Toronto is the hottest condo market on the continent, and with the huge number of projects on offer across the GTA we have grown accustomed to some pretty sophisticated marketing schemes to attract our attention, and to some over-the-top developments to complete the sale. There's nothing wrong with wanting to buy into one of these increasingly elaborate developments, but every amenity and all the slick advertising costs money, and those costs are added to the price of the units and to the monthly fees of course.

If your budget is more on the modest size, then 1), know that you are not alone in looking for good value, and 2) yes, it can be hard to find in this market.

One of the ways to find more for less is to be a bit of a pioneer, specifically in this case the kind of person who isn't looking to move into the city's hottest neighbourhood, but is looking instead to move into the first new building in a neighbourhood in many years. The purchaser pays less in these cases, and may see a greater return in the future should the new development kickstart a bit of a local renaissance. This is exactly the kind of purchaser that VHL Developments is building Haven on the Bluffs for in Scarborough's Cliffside Village.

Haven on the Bluffs, looking west, still image from video by VHL Developments

We've written about Haven on the Bluffs before as it represents what we are sure will be an increasing trend in Toronto; the intensification of our older suburbs along major arterials. The Cliffside Village neighbourhood is stable, and has an eclectic mix of retailers and restauranteurs along Kingston Road, but it needs a recharge. Haven, with its 11-storey stepped-back design providing many terraces with views over the Scarborough Bluffs to Lake Ontario, should be big enough to bring the jolt the neighbourhood needs while still not being so big that it overwhelms the area.

Haven on the Bluffs, lobby, still image from video by VHL Developments

VHL knows this market, and they have built for it before. They don't spend a ton on slick marketing campaigns which have the effect of jacking-up prices. They keep costs low, and pass that on through lower prices. When you buy here, you know your money has not gone to create a video of the quality found in a Hollywood film as is more and more common these days. VHL spends frugally to get the message out so they can plough the money into where you want it, the suite. To that end, the company has a video fly-through that gives you the best look at the building to date. It's not super slick, but it will give you a good feel for what is on offer here.

Want to know more about Haven on the Bluffs? Check out our dataBase file, linked below, for a number of renderings and lots of information. Want to talk about it? Choose one of the associated Forum thread links, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.