For some buyers, bigger is better
September 30, 2011
Ryan Starr
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
There was a time Toronto wasn’t so crazy about condos.
“I remember when some of the first condominiums were going up near my office at Bathurst and Finch,” says Brandy Lane Homes president David Hirsh. “People looked and said, ‘That’s nice, but it’s a cheaper alternative and I’d rather have a house.’ ”
“Today,” he notes, “they’re saying quite the opposite.”
Indeed, Toronto’s real estate market has evolved in its affinity for condo life; nowadays the crowd that used to want a single-family home sees condos as a cost-effective and more convenient alternative.
These buyers aren’t interested in shoebox-sized suites in downtown party buildings, mind you.
This market — primarily boomers seeking to downsize, but also a growing number of first-time buyers — wants well-designed condos with adequate living space, similar to what they’d have with a smaller house, minus the headaches that come with home ownership.
“They’re saying ‘I’d rather not be bothered with shoveling the snow, cutting the grass and cleaning the eaves troughs,’ ” Hirsh says.
And because they want their dollars to go farther, these purchasers tend to buy larger suites at projects outside of downtown.
At The Station, Brandy Lane’s project on Wilson Ave. near Allen Rd., 1,180-square-foot three-bedroom suites go for $450,000. Penthouse units range from 1,292 square feet to 3,000 square feet. The top-end price for the two-storey penthouses, some with 1,000-square-foot rooftop terraces, is $800,000.
These larger condos are targeted at wealthy move-down boomer buyers who live in the area, Hirsh says. “They can stay in the neighbourhood, sell their house for $800,000, buy a new condo for $450,000, and then they’ve got some capital and can enjoy life.”
Larger suites at The Station are also being purchased by first-time buyers, a market that a generation ago would have opted for a “cute bungalow in Willowdale,” says Hirsh.
Next door on Wilson Ave., The Gramercy, a 512-unit project, also has a number of larger units for sale. Three-bedroom penthouses, ranging from 1,324 square feet to 1,510 square feet, start at around $550,000 and go to $700,000.
“These would be attractive to people not just in the immediate neighbourhood, but also those coming from Richmond Hill, Thornhill, Markham and Brampton,” explains Terry Lustig, development and marketing manager with Malibu Investments, the project developer. “They want more convenience in their lives, but they don’t want to go from where they were to all the way downtown.”
Besides, she says, The Gramercy offers buyers bigger suites for less money than they’d be paying in the city centre.
And if residents crave downtown, Lustig notes the condo is a few hundred feet to the Wilson subway station. “It has more convenient subway access than a lot of downtown locations.”
Bigger suites are more affordable outside the core, but there are still plenty of buyers who want a condo that’s both spacious and in the thick of the downtown action.
Rêve, Tridel’s 13-storey, 305-suite project at Front St. W. and Portland St., caters to this crowd. The project’s larger inventory ranges from 1,455-square-foot two-bedroom-plus-dens to 1,455-square-foot three-bedroom suites; prices go from $537,000 to $890,000.
Rêve’s larger units are attracting move-down buyers, but also move-up buyers: single people or couples in their 40s or 50s who want to work and play in the heart of the city, but don’t want to be in a party building packed with renters. “They’re already living downtown and want to stay there, but they want a larger home,” explains Jim Ritchie, Tridel’s senior vice president of sales and marketing.
Amid Toronto’s condo craze, most of the attention gets focused on all the tiny condos being gobbled by investors and first-time buyers. “But there’s clearly a marketplace for people who live in condominiums and need something larger than entry-level suites,” Ritchie says.
Ryan Starr is freelance journalist based in Toronto. You can contact him at ryanlstarr@gmail.com.