Star of Downtown, The (Willowfield/Norstar, 12s, Kirkor) COMPLETE

[maestro]

Not all pre-cast concrete is actually pre-cast concrete ... alot of it going up are actually EIFS panels with a stucco finish.

Judging by the pictures, it appears to be a acrylic stucco finish which is actually quite durable

I actually didn't even know it was possible to apply stucco to the semi-rigid insulation

take another look .. the stucco is being applied to a drywall backer

 

[Mot]

Update

1.5 months in and still no Buzz Codes. The management company keeps lying about it. They told us not enough people supplied their home phones to set it up, they told a woman I ran into that the phone company needs to do it. Another resident was promised they would do this by last Friday. Well, tnow they say the person who is supposed to do it went on vacation until the 14th. They simply don't give a damn.

We found out we have no legal rights for the royal screwing they gave us on our balcony. Ours is only 24 inches wide and apparently they have the contract set up so they can take away as much as they want from our units and legally get away with it. They simply just ignore any request to even talk about it. I even called Norstar President Gary Silver, with no response.

Anyone else have gripes, here's the number.
NORSTAR CANADA
2180 Steeles Ave. West
Suite 305
Concord, Ontario Canada L4k 2Z5

905-738-0754 or 1-800-263-2791


They came in to do some of our 30 day list stuff and it's half assed.
The dishwasher sticks out too far. Our shower drain was missing a screw so they put in one that rusted in a couple days.

This has turned into a very bad experience.

 

[Mot]

Wow Mot, sorry to hear about this. I took possession of my 7th floor unit last week but since I am just looking to sell I haven't been by too much. Just having agents go in an show the place. I have to say though, my views on the East side are phenomenal and the unit finishes aren't that bad. I will join if you are staring a group to unite. My client gets possession of his PH unit in 17 days (I went up to the PH and nothing is remotely ready, no drywall, no electrical, no floors) I have no idea how they plan to have him occupy on Apr 15th. Tarion will definitely have to kick in.

I understand the PH floor is pushed back to April 29th. Last weekend they took away the garbage chute, so at least no more 7am chute "earthquakes" to wake us up. The fire alarms are still going off way too often, it's maddening.

One odd thing, they have not cashed any of our rent checks yet. Maybe they actually have mercy for the residents.

 

[casaguy]

Mot,

Sorry to hear you've been having so many problems. I've been following your progress on this thread.

How wide was your balcony supposed to be originally?

Also, I don't understand why anyone in this situation does not HOUND the bottom-feeding-low-lifes at Nortstar Canada. Get IN THEIR FACE. Become THEIR WORST NIGHTMARE. It's sad that people like them exist but, honestly, until you get what you want why should you have to play fair if they don't?

 

[TOgirl1979]

Mot,

I'm sorry you are going through all this stress!

If it makes you feel any better, after 2 months of occupancy at our new building, there is still no buzzer system in place. I know some people who had issues at the PDI and who have now moved in still do not have everything on their list fixed. Our property manager is hard to get a hold of and calls back in several hours instead of several minutes as promised.
I also know that fire alarms going off during the occupancy phase is normal as construction is still finishing off on higher floors. We were warned of this at one of our meetings.

All this said, I have not moved it in yet so I personally am not feeling the stress. However, I think alot of this is normal for a new building so maybe you just need to give it more time and things should improve. Hang in there!

 

[Mot]

Mot,

Sorry to hear you've been having so many problems. I've been following your progress on this thread.

How wide was your balcony supposed to be originally?

Also, I don't understand why anyone in this situation does not HOUND the bottom-feeding-low-lifes at Nortstar Canada. Get IN THEIR FACE. Become THEIR WORST NIGHTMARE. It's sad that people like them exist but, honestly, until you get what you want why should you have to play fair if they don't?

We bought a Tribeca and the others units have 5' wide x7' long ours is 2' wide x 7' long. You can't even put a chair out there. Our solution is to place a balcony off our spare room as the unit next to ours has, but no one will even talk to us about it.

The problem is also with the agents that sell these units. I can't believe the lies they told us and our lawyer said there is no legal recourse for being lied to by the selling agents. Verbal contracts are voided in the written contract.

I just called Norstar/Willowfield again. This time to Mitch Markowitz. I left a voice mail.

http://www.norstarcompanies.com/contact.html

On the advice of one of my friends I am going to keep calling until someone speaks to me. My partner and I took on the US Government, we're certainly not afraid to do so with this developer.

 

[Mot]

Mot,

I'm sorry you are going through all this stress!

If it makes you feel any better, after 2 months of occupancy at our new building, there is still no buzzer system in place. I know some people who had issues at the PDI and who have now moved in still do not have everything fixed. Our property manager is hard to get a hold of and calls back in several hours instead of several minutes as promised.
I also know that fire alarms going off during the occupancy phase is normal as construction is still finishing off on higher floors. We were warned of this at one of our meetings.

