Toronto 500 Wellington West | ?m | 10s | Freed | Core Architects

They're apparently going to be building something in that block (Richmond, John, Queen, Duncan).

I would be very surprised if they moved CTV downtown though or, frankly, moved anything downtown that wasn't already here.

If anything, they'll move into a new building somewhere that allows them to house both the Front St. staff and the King St. staff under one roof, plus the CTV annex - leaving the main station up in Agincourt.

The Agincourt location sounds worse than it is - it's just on the otherside of the 401 from Scarborough Town Centre. I believe they run a shuttle to the RT.
 
I am very excited about the future of that part of Wellington Street. It has a residential 'Park Avenue' potential, given its proposed elegant park-like boulevard.

I've noticed Adam Vaughn praising the proliferation of proposed 'family sized' units in this area. My question is... would families who could afford such units send their kids to local schools? And secondly, where are the local schools? LOL... there isn't much in the immediate vicinity.

I totally support families living downtown, but you need good schools, and available spaces, to back it up. I live in Vancouver and one of our issues with a downtown school is that there are not enough spaces for all the children...yes, a downtown school will TOO MANY children. This affects the potential of moving families downtown, at least to Vancouver's Yaletown area.

It would be interesting if the TDSB could look at potential smaller urban school locations for 'yuppy's kids' and Bay St. types who want to live and work in close proximity. Some extremely wealthy people/families involved in Manhattan's financial services are moving closer to work, and I know a number of Torontonian families who would do the same if the amenities were in place... lets face it, commuting sucks and time is money.
 
They're apparently going to be building something in that block (Richmond, John, Queen, Duncan).

I would be very surprised if they moved CTV downtown though or, frankly, moved anything downtown that wasn't already here.

If anything, they'll move into a new building somewhere that allows them to house both the Front St. staff and the King St. staff under one roof, plus the CTV annex - leaving the main station up in Agincourt.

The Agincourt location sounds worse than it is - it's just on the otherside of the 401 from Scarborough Town Centre. I believe they run a shuttle to the RT.

ya, such a big part of CTV's news content is police chases and massive pile-ups on the 401, they'd be doing themselves a diservice moving away from the highway... lol.
 
CTV won't be moving from Agincourt any time soon. There may have been talk when they acquired Chum that some news operations may move to the Chum building but apart from that the actual company won't be moving. That building houses way too many people, and is strategically in a great location. They also have the Masonic Temple downtown (In addition to Chum) which is used for any operations that may require proximity to the core.

Economically it would make no sense to move operations.
 
This Project looks so very similar to the new ultra-luxury project; 15 Union Park West, in Manhattan.

2254603779_86af16b84e_o.jpg

Both are lovely. (but I'd rather live on Union Park than on wellington west)
 
Developer bringing the bling to King
Cheapest unit on block near Bathurst: $1.5 million

Toronto Star, Mar 04, 2008
Tony Wong
Business Reporter

When Peter Freed started building his first condominium in a seedy Toronto warehouse district, some people thought he was eccentric.

Now they may think he's just plain crazy. In what is seen in the development community as something of an audacious move, Freed is marketing a boutique luxury condominium development in the King Street West and Bathurst Street areas – with the cheapest unit starting at $1.5 million.

If the project sells out – it officially goes on sale on Thursday – Freed will be seen as a visionary, for creating a new market in a rough-and-tumble part of town where it would have been unheard of to spend that kind of money only a few years ago.

If he fails, it will be because he pushed the market too far, too fast – a symbol of this market's excess.

Freed's development is a commentary on the state of the exploding Toronto condo market that some analysts feel is overbuilt and ready for a fall, but is still chugging along despite a housing collapse south of the border.

It is also lucid testimony to Toronto's fast-changing neighbourhoods, driven by a strong economy and years of good fortune on Bay Street.

"I'm always worried every year I do this. You're dealing with less than 1 per cent of the market who can afford this," the developer said in a candid interview. "But we're going to find out soon enough."

