King East Condos (Lamb Development, Hyde Park, Sher Corp ) - Real Estate -

Hi There,

I'm looking at a unit at King East. I'm wondering if you think I'm making a good choice here?

I plan on living there. I figure it would take 3-4 years to occupy even though occupancy is September 11th (yeah right). I was told that construction will start in May.

What do you think of the units below?

The following is a 9th floor unit for $479 PSF
http://thekingeast.com/pdf/thelaviani.pdf

There's also this one:
http://thekingeast.com/pdf/thegoetz.pdf

My only issue with the unit below is it's on a lower floor looking north. Not sure what kind of view I'll have.
It's on the 3rd floor $441PSF

Any insight is appreciated.

I think the first one is pretty good. Decent sized bedroom and well-separated den. There probably won't be room for a dining table unless you butt it up against the end of the island. And it will have a higher-floor view...even if it's not facing downtown.

The other one has much more wasted space, especially that long L-shaped hallway. And with a 3rd floor unit, you won't have a terrace or be high enough to have a view. Basically, you'll have a view of other buildings and an alley.

So I definitely prefer the first one.

Did you look at the Perriand? That's the model suite and the one I purchased. I think it will be an awesome building to live in and the area is bound to become even more popular in the next 5 years.

I did. It's going for $365K. A little too steep for me . Very roomy layout but I find the living room portion to be a little narrow where the kitchen is. I DO like that it looks south.

wow. they were starting at $319K last summer for a high floor. wow.

the laviani is nice and would have a decent view. goetz on the 3rd floor, cool layout but ultra crap view.

I was told they were going to start building in Sepember last year so what they say means nothing until you see ground broken or sales center shut down. What happened to other post for King East building?

boomix said:

I was told they were going to start building in Sepember last year so what they say means nothing until you see ground broken or sales center shut down. What happened to other post for King East building?

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That's true, but they're over 70% sold now so I think they'll go through with the build in May. Anything can happen though. I don't mind waiting 2-3 years so I'm in no rush to move.

I have another question. This area seems like it's up and coming. Do you think in the next 5 years or so I could get $600psf for my unit? It's not that big of a deal as I plan on living there but would still like to know if it's a good investment.

I was seriously taking both those floor plans into consideration, so I think I can give you a bit of an idea.

I like both floor plans, but in the end, IMO, the best choice is the Laviani hands down. You can do a lot of interesting things with the Goetz (and I'd be happy to brainstorm with ya should you decide on it) as it's certainly not a typical floor plan. But the Laviani is a good floor plan with no wasted space. What is most striking is the placement of this unit on an angle parallel with Parliament. What got me excited about this unit is that you will have, from your balcony, unobstructed north and south views with no fear of anything built in your path since your views are up and down the street. Your view will be the edge of the Distillery District south on Parliament. Even the surrounding buildings aren't that high. The Porsche dealership that's being built on the SW corner will be low. The NE corner is the building with the studio B furniture shop. Can't remember how high it is, but it has character.

The location is great. As one who was looking for something around St. Lawrence Market, I consider Parliament the very eastern edge of that neighbourhood. So to your west, you've got King East, St. Lawrence Market, and a 5 minute streetcar ride to Yonge. What's great is to the east of Parliament is Corktown and the West Don Lands project. Once that area is developed and as east downtown Toronto west of the DVP and east of Yonge really meld together, you will be pretty smack dab in the centre of a new and exciting developed neighbourhood and an already well established one. I really don't think you can go wrong, if you're certain this is the neighbourhood you want to live in.

I won't speculate on whether it will be $600 psf in 5 years. If I recall correctly, I'm pretty sure $479 psf doesn't include parking, right? I will say it's currently priced right for a new development in that area and it's a great area.

