River City Condos (Urban Capital) - Real Estate -

a) Noise levels between units is fine. It's the party noise from OUTSIDE that's the problem. Two weeks ago someone threw a massive party on their terrace complete with professional DJ and huge subwoofer. It was literally like living adjacent to a nightclub. That said, the windows, when shut, do keep out noise quite well (provided it's not booming bass). This would also be a function of who your neighbours are and exactly where your suite is located in the building, obvi.

b) I have no problem with the combined washer/dryer unit. There is a learning curve, but overall I actually like it more than a traditional unit. Keep in mind, all of Europe and Asia uses these units without issue.

c) Visitor parking is okay now that it's under control. Can't say what supply of rental spaces are like since I don't own a car.

d) Overall love the location, and the suite. There are building issues, just like any other new build in any other condo in the city, and they are being addressed steadily. I mean, the whole development isn't even complete yet.

e) Demographic definitely skews younger. Most units are 1 bedroom, so not a lot of families with kids, sadly.
 
chriskayTO & NBGTect. Thanks for the replies. Very helpful.

At 33, I'll be one of the old guys. :cool:

As far as the ridiculous parties..security should be able to nip that in the bud. I had a neighbor at a previous residence that had loud parties on weekends... A bunch of people complained and she stopped. DJ on the terrace is bad, though. Complete lack of respect.
 
There has been nipping of buds; but we've given up!

You sound awesome. Please move here and try and get security and property management to enforce rules. We've had zero luck.
 
^ ^ ^

it would help if you gave more info such as what both parties (you and the concierge) said.
we have no clue as to how he was "rude, impolite and disrespectful"
 
NewCondoOwner said:
Then I have to bore you with this full story:

On Saturday afternoon at 6 p.m. , I was at the entrance waiting for a friend and noticed previous concierge was not there. I talked to the new concierge. I asked about the old one and then led into a conversation about the illegal parked cars outside. I requested kindly him to watch over Trolley Crescent outside to stop the illegal parked cars because there were seven at that time parked there. His initiate attitude was very dismissive, harsh and unapproachable.

The he told me one of the cars was his. I suggested to him in a very respectable tone that he should not be parking there, serving only to encourage other cars to park there illegally. It is clear that the reason the traffic ticket issuer from the police ticket department had not been called was because of his own car was there. He said there were no parking spaces at the guest parking and he was told he is not allowed to park there. I said he has to find a way to park somewhere else because the crescent is 24 hours with no parking and he should not be an exemption. I suggested there is free parking on the streets nearby in the weekends.

Then he responded to me irrationally and very dismissively. He told me that I myself should “find a solution and tell him where to park his car”. His initial answer did not make sense and shocked me. He kept on saying that statement several times repetitively even when I told him it is not be my responsibility to solve his problem of where to park his car. He also later asked me: 'Why don't you go to talk to the board members to find a solution for him'. He started to get really aggressive and impolite with a bad attitude, and starting to accuse me raising my voice. Of course I felt like I did not or we might both did. I was pretty upset with his disrespectful responses repetitively. I really thought he was out of line.

At the end, he told me to talk to the residential management and not to bothering him. I was shocked with his explosive attitude? I have never come across a concierge so rude in my life. Who would imagine that he could illegally park his own car on the crescent just because he is a concierge? In all my years dealing with public relations and service departments, I have never come across such irrational and inappropriate treatment by any customer service representative. He has no patience and no dispute management skill whatsoever. He dismissed me in a temper within a few minutes.

I am a homeowner here and was just trying to inform him with some facts of illegal parking outside and it happened to be his first day of work. I should not be asked to deal with his own problem. The main issue was not about he illegally parked outside the building anymore, but it is the fact that I did not deserve to receive that unreasonable, rude and disrespectful responses.

My intention to write here and ask for opinions is that I don't want this happened to other residents and homeowners here. I want us to receive the best services at River City. Thanks.

