lost, and to allow the former tenants to pay rents there comparable to what they had paid before.
But in a deal brokered by Ward 20 Councillor Adam Vaughan, the developer, BSäR Group of Companies, is paying the city nearly $800,000 instead of replacing the rentals, which means Austin and his wife won’t be allowed to move back in.
The agreement has outraged some tenants, who feel their interests have been ignored.
Read more here.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
First they came for the Victorian buildings and I said nothing, next they came for the 70's concrete...
The Blanding of Tocondo continues apace.
Perhaps you've heard Nouvelle Vague's "Dance With Me" being used in radio ads for a new condo development: Chaz on Charles*.
Launching a condo project in the middle of real estate downswing is probably not the wisest idea. But unlike other condo projects, this one does not appear to be threatening heritage. The building that is currently there - 45 Charles Street East - is a nondescript concrete office building. Even the city does not care that 45 Charles Street East is being torn down. It's one of those concrete buildings that's a blight on the Toronto landscape. Or is it?
* Good to see developers are still able to come up with pretentious names.
Read more here.
Perhaps you've heard Nouvelle Vague's "Dance With Me" being used in radio ads for a new condo development: Chaz on Charles*.
Launching a condo project in the middle of real estate downswing is probably not the wisest idea. But unlike other condo projects, this one does not appear to be threatening heritage. The building that is currently there - 45 Charles Street East - is a nondescript concrete office building. Even the city does not care that 45 Charles Street East is being torn down. It's one of those concrete buildings that's a blight on the Toronto landscape. Or is it?
* Good to see developers are still able to come up with pretentious names.
Read more here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