All this said, I have not moved it in yet so I personally am not feeling the stress. However, I think alot of this is normal for a new building so maybe you just need to give it more time and things should improve. Hang in there!

We missed a Fed Ex Delivery twice because of the Buzz Code issues and had to drive out to Whitby to pick up our package. I also work from home regularly and the noise level right now is insane.

I think for us because we were so screwed on our unit by sales that the rest is just amplified.

 

[mdrame]

Relax folks

I know that there are a lot of issues with the building but this is nothing different from what you'd experience with any other new construction. Besides you get what you pay for: if you buy a Hyndai don't expect to get Lexus like quality and performance. Also, the same unit you bought at the Star would have cost you at least $70,000 more not including parking & Locker at Tridel (down the street) or any other building downtown. Whenever you get upset about all these issues, just realize that you got an unbelievable bargain.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

My experiences have been the same. No intercom for the first couple of months, then it doesn't work and needs constant repairs, long elevator waits, fire alarms, lots of noise, poor communications with the developer - it's all par for the course unfortunately. I got shorted by half a foot on a balcony too, it should have been 6' deep and it came in at 5'6" deep, nothing I could do about it either.
Do indeed focus on the great prices to purchase in TSoD and you'll sleep better at night. Perhaps two more months of "roughing it" and then things will settle down considerably.

 

[Mot]

I know that there are a lot of issues with the building but this is nothing different from what you'd experience with any other new construction. Besides you get what you pay for: if you buy a Hyndai don't expect to get Lexus like quality and performance. Also, the same unit you bought at the Star would have cost you at least $70,000 more not including parking & Locker at Tridel (down the street) or any other building downtown. Whenever you get upset about all these issues, just realize that you got an unbelievable bargain.

I am sorry but that defeatist attitude is just plain wrong. We should not expect bad service and to be lied to because that is what all developers do.

Frankly the cost of any purchase (a home, clothing, or a cup of coffee) should not determine whether people are treated with common decency, fairness, honesty and respect. Expecting this bad treatment from them has created this monster, we all deserve better.

 

[Hydrogen]

I know that there are a lot of issues with the building but this is nothing different from what you'd experience with any other new construction. Besides you get what you pay for: if you buy a Hyndai don't expect to get Lexus like quality and performance. Also, the same unit you bought at the Star would have cost you at least $70,000 more not including parking & Locker at Tridel (down the street) or any other building downtown. Whenever you get upset about all these issues, just realize that you got an unbelievable bargain.

Sounds like nothing more than an excuse for anyone wishing to dole out crappy service.

Frankly the cost of any purchase (a home, clothing, or a cup of coffee) should not determine whether people are treated with common decency, fairness, honesty and respect. Expecting this bad treatment from them has created this monster, we all deserve better.

Absolutely right. The fact that this building was built suggests that the builder turned a profit in the process, so the issue has little to do with money and much more to do with knowing how to treat people properly.

 

[Gentian]

Ok, this is a very frustrating situation. Rogers and Bell both say that they don't service the building (yet). Could anyone who has moved in confirm this to be the case? Essentially telco/cableco type services? The customer service reps I've been getting haven't seemed particularly sure of themselves, so I would like to double check...

 

[Hydrogen]

That is pretty bizarre. Maybe it's time to call someone at the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

 

[Mot]

Ok, this is a very frustrating situation. Rogers and Bell both say that they don't service the building (yet). Could anyone who has moved in confirm this to be the case? Essentially telco/cableco type services? The customer service reps I've been getting haven't seemed particularly sure of themselves, so I would like to double check...

Rogers services the building. In fact we got that one year free service deal. Didn't they give you a Rogers packet at your PDI?

Saturdays at 5pm some residents gather to discuss issues. The fire alarms the other night were ridiculous on and off from 10pm to 12:30 am!
The door from the stairwell to the lobby is still not working with the key cards. This builder/management company is a disaster waiting to happen.

 

[Gentian]

Rogers services the building. In fact we got that one year free service deal. Didn't they give you a Rogers packet at your PDI?

Saturdays at 5pm some residents gather to discuss issues. The fire alarms the other night were ridiculous on and off from 10pm to 12:30 am!
The door from the stairwell to the lobby is still not working with the key cards. This builder/management company is a disaster waiting to happen.

I haven't done my PDI yet, scheduled to get my keys to the place on the 25th - PDI shortly before then.

Did the Rogers package have some form of building identifier which anyone could reference (e.g. not specific to your unit or account)? I'm really grasping at straws because I would like to get everything scheduled/setup before I'm actually there and the CS reps I've been speaking with have all reiterated that there's no service at that address right now.