P.S. Please note that this concierge is not Nick. Nick is the best there working in the weekend overnight shifts. He is very helpful and responsible.
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I wouldn't have even gone into telling him not to park there. I would have just contacted either the board or property management about it. Would have been a very short discussion.
 
deadbirdguy said:
My belated feedback to KingEast's questions:

a) No noise issues transmission whatsoever in the townhouses. In fact the walls are so thick, I have a hard time getting a cellphone signal at the back of the unit.
b) The high efficiency washer/dryer has certainly required a few adjustments including smaller, more frequent loads, and getting re-acquainted with a dryer rack. Pants and shirts never tumble dry unwrinkled, so I always end up ironing those. However on the bright side, between the high efficiency appliances and the programmable thermostat, my utility bills are insanely low. For 1200 square feet, my monthly bills last winter never got over the low $80's per month, and this summer they've been around $40-45.
c) Parking definitely seems to be at a premium here both for visitors and residents. Now that controls have been put in place for visitors parking, I see lots of residents' cars I recognize grabbing whatever spots they can, all over the neighbourhood. The situation will only get more competitive as surrounding buildings fill in. So buy if that's an option - there will always be people willing to rent if it comes to that.
d) Things are finally settling down, but it's been a long time coming. My last deficiencies are in the process of being addressed. The construction dust and noise outside has subsided considerably, and apparently Waterfront Toronto are going to start installing permanent sidewalks and streetscaping any day now. We got our long awaited barbeques by the pool this week as well! But it will not be until spring 2016 that Canary District starts filling with residents, so the immediate neighbourhood will stay low key and a bit isolated for a while longer.
e) Yes, the resident demographic is a bit on the young professional side, with a smattering of middle aged and gray-haired types such as myself.
f) While original purchasers and residents have had a rough time, things will be easier for their sucessors. Would I buy from UC again? Certainly not pre-construction. I work next door to RCMI at University and Dundas, where the first residents moved in last May, and the outside is still a construction site as well, so I think UC are doing what everyone else does, just because they can. No more pre-construction for me from UC or anyone else.

Hope you find these comments helpful. Marc
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Thanks for the feedback Marc. It looks like I'll need a parking spot then. I really like the bones of RC. The units are very spacious and once I get through putting my touches, can really look great. I have backed off from RC2 mainly because of the price (including parking). For a 2 bed I'm looking at $540K....which I think all things considered is far too high. The good news is those who bought early should do quite well. I may just be an admirer from afar. There are some things about RC that are just not offered anywhere else which does make it pretty unique.
 
perhaps you should check and see who is responsible for the hiring of the concierge services.
I don't think it has to do with the property management, but even if it does, I'm sure there's an existing contract that must be fulfilled before another one can be hired unless the concierge services has done something contrary to the contract.



NewCondoOwner said:
Interesting development! They terminated the contract with FirstService and have a new management coming in, not related to my incidnet because I think the board members do not know about my experience yet. But now I learned that the same concierge team is still hired and will be staying the same. So the bad guy is still here and my complaint was ignored! What is going on here?
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I tried sending a PM to the River City facebook, but did not get a response. I am tentatively moving in to RC2 next summer and curious whether the property management is also changed.

The condo I'm at right now, they used to have a facebook page where residents complain about stuff. They thought FirstService was biased towards the developer (and the bottom line), and removed them the first chance they got. Now it seems things are more under control with the new management. And they took a few months before changing the security there, too.
 
NewCondoOwner said:
Then I have to bore you with this full story:

On Saturday afternoon at 6 p.m. , I was at the entrance waiting for a friend and noticed previous concierge was not there. I talked to the new concierge. I asked about the old one and then led into a conversation about the illegal parked cars outside. I requested kindly him to watch over Trolley Crescent outside to stop the illegal parked cars because there were seven at that time parked there. His initiate attitude was very dismissive, harsh and unapproachable.

The he told me one of the cars was his. I suggested to him in a very respectable tone that he should not be parking there, serving only to encourage other cars to park there illegally. It is clear that the reason the traffic ticket issuer from the police ticket department had not been called was because of his own car was there. He said there were no parking spaces at the guest parking and he was told he is not allowed to park there. I said he has to find a way to park somewhere else because the crescent is 24 hours with no parking and he should not be an exemption. I suggested there is free parking on the streets nearby in the weekends.

Then he responded to me irrationally and very dismissively. He told me that I myself should “find a solution and tell him where to park his carâ€. His initial answer did not make sense and shocked me. He kept on saying that statement several times repetitively even when I told him it is not be my responsibility to solve his problem of where to park his car. He also later asked me: 'Why don't you go to talk to the board members to find a solution for him'. He started to get really aggressive and impolite with a bad attitude, and starting to accuse me raising my voice. Of course I felt like I did not or we might both did. I was pretty upset with his disrespectful responses repetitively. I really thought he was out of line.

