Queen and Portland Lofts and Condos (Tribute Communities, RioCan) - Real Estate -

[BobBob]

Hi everyone,

I am considering a purchase in this building (http://www.tributecommunities.com/queen_west_reg/) due to its great location, layouts, reasonable maintenance costs (estimated, of course) and relatively small size. I'm also impressed by the family-sized units included here (2BR+den, 3BR).

The price per square foot is fairly high, about $520/sqft. Is that unreasonable for this area and quality of building? The interiors seem very nice, but should I be expecting luxury appointments at this price and location?

I welcome any thoughts you may have.

 

[urbandreamer]

No.

Queen and Portland is in reality kind of gritty. There may be a few (sort of expensive) restaurants and cafes--Fressen, Taro Grill, etc) and boutiques, but keep in mind there's a fairly large housing project just to the north--Alexander co-op. The area seems to attract a fair number of scuzzy creatures, especially at night. Plus with the large bars in the area--Tattoo Rock Parlour, Savage Garden, etc--rather noisy at night.

Then there's OntarioWorks (Welfare/Social Agency) in the office building to the south (the reflective glass building facing Richmond St W) which attracts....

So nyet, Queen and Portland is not a "luxury" intersection. (Although SBUX opening down the street may indicate a better future, along with the (possible) condo re-development for the lots wiped out in the fire.)

$520/sq ft here? Vastly over-priced!

Oh, and all the noise from the traffic to Home Depot? Ugh!

 

[cmystikal]

reasonable maintenance costs (estimated, of course)

What are the estimated maintenance fees for this building?

 

[BobBob]

^ About $0.48/sqft. Apparently the commercial tenant (Home Depot) will cover something like 80% of the maintenance for the garage and ramps, due to their shared nature, as well as a good chunk of the joint HVAC system. There is also a number of "green" features like automatic lowering of interior lighting at peak hydro hours, etc, as well as individual hydro metering.

UD: It's true that the stretch between Spadina and Bathurst is probably the scuzziest on Queen West, but I can't help but think it can only go up. You mentioned the Starbucks opening on the corner, and there are a number of newer yuppie-ish stores on the stretch like Healthy Butcher. This development itself will probably substantially change the feel, as well as whatever happens in the burned out block to the west.

The location seems great to me in the long run, close to King West, West Queen West, Trinity-Bellwoods, as well as walking distance to Queen West stores and downtown. The waterfront is also pretty close by and will get substantially closer once that pedestrian bridge is built at the foot of Portland St. It will be a direct 10-min walk to the Music Garden.

Those are the positives, but I agree there are some negatives as well, and we should probably focus on those when evaluating whether to purchase here.

Thanks for your input.

 

[daveto]

The area is undergoing the same sort of gentrification that Queen/Spadina did 10-15 years ago.

I live in this area, and a lot of the scuzzier bars have closed/been priced out. The native "hang out" on the north-west corner has recently been cleaned up. Unfortunetly along with the changes, a number of the cooler hangouts have closed up as well. Such is gentrification.

There are a number of sites that are prime for development (the fire site, the Burroughs building, the Big Bop. I think that in 5-10 years you won't recognise this intersection.