If you had to choose between a condo in the king west area (freed developments like 75 portland, 550 wellington, 455 adelaide or 650 king west) at $470 per square feet and a project in the east area like corktown, leslieville, worklofts, modern, at $400 square feet, which one would you choose in terms of investment?
There is a lot of variation per product in terms of developer, architect and precise location (for example Corktown is west of the DVP bridge and right across the street from the impending development of the West Donlands), but all things being equal, I'd choose the East.
Opinions probably fall on the biases of where people live (and I am no different), as well as age and socio-economic status, but if you are talking about investment, I like the potential of the east better.
King West
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King West/Spadia is probably better serviced and further along in development today than the compared East region. KW has a younger vibrant community, proximate to some pretty nice things that young active people do. IMHO, It's value lies in its population. I'd think today its probably easier to rent out(higher demand) for a higher price in KW than in the East. And when it further fills out its potential, it will be magnified by a certain factor. But most likely on a linear scale. In the long term however, if the club district is transformed into a tamer resident friendly place (there are debatable trends that indicate this), the club district would provide more value than King West/Spadina: Its closer to the core, the subway and everything downtown has to offer.
East
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With the east, the (proposed) development of the West Donlands,Lake Ontario Park, Distillery, Portlands etc (in combination with the gentrifying/redevelopment of Leslieville and Riverdale,Corktown,Regent Park), the value of the area has the potential to grow exponentially. It's value lies in iconic (not sure if thats the right word in this context) redevelopment of land that will have inherant value.
Just my opinion, biased as it is.