Toronto Emerald Park Condos | 128.92m | 40s | Bazis | Rosario Varacalli

[sunnyraytoronto]

I could not believe what I am reading and had to read it twice. It will take until February to put the tiles in ! China would build half a subway station in that time.

Those big white generic tiles (like they used at HullmarkCentre south & north TTC subway entrances) are so hard to get their hands on,.... ;p

In addition, keep in mind it's EmeraldPark builder, TMG, that's building the EmeraldPark TTC subway entrance,... and we've seen how fast they work! ;p When was EmeraldPark originally supposed to be completed,.... 2015 no,... 2013 no,.... 2011,.... oh, that's the year they finally started construction - the year they were originally supposed to be finished construction! Anyways, cement tunnel and ventilation shafts are already built, stairs and elevator between ground floor and automatic collector booths are already built,.... yeah, you're right, all they need to do now is put in tiles,... flooring, lighting, triming, security cameras,....

Then add the fact that once it's all finish,.... TTC take their sweet time when they inspect it before they finally open it for public use. Look across the street at HullmarkCentre south TTC entrance,.... basically finished when WholesFoodMarket opened in Sept 2014,.... but TTC didn't ok final inspection until much later,... it finally opened in April 2015,... more than 6 months later,...... TTC final inspections are a P.I.T.A.,.... and don't even get me started on the delays for HullmarkCentre north TTC subway entrance opening,....

 

[Automation Gallery]

When was EmeraldPark originally supposed to be completed,.... 2015 no,... 2013 no,.... 2011,.... oh, that's the year they finally started construction - the year they were originally supposed to be finished construction! ,....

What are you talking about??, there was many issues with the city before they recieved the final approval in mid-2010
..They were sure not going to be finished in 2011, maybe 2013, but realistically 2014-15,
come-on srt, they (Bazis) were not as bad as you have made them look

Report recommending approval of Emerald Park to be considered by North York Community Council on April 27, 2010:

http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2010/ny/bgrd/backgroundfile-29435.pdf

​

 

[steveve]

From the Parade skybridge:

Toronto by Marcus Mitanis, on Flickr

I must say, this is an incredible perspective on things. While Toronto is relatively flat in contrast to many cities, the various elevations spread throughout the city combined with unique angles such as this one almost remind me of how the skyline of Manhattan looks behind some of the hills that are on the New Jersey/Newark side. It seems the Parade bridge is at the perfect elevation to capture something like this. Great shot!

 

[junctionist]

Toronto isn't really flat outside of the downtown core. There are subtle hills and deep ravines all over.

 

[sunnyraytoronto]

What are you talking about??, there was many issues with the city before they recieved the final approval in mid-2010
..They were sure not going to be finished in 2011, maybe 2013, but realistically 2014-15,
come-on srt, they (Bazis) were not as bad as you have made them look

Report recommending approval of Emerald Park to be considered by North York Community Council on April 27, 2010:

http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2010/ny/bgrd/backgroundfile-29435.pdf

​

Oh great,... now my long time arch nemesis, AutomationGallery, is questioning my integrity,... again! Huh? And you only have one little link??? There's a whole history on this thread!!!

Wait,... AutomationGallery,... you're saying this developer, Bazis, would be honest enough to actually wait until after they got city development approvals before they start selling???? LOL,... AutomationGallery, Are you for real??? Oh, how quickly you forget,.... and we had sooo many debates over the years,... tsk, tsk....

As per post# 20-onward on page 2 of this thread, Bazis held their EmeraldPark VIP sales event in June 2008 and started selling EmeraldPark in July 2008,... way before they got any city approval,... heck, Bazis just put in the development application that summer,....
http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/thread...tropia-plazacorp-40-32s-varacalli.4829/page-2

As per post# 57 by a LittleMonkey,... the VIP pricing of EmeraldPark East Tower starting at lowest floors,.... funny thing, those prices were considered high for North York Centre back then but certainly not anymore! Oh, and "Occupancy Commencing: November 30, 2011"
http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/thread...corp-40-32s-varacalli.4829/page-4#post-176107

Thus, when Baker Realty started selling condos in June-July 2008 at EmeraldPark on behalf of the developer, Bazis,.... the original delivery date they were promising was November 30, 2011,... Hello, that's 2011 !!!


Hmmm,... ok, so Bazis finally got final approval in mid-2010,.... digging started in 2011,... do you remember Bazis CEO Michael Gold stating EmeraldPark will be constructed in 2 years from start to finish,... regardless of how much overtime and double shifts,... it'll be completed in 2 years,... that's 2013! Gee, how's that working out???? When Bazis couldn't deliver by 2013 as promised,... anchor tenant Loblaw's T&T bailed,... then Metro stepped in,... but now Metro wants to bail but can't (because developer could deliver in 2015) so now they're putting in Adonis,...

We've already established that the EmeraldPark subway entrance won't be ready in 2015,... we'll have to wait until next year!