UrbanVigor said:

What got me excited about this unit is that you will have, from your balcony, unobstructed north and south views with no fear of anything built in your path since your views are up and down the street. Your view will be the edge of the Distillery District south on Parliament. Even the surrounding buildings aren't that high. The Porsche dealership that's being built on the SW corner will be low. The NE corner is the building with the studio B furniture shop. Can't remember how high it is, but it has character.

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That's exactly why I'm leaning towards that unit. I have a lot of thinking to do.

What are YOUR thoughts about each unit?

I don't know much about the individual units or prices per square foot, but I can speak to the neighbourhood as I live quite near. It's an area that is actually very livable and a bit under the radar, and I think that will change in the next few years. You're within walking distance of the Distillery District, as well as numerous theatres (the one in the Distillery, and a couple on Berkeley). For groceries you have the St. Lawrence Market within reasonable walking distance, the newish Sobey's on Front East... and there are rumours that a large chunk of the Toronto Sun Building is going to be converted to a Loblaws (interior demolition is ongoing but I've yet to read anything officially confirming this). As UrbanVigor pointed out, not far to the southeast you have the West Don Lands construction underway, which is a guaranteed go now that the Pan Am athletes village is going to be there, just east of the Distillery. In other words, it's a great place to be now, and it will only be more in demand in years to come. Major condos like Vu and the East Lofts are just being occupied now, and I expect this will generate some more gentrification of the area in years to come, which will bring more amenities nearby (restaurants, etc.)

The only eyesores in the area are the Staples and the current Porsche dealership. I'm always amazed the very suburban Staples has survived so long in that location, it wouldn't surprise me one day to see it replaced by a condo with Staples on the ground floor, but that's just my thinking, I've heard nothing. The Porsche dealership is moving north, and the current location may, perhaps, finally, be turned into a historic site celebrating the original Parliament Buildings of Upper Canada. That would be a major victory for the neighbourhood. There has always been talk of having this done by 2012 (the 200th anniversary of the US troops burning the buildings during the war of 1812) but that's closing in quickly...

UrbanVigor said:

What are YOUR thoughts about each unit?

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I like them both

Goetz
I like the semi ensuite, the large living/dining room, u shaped kitchen and the layout, affraid that I'm going to be looking at a brick wall. Price is nice too

Laviani
I like the layout and space, like the location and the view, it's a good $30K+ more than Goetz.

I haove taken some interest in the Mackintosh
http://thekingeast.com/pdf/themackintosh.pdf

I like that it's on the corner and looks south. But that's negated by it's low floor (2nd/3rd floor). I think I'd be looking right into staples. I do like the big wall of windows, terrace and the large living/dining.

For pre-construction, is there ever any flexibility with the price?

I like them both too.

Can't say I'm a fan of the Mackintosh though. To me, it's all hallway, so you're losing out on quite a bit of that 650 sf. I do like that it's a corner suite though. But too bad there are no windows on the west side.

Hmmm... for $30K more, is the Laviani worth it to you? I will say that it appears to be priced correctly. (but most importantly, don't pay more than you can afford). I think it will feel larger than the Goetz. Both have great floor plans, but the combination of the long living/kitchen and then the den will make the whole place feel open (do note that I think it's an error stating 22'4" to the island... pretty sure that would be from window to closets). Whereas the Goetz has that L-shaped hallway before it opens up. You get a heck of a lot more closet space with the Laviani.

Everyone likes bathrooms off the bedroom, but I only consider that a true plus off a master bedroom. In a 1 BR, so long as the bathroom isn't next to the dining table then I don't think it matters. Condos are small, after all.

Add the fact that the view is a sure thing and I definitely lean towards the Laviani. But at the end of the day, the right decision is to pick a unit that fits with the way you live and fits within your budget. Then you can make it the perfect place.

I always hear that there is no flexibility with the price with pre-construction. However, I don't think that is ever 100% true with anything. It never hurts to ask. I know when I purchased my condo that they knocked 3% off, but surely that was just marketing. You can negotiate upgrades and things like that. Someone else may better answer this question.

Wow, great insight UV.