While Toronto has no shortage of million-dollar condos, they are usually located in blue-chip neighbourhoods like Yorkville and Harbourfront, not in a once decrepit district in a rundown building that is now the site of a welding shop.

But Freed is banking on the gentrification effect: one day you're a warehouse in a Meat Packing district in New York City, the next you're a club selling thousand-dollar bottles of Cristal. In that sense, the King and Bathurst area of Toronto is perhaps our closest approximation.

Condominium developers of course, are flush with success after a decade of price appreciation. According to Toronto condominium research firm Urbanation, 2007 was the best year on record for condo sales, with about half of the entire real estate market being high-rise units.

In downtown Toronto, average prices are now $427 a square foot, up 15 per cent from a year ago.

But that's a stretch from the average prices of $650 to $700 a square foot that Freed is seeking in that neighbourhood.

"The wealth effect has certainly been good for the luxury segment, but that's peaked in this market," said Derek Holt, assistant chief economist at the Royal Bank of Canada. The bank is forecasting a miserly 0.9 per cent economic growth rate for Ontario this year.

"I think there will still be a lot more pain coming, especially in certain sectors."

In the Toronto market, Freed is competing against 24 other projects – including a new Trump, Ritz Carlton and Four Seasons residences – with prices between $600 and $1,650 per square foot, according to figures by Urbanation.

"We have seen the highest number of luxury projects come on the market ever last year," said Jane Renwick, executive vice-president of Urbanation. "There's simply a lot of competition out there."

Freed is also building at a time when some analysts are wondering whether the luxury market is saturated moving into 2008. Sales in the total condo universe are forecast to fall by as much as 30 per cent, coming off the phenomenal highs of last year, when 23,234 condos were sold.

Analysts expect about 16,000 sales this year – still a respectable figure, but well off the peak. But analysts have been wrong before. They have anticipated a correction in the market over the last two years, and it hasn't materialized – yet.

Freed is no stranger to risk. When he started his first project, 66 Portland, in 2004, his biggest worry was the crack houses in the neighbourhood and the constant break-ins at his sales office.

But he persevered, bringing in designers such as Philippe Starck for one project, and attracting New York's Thompson hotel chain for another. Certainly, no one has been as responsible for the gentrification of the King Street West area as Freed. His six projects since 2004 have sold 1,000 units worth $250 million.

The area is already home to hip clubs and fine restaurants such as Susur and Le Select Bistro.

Freed said he got the idea for the building after selling about two dozen units in the $1 million to $2 million range in his earlier properties.

"I would have been able to sell more if I could guarantee the buyer a more exclusive property," Freed said.

With that in mind, Freed purchased the one-block site of a former manufacturing company at 500 Wellington St., a building framed by nearby parks.

So far, the developer says, the reception has been good. Freed said he received more than 100 calls about the project before opening day. "I thought I would get maybe 25."

And he already sold a $4 million unit to a buyer last week, before the official opening of the project.

"If I had known this place would take off, I would have bought some properties in the area myself," lamented shop manager Joe Calabria, who has worked in the building for the last two decades. "But when I first started it was all junk – you were surrounded by junk. It's hard to believe sometimes what it's worth today."

Still, analysts warn that 2008 will not be a stellar year for the Toronto Stock Exchange – in which case, luxury properties would be the first to suffer. And economist Holt says, while the "uber rich won't necessarily feel the pain right away, they're not insulated from the market."

Holt said a "trickle up" effect from front-line layoffs will eventually end up impacting the piggy banks of investors. "You can still have a decent year this year, but it catches up to you."

One thing Freed knows for certain is that he has already staked himself out a new home on the 10th floor. A 4,200-square-foot pad, surrounded by a 2,000-square-foot balcony is reserved.

But first he has to sell the rest of the project.
 
According to the latest newsletter from Freed 65% of the 17 units in 500 Wellington West sold in the first week. They are half floor and full floor suites with private elevator access for every residence.
 
Not anymore. I've been there all hours of the day for the last few months and I've never seen anything remotely dodgy, except for the Nyguard building with his picture all over it. 500 Wellington is a good distance from dodge, which is probably along Bathurst up near Queen.
 

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