Traditionally, condominiums have been among the most location-sensitive housing products around.
If the project was slated for a vibrant locale, close to mass transit lines, and popular with busy, young professionals, it was likely a slam-dunk hit with buyers. If not, it had better be well-priced to compensate for the inconvenience of being off the beaten track.
Last week we took a look at some projects that had sold well in the west side in spite of being built in mainly low-density residential neighbourhoods, or former industrial areas, not traditionally suited to condominium development.
Taking this into account, it might be time to consider that the City of Toronto has turned a corner on the condominium market: it's not just for young single professionals, investor-buyers intending to rent out suites, or first-time buyers any more. The market has broadened to include empty-nest couples, single parents and recent immigrants. There are some developers who are even actively pursuing designs in which larger families would feel comfortable buying.
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"You will have a hard time finding a site that we couldn't market," said Barry Lyon, president of condominium development consultants N. Barry Lyon Consultants Ltd. "The buzz is out that condominiums are no longer that thing you moved into reluctantly. And today's buyers are bona fide end users, not investors trying to flip them. This is not the speculative buzz like the late 1980s."
Mr. Lyon recently played host to several condo development professionals from New York City. As they were flying into Toronto, the number of high-rise projects they saw throughout different quadrants of the city surprised them.
"They were amazed at the dispersal of [building] activity all over the city," he said.
This includes the region's east end, from Scarborough all the way to the further reaches of Durham Region. Until recently, this part of Greater Toronto had always lagged behind the western part of the city when it came to new housing development of any kind, but especially on the high density front.
Two developments in the area that are close to sold out are the Village at Guildwood, on Kingston Road and Eglinton Avenue in Scarborough, and Old Kennedy Village, at Old Kennedy Road and Steeles Avenue in Markham. Both projects were established by non-profit developer Options For Homes, which specializes in affordable home ownership. Options contracts-out the building duties to Deltera Inc., the construction subsidiary of Tridel Group of Cos.
The Village at Guildwood is a mid-rise building with 225 suites, 15 of which are still available, ranging in price from $126,021 for 435 square feet to $245,117 for 1,180 square feet.
Over at Old Kennedy Village, occupancy is set to begin next month for the 135 stacked townhouse units spread out over three buildings. Prices here range from $201,241 for 725 square feet to $242,131 for 1,045 square feet.
"We're always looking for sites that are reasonably-accessible by transit but not considered to be central," said Mike Labbé, president of Options For Homes. "We specialize in getting in to certain communities before other developers do."
With the recent launch of its newest condo project in The Junction community at Keele and Dundas Streets, a former Canadian Tire store, Options For Homes will have surpassed 2,000 units built since it began in 1994.
Mr. Lyon believes that the reason successful condo developments can take root in a variety of neighbourhoods is because builders who take the risk of going off the beaten path know they have to be price sensitive.
"Our [condo] market is all about affordability," he said. "House builders are having a tougher time finding appropriate sites," which is making those products more expensive.
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