Toronto building boom

[Urban Shocker]

Also interesting to note that you will find Canadian banks all throughout the Caribbean, including RBC, Scotiabank and TD.

Scotiabank opened its first bank in the Caribbean in 1889, in Jamaica - that's why the figure of woman carrying bananas on her head is prominently featured in Jacobine Jones's big architectural relief in the banking hall at King and Bay, to denote their foreign investments.

 

[urbandreamer]

And really, much of the Caribbean was part of the British Empire, so no surprises since many of the banks' founders had extensive business interest in the area.

That reminds me of a Jamaican gal I know expressing shock that I drank Ovaltine & Horlicks. She'd conveniently forgotten it was really a British product.

 

[Tewder]

It's a stretch to say 'most' of the Caribbean is British. There are many cultures there, including French, Dutch, Hispanic, Creole and East Indian among others.

 

[brockm]

What??? That's absolutely false. And ridiculous on the face of it. Where do you get that statistic -- and how do you reconcile it with the fact that both those entities had to get government bailouts, and none of the Canadian banks did?

Wait. I said these banks weren't bailed out. You clearly miss my point. My point is that these banks had better capitalization ratios when they were bailed out, than our banks do right now.

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

Wait. I said these banks weren't bailed out. You clearly miss my point. My point is that these banks had better capitalization ratios when they were bailed out, than our banks do right now.

No they didn't. I didn't 'clearly miss your point'. You are trying to start a false narrative in order to further your cockamamie financial system worldview.

Since I posted this, I remembered your first foray into financial fantasyland from back a while. You and kkgg7 can argue non-facts in your non-reality all you want, but I won't allow myself to get caught trying to refute your fantasies again.

Cheers.

 

[brockm]

No they didn't. I didn't 'clearly miss your point'. You are trying to start a false narrative in order to further your cockamamie financial system worldview.

Since I posted this, I remembered your first foray into financial fantasyland from back a while. You and kkgg7 can argue non-facts in your non-reality all you want, but I won't allow myself to get caught trying to refute your fantasies again.

Cheers.

Why don't you tell me how you really feel?

 

[kkgg7]

What??? That's absolutely false. And ridiculous on the face of it. Where do you get that statistic -- and how do you reconcile it with the fact that both those entities had to get government bailouts, and none of the Canadian banks did?

I don't know why not having been bailed out suddenly becomes something to feel proud of. Most banks in the world during the financial crisis didn't need government bailout. I mean most. Canada is just one of the many.

 

[kkgg7]

No they didn't. I didn't 'clearly miss your point'. You are trying to start a false narrative in order to further your cockamamie financial system worldview.

Since I posted this, I remembered your first foray into financial fantasyland from back a while. You and kkgg7 can argue non-facts in your non-reality all you want, but I won't allow myself to get caught trying to refute your fantasies again.

Cheers.

exactly what non-fact fantasy I have suggested in this thread? I am willing to correct it if you point it out.

 

[canmark]

A favourable article on Toronto in the August issue of Travel & Leisure magazine may bring some global (or at least American) attention to Toronto's building boom.

Lately, however, Toronto has undergone a remarkable sea change, one that’s redefining the city as stylish, sophisticated, cosmopolitan—cool, even—yet still utterly local....
* * *
Plenty of cities can lay claim to high-profile architecture. Paralleling this, however, is an insatiable boom in residential and hotel development. According to research company Emporis, Toronto has more high-rises under construction than any other city on the continent. The view from the roof of my hotel, the recently opened Thompson, recalls Shanghai or Dubai; I lost count of all the cranes. Among the current builds are the new flagship Four Seasons Hotel, opening this summer and featuring Daniel Boulud’s first restaurant in the city; and the massive Shangri-La Hotel, debuting next month with another New York restaurant import, an outpost of David Chang’s Momofuku chain. Both properties arrive hard on the heels of the Ritz-Carlton and Trump hotels that opened in February 2011 and January 2012, respectively.

The New York Times is also talking about Toronto in a July 13 travel article on hip Queen St. W. shops.

Has TO got its mojo back?

 

[TrickyRicky]

I'm inclined to believe that Toronto never lost it's mojo; however, the probability of mojo loss is increasing moving forward. If you want to see some mojo loss go to most American major cities. I think they are more inclined to see positive momentum moving forward, while we will be hard pressed to ration the air left in the tank.

People often complain about this city on this forum but in terms of shear volume of city-building and development on all fronts from high-rise, to cultural and institutional construction, to transport to the city at street-level, we have really been spoiled over the last decade. It's hard to appreciate this but worth a moment's reflection.

 

[isaidso]

And really, much of the Caribbean was part of the British Empire, so no surprises since many of the banks' founders had extensive business interest in the area.

Royal Bank (previously Merchants Bank) and Scotiabank were both originally Halifax based banks. Both had extensive Caribbean operations because Nova Scotia's economy was heavily dependent on trade throughout the eastern seaboard and down to the Caribbean. Nova Scotia has always had extensive Caribbean ties; that's why its banks (RBC and Scotiabank) set up there so long ago.

 

[Automation Gallery]

No condo bubble in Toronto: RBC report

Toronto’s condo market is booming – but that doesn’t mean it’s in a bubble, according to a new report issued Tuesday by the Royal Bank of Canada.

At the same time, the fact that there is no bubble doesn’t mean that prices will keep rising, Robert Hogue, senior economist at RBC, writes.

Instead, the market is expected to cool gradually over time due to a number of factors, economist Robert Hogue writes in the report.

“The historic condominium apartment boom in the Toronto-area market is not necessarily a sign of excess or of a bubble,” the report states. “While it may not be due to a bubble bursting, nonetheless, we expect that buyer demand for condos will cool going forward.”

RBC expects the current upward pressure on home prices to ease by next year, with condo prices possibly coming down by 2 to 7 per cent from peak to trough
More..................http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1230694--no-condo-bubble-in-toronto-rbc-report

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

The increase in the people living downtown (condo boom) is putting pressure on hospital's ER facilities and there's tens of thousands of more people to come yet when all the buildings that are now under construction are taken into consideration - http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1230226--toronto-ers-feel-weight-of-downtown-condo-boom

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Makes you wonder if selling the Wellesley/old PMH site was the greatest idea.

AoD

 

[Palma]

Makes you wonder if selling the Wellesley/old PMH site was the greatest idea.

AoD

Thats the problem in this city - short sightedness. Warehouses adapted to condos and tomorrow adapted to who knows what when the condo craze changes/crashes, etc. I cannot imagine the condo market in downtown Toronto being as it is today in 30 years. Probably adapted to offices