The final phase of redevelopment is coming soon to the site of Etobicoke's former Valhalla Inn motel, which opened in 1963 and was demolished in 2009 to make way for Edilcan Development Corporation's 'One Valhalla' residential development, and its eventual second and third phases, Thunderbird and Triumph. The first two phases of the project are complete, while the third phase, Triumph at Valhalla, is now in its marketing stage and is over 50 per cent sold, with occupancy currently slated for late 2016. The 29-storey, Page + Steele / IBI Group Architects-designed Triumph has 298 units, with prices starting in the low $200’s—prices made possible thanks to a move by developer Edilcan that greatly reduced costs of this third phase.

A new by-law which came into force on November 1, 2013 increased development charges in the City of Toronto, and it is expected to have a pronounced effect on the condominium market. New building permits filed after the by-law took effect are subject to cost increases, and are set to reach nearly 80 per cent higher by 2016. The increases are being passed down to the purchaser, with closing costs for units going up by as much as $6,000 for 1-bedroom suites and nearly $8,800 for 2-bedroom suites.

All three phases of One Valhalla, image courtesy of Edilcan

Edilcan has taken steps to mitigate this issue and cap municipal development fees for home buyers at its One Valhalla Development, a new residential community in Etobicoke consisting of three condominium towers and townhomes. To spare home-buyers from added costs, Edilcan took the unprecedented step of securing all necessary above-grade and foundation building permits, completing architectural drawings and paying required development charges and park levies prior to the first development charge increase, effectively freezing rates at 2013 levels.

Condo purchase and sale agreements specify that any increase in fees incurred between the initial signing and sale closing of a condominium property are the sole responsibility of the buyer, meaning that the final cost of a condominium property is ultimately determined by development charge rates when above-grade construction permits are granted to a developer. To satisfy a price sensitive market, Edilcan acted to obtain these permits in advance of launching sales for Triumph, despite the fact that developers typically request permits and commence construction when a project is at least 75 per cent sold.

Rendering of Triumph at Valhalla, image courtesy of Edilcan

“Edilcan is extremely cognizant of the fact that home buyers can’t afford thousands of dollars in extra costs related to increasing municipal development charges,” said Edilcan vice-president GianPiero Di Rocco. “Given our experience having already built two condominiums at this site, we felt comfortable taking swift action to effectively cap city development charges, ensuring there will be no further increases to our current or future purchasers at Triumph,” he added. “We felt that assuming this kind of financial risk was the right thing to do in order to provide peace of mind to our new Triumph home buyers.”

We will return for another look at Triumph at Valhalla as more information becomes available. In the meantime, additional information, including renderings and floorplans, can be found in our dataBase file, linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion? Check out the associated Forum threads, or leave a comment in the space provided at the bottom of this page.