At the end, he told me to talk to the residential management and not to bothering him. I was shocked with his explosive attitude? I have never come across a concierge so rude in my life. Who would imagine that he could illegally park his own car on the crescent just because he is a concierge? In all my years dealing with public relations and service departments, I have never come across such irrational and inappropriate treatment by any customer service representative. He has no patience and no dispute management skill whatsoever. He dismissed me in a temper within a few minutes.

I am a homeowner here and was just trying to inform him with some facts of illegal parking outside and it happened to be his first day of work. I should not be asked to deal with his own problem. The main issue was not about he illegally parked outside the building anymore, but it is the fact that I did not deserve to receive that unreasonable, rude and disrespectful responses.

My intention to write here and ask for opinions is that I don't want this happened to other residents and homeowners here. I want us to receive the best services at River City. Thanks.

P.S. Please note that this concierge is not Nick. Nick is the best there working in the weekend overnight shifts. He is very helpful and responsible.
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Give the guy a break.. it's hist first day. Seems like you were egging him on.
 
tris said:
Give the guy a break.. it's hist first day. Seems like you were egging him on.
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Are you kidding me Madam/Sir? I have no time to 'egging on' anyone.

I was talking to him in a very calm and polite manner all the way even when he asked me to solve his own car parking problem in a firey tone. In no circumstances, a proper trained concierge even on the first day of job would not talk to a homeowner who pay condo fees for hiring him in that disrespectful manner. And I write here to try to raise the awareness for other residents not to put on that kind of bull shit. I have not done anything further to get him fired yet. So don't even try to victimize him....

I deal with concierges all my life, in Canada and abroad, and never experienced this. I treasure all the other concierges at River City who are doing a good job!
 
It really has been a mess since day one. While things have improved, it's really tested people's patience and their relationships. Hopefully one day it gets better. Maybe the new Management Team will stick and we don't have to go through another painful change here. You know how tragedy + time = comedy? Ya, well we won't ever be laughing about what we and our neighbours went through. It brought out the very worst in us. And that's saying something! Congrats Urban Capital on your achievements.
 
NBGtect said:
It really has been a mess since day one. While things have improved, it's really tested people's patience and their relationships. Hopefully one day it gets better. Maybe the new Management Team will stick and we don't have to go through another painful change here. You know how tragedy + time = comedy? Ya, well we won't ever be laughing about what we and our neighbours went through. It brought out the very worst in us. And that's saying something! Congrats Urban Capital on your achievements.
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Hi, just curious... what was 'another painful change' for you in Rivercity? What was most painful for you?
 
DSC said:
If this walk to parking was a surprise to your neighbours they clearly did not think carefully about their purchase or look critically at how this would affect them.
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Agree 100%. Many of us here did not do our due diligence buying pre-construction. It's 100% our problem that we didn't research this developer and construction firm at all. We got caught up in the sales and marketing hype as well as so many positive (and defensive) comments from UT'ers. But WE live here, so our opinions hold more weight than non-residents. Because current market values are less than what we paid, partly because medicine cabinets fall off walls and it's known as the Frat House, we can't sell and are forced to look at things like unpainted balconies and crappy lobbies every day with a heavy heart. The black panels are nice though. Nothing else is sadly.
 
NBGtect said:
Many of us here did not do our due diligence buying pre-construction. Current market values are less than what we paid.
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You bought pre-construction and the price has fallen below the pre-construction price? Seriously? Buying pre-construction has its headaches (I know I've done it) but the one upside is supposed to be at least your place is worth more than what you paid for it by the time you eventually move in. That's awful that it's actually depreciated to less than what you paid for it. Is that happening in the city now?
 
NBGtect said:
Agree 100%. Many of us here did not do our due diligence buying pre-construction. It's 100% our problem that we didn't research this developer and construction firm at all. We got caught up in the sales and marketing hype as well as so many positive (and defensive) comments from UT'ers. But WE live here, so our opinions hold more weight than non-residents. Because current market values are less than what we paid, partly because medicine cabinets fall off walls and it's known as the Frat House, we can't sell and are forced to look at things like unpainted balconies and crappy lobbies every day with a heavy heart. The black panels are nice though. Nothing else is sadly.
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I don't get it ... how do you know the resale value ... there are 0 (or maybe 1) units on MLS in this building atm .. ? ..
 
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