Toronto 1540 Bloor West | 91.9m | 27s | Trinity Group | Arcadis

What’s the latest update on this site , building is still boarded up and bar is still running . No demolition plans.
...appreciate its giraffe motif presence while it lasts...as it will all go south from there when Trinity decides to pull their finger out over this. /sigh
 
Probably someone who was squatting, as the building is vacant and unused. The developer should have torn it down years ago and put in a parking lot, instead of letting it become a fire hazard. Maybe now they will be forced to tear it down. It's been an eyesore for years.
 
Probably someone who was squatting, as the building is vacant and unused. The developer should have torn it down years ago and put in a parking lot, instead of letting it become a fire hazard. Maybe now they will be forced to tear it down. It's been an eyesore for years.
City doesn't let developers tear down existing buildings until they have issued building permits for its replacement, usually. Results in situations like this, unfortunately.
 
City doesn't let developers tear down existing buildings until they have issued building permits for its replacement, usually. Results in situations like this, unfortunately.
I wonder if the developer even tried to get a demolition permit. It's been an acrimonious process for that development...
 
Hopefully at this point it just gets torn down. It's definitely a unique building that adds to the whacky charm of that area, but it's covered in ugly graffiti and now it's not only decaying but also fire damaged. Not that there's anything flattering on the other 3 corners of the intersection though.
 
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"JLL (NYSE: JLL), a leading global commercial real estate and investment management company, has helped clients buy, build, occupy, manage and invest in a variety of commercial, industrial, hotel, residential and retail properties."
 
I work in the construction industry and many of the industry partners I work with are cancelling projects, delaying them, or working with the subtrades to find efficiencies by deviating from the spec. It's sad to see this project shelved until they find a buyer, but I get it. Construction prices have doubled since 2019, so any business case that was established then is useless. We need to build housing now more than ever, but we are facing pressures that are going to make the housing crisis worse.
 
All these condos have likely worsened the housing crisis if anything. Over 50% of condos built since 2016 were bought by investors. I think it's getting harder and harder to believe that more condos are going to do anything other than enrich investors and developers. Then of course you have policy issues like removal of rent controls and a failure to build actual affordable housing, more purpose built rental, etc.

https://www.thestar.com/real-estate...cle_4b6d2ff0-c528-5670-937f-3d34d040ed85.html.

Makes me think of those "just one more" memes. Just one more condo, bro, I swear bro it'll make housing more affordable. Investors won't just snap up all the units and drive prices higher, we just need more.

Now of course significantly increased construction costs obviously apply across the board, I'm certainly not downplaying that issue.
 
All these condos have likely worsened the housing crisis if anything. Over 50% of condos built since 2016 were bought by investors. I think it's getting harder and harder to believe that more condos are going to do anything other than enrich investors and developers. Then of course you have policy issues like removal of rent controls and a failure to build actual affordable housing, more purpose built rental, etc.

https://www.thestar.com/real-estate...cle_4b6d2ff0-c528-5670-937f-3d34d040ed85.html.

Makes me think of those "just one more" memes. Just one more condo, bro, I swear bro it'll make housing more affordable. Investors won't just snap up all the units and drive prices higher, we just need more.

Now of course significantly increased construction costs obviously apply across the board, I'm certainly not downplaying that issue.
I don't disagree that it's a huge issue, but what would need to happen then is a fundamental shift in our extremely conservative lending culture. Yes, investors are a huge issue since they never intend to live in a space and when you're just buying off a plan, you don't care what the experience of that building will be. BUT since we (the development industry) can't get construction financing until 70 or 75% (depending on builder reputation) of units are sold, we need those investors since it's unrealistic to expect to sell everything to end-users (a process that can take years). Combine that with the fact that prices are far out of reach of most and it's a perfect recipe for exactly the kind of problem the City is seeing now. If banks were willing to change their lending practices, that could all change, but I do not see that happening unless they're forced to and so...here we are.
 

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