WHAT ARE
YOU REALLY BUYING WHEN YOU BUY INTO THE CONDO LIFESTYLE?
It’s fascinating to realize that even when you are fortunate enough to buy into the
best that the market has to offer, you really are just buying space. To fully exemplify
this I’m going to walk you through the metamorphous of an old office building into an
ultra luxury residential condominium “Address”.
The first thing that you will realize is that we are buying space that, when dealing with
a condo, is actually space within concrete slabs. Whether those concrete slabs are
horizontal or vertical, they are what for the outer perimeters of your home. So what
calculates or regulates that one condo in the city sells for $400 per square foot and
another, $800 per square foot, many times right in the same area.
Well, the first answer is apparent in the question. Undoubtedly, Location plays a huge
roll in pricing for condos, however, unlike most other forms of real estate (condos, lofts
and townhouses are a highly specialized field within real estate) the old joke: “what
are the three most important things in buying real estate . . . . . .location, location,
location”, simply DOES NOT APPLY.
In condo land, that reads: “developer, developer, location”! I can tell you,
with almost three decades of hands on day to day experience in the Toronto condo market,
that “a condo in a great location by an inexperienced or unproven developer is a
NIGHTMARE WAITING TO HAPPEN”. You are much better off with a modest location and a
great developer whether you are investing or moving in.
Toronto, like most markets throughout the world is fraught with dubious developers within
it’s full spectrum of experienced and inexperienced entrepreneurs with access to
sufficient funds to buy into the designation of “Developer”.
I’m frequently shocked to visit condo sales sites and see full floor to ceiling
renderings of a half dozen or dozen condo buildings artistically positioned in the sales
site to convince buyers that this developer is experienced when the reality is that NOT
ONE of these beautiful pictured buildings have been completed!
That means that this developer (they usually run in packs) has never carried the process
through to Registration and you can believe me that this trail is so fraught with peril
that a good piece of advice is to adapt my version of the “three most important
things in real estate “(when dealing with condos or lofts)!
Many of the perceived biggest in the Toronto industry, you know those guys who buy the
full page full color ads in the Condo Guide and local papers, are the ones without
backgrounds and many of the quietest and most conservative proven developers not needing
the “town crier” approach to establishing credibility.
So please, when and if you are considering buying a condo, loft or townhouse in Toronto
please be sure to work with a Realtor who is intimately involved with this fast changing
market niche (“condos”). This will be your only hope of establishing the
credentials of any developer.
I frequently write about some blue chip developers like Great Gulf and Context
Developments but this does not mean that you should just walk into their sales sites
either. Their developments still have “Dog Suites” and their sales agents
still hold a fiduciary (legal) obligation to protect ONLY the position of their client
(Seller). Before you make a move, contact me. If you have already visited sales site,
contact me and tell me which ones you have visited.
Now, let’s get back onto the topic at hand. Today I want to deal with the physical
realities of a condo. This multi-part series will document the transition from an aging
office building on St. Clair Avenue to a sparkling glass tower of spacious ultra luxury
residences.
 The building is located at 112 St. Clair Avenue West on the north side of
St. Clair immediate across the street from the Imperial Oil Building just east of Avenue
Road and nicely removed from the busier commercial junction of Yonge and St. Clair.
In October 2005 the crane arrived to remove the ugly concrete exterior of the building
after having gutted the building entirely. The building is a low rise of just eight
floors. The Developer, a successful international lawyer who builds residential condo
developments as a passion to have his name stamped on the absolute residences in the City,
was involved with The Residences at The Windsor Arms Hotel (one of
Toronto most revered addresses) thus setting the stage for a truly unique and awe
inspiring residential community consisting of just 20 residences. |
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Two
two story penthouses will crown the glass and steel tower. Owners in this project are not
“view seekers” as views are available only in high density (high rises) condos
and the compromises consistently prove too burdensome for these elite purchasers. 
Most of the buyers are coming from spacious Forest Hill, Moore Park or Rosedale homes,
insisting on remaining in the area. Yonge and St. Clair has long been the junction of the
three prestigious residential areas of the city with it’s shops, restaurants and
conveniences.
These purchasers want assurances that their neighbors in their condo community are truly
their Peers and not a hodge podge of small unit investors who are going to rent out their
units or try to flip them for immediate profit (not exactly the type of buyer you would
want to bet your estate on).
All of the units are large with ten foot ceilings with a coffer at nine feet, smooth
ceilings and a formal cornice inserted into the coffer for an extra touch of elegance.
State of the art kitchens by “rational” offering the latest greatest features,
seven inch base board and extra formal door trim housing solid core seven foot doors with
nickel hardware, these residences will set the standard for ultra luxury condos in the
city.
Every condo in the city starts with the same feature, which is that you are buying space
that is surrounded by cement. Obviously condos selling at $300 - $400 per square foot will
be in different locations however, there is a great deal more that has to justify those
condos ranging upwards of $800 per square foot.
Tune in next time for an update of The St. Clair On The Avenue
when I’ll show you how the body get assembled onto the skeleton that the building is
today and we‘ll try to see where these price margins separate the luxury from the
super luxury, etc.
Until then, I’m Charles Hanes. Talk soon. |