Anyway,... Here's the original sales brouchure from Baker Realty,.... I've lost count of how many different shades of green glass/panels I see in those renderings,.... but what was actually delivered was one ugly shade of dollarama green! Oh, and the current lobbies doesn't look anything like the renderings,... I already covered how the condo units finishes are off from the renderings,...
http://www.bakerrealtypartners.com/emeraldpark/downloads/emeraldpark_brochure.pdf

Those rendering had like 57 storey for East Tower but developer only applied for 49 + 40 storeys,... but were marketing 41 + 32 as per post# 116 by Solaris to which AutomationGallery replied to,...
http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/thread...corp-40-32s-varacalli.4829/page-8#post-184594

Anyways, developer Bazis ended up getting approved for 40 + 30 storeys,.... oh, so then how did they end up getting 40 + 32??? Funny you should ask,... seems someone at Bazis can NOT do simple addition,... so the 30 storey West Tower was designed a few feet shorter than what they were approved for,... the difference wasn't enough to add another floor,.... so Bazis took away a few inches off each condo floor,... after all the condo buyer brought based on per square feet of the floor space in the unit,... not per cubic volume of the unit,... thus, delivering a condo with shorter ceiling wasn't exactly breaking the contract!!! Bazis request was approved by the city when they were already constructing the 8th floor of the West Tower (as I recall),... thus, units higher than that would be quite a bit shorter,... by making all these condo floors shorter,... they got enough extra height to not just add one more floor,... but to add two more floors!!,... that's how the West Tower went from 30 to 32 storey,... without changing the overall height of the tower,... all the condo units floors got squished! Hey, if you're going to scalp ceiling height,... scalp alot - all in the interest of selling more condo units and making more profits!!! Residents of the West Tower better get used to wearing hard hats in their condo units!

Huh? Bazis isn't as bad as I made them look????? Consider this, that little church west of EmeraldPark, Lansing United Church, partnered with EmeraldPark in a deal where density transfer from the church land allowed EmeraldPark to be built with its current density,... in exchange Bazis is to rebuild Lansing United Church with a community centre,.... which in the original renderings was a splitting image of EmeraldPark,... green glass and green panels and all,.... divine image with EmeraldPark's two towers leaning towards the matching church across the street,.... and the church would use some parking spaces in EmeraldPark!!!! But over the years, Lansing United Church have had so many issues with Bazis and their builder, TMG, that the new chuch will NOT resemble EmeraldPark at all,... it'll be more natural stone, wood and multi-coloured glass - quite the opposite of EmeraldPark! And now the church will get their own underground parking instead of sharing any parking at EmeraldPark. Seems to me,.... Bazis managed to piss-off a church!!! Who's next,... God??? Anyways, I sure hope EmeraldPark was built with proper lightning rods on top,.... you know what happens when the big guy gets mad,... ;p

 

[NorthYorkEd]

I've heard a few people joking about the LCBO "Coming Soon" sign that has been up for...I don't know, months now. This whole project has a stink on it. Based on the renderings, the final product is almost laughable, if not tragic. People who bought in based on these specs must be pissed.

Compressing the ceiling heights is just despicable. If anything, I've learned of another builder to avoid should I ever consider playing real estate roulette (i.e. buying based off drawing sand bullshit sales brochures).

 

[innsertnamehere]

 

[UD2]

SRT I too think you are being overly critical.

1. Many developers start marketing and selling the rights to their units prior to zoning approval. It's not the best practice but it's a industry practice and Bazis is certainly not the only one.

2. Original delay in 2008 was largely due to the financial market crash. The Tridel building across the street had experienced similar delays along with many other condos. Once again, Bazis is not the only one. You can make the point that Tridel finished sooner, but they also had permits sooner and used their own in house construction company. You need to let loose some slack for smaller new developers.

3. The buildings it self actually resembles its renders much better than many other condos sold recently in Toronto. Bazis has done a much better job in staying true the the renders than the average Toronto developer, so I'm not sure why they deserve the scalding. The preference of colour is in the eye of the beholder, you don't like it but many other people may. Also the colour on a building is most likely recommended by the architect.

4. As long as Bazis is paying for the parking, I actually see having its own underground parking as a benefit for the church. And once again I don't see a design change to something that the church prefers as a negative for the church if they don't have to pay for it.

5. The ceiling height is not a nice move I agree. Do you know what the extent of the decrease it?why would residents be needing to wear a hard hat in the units? Is this a fair assessment?

 

[Automation Gallery]

why would residents be needing to wear a hard hat in the units?

Lol,...unless they own an indoor trampoline, thats crazy talk

 

[sunnyraytoronto]

SRT I too think you are being overly critical.

5. The ceiling height is not a nice move I agree. Do you know what the extent of the decrease it?why would residents be needing to wear a hard hat in the units? Is this a fair assessment?

5.
When the city approved Bazis scheme to shave off ceiling height of each condo floor of West Tower so they could add in 2 more storeys and stay within the overall height limit, the 8th floor was already being built. Thus, floor 9 - 30 of West Tower would loose ceiling height assuming developer haven't started shaving ceiling height earlier for condo floor 5-8 (4th floor is amenity floor and below that is retail and office podium). 9' tends to be standard condo ceiling height thoughout Toronto,... Assuming, each new floor needed 10 feet including floor and ceiling structure and as I recall the original miscalculation was about 5 feet short,... ((2 x 10' x 12") - (5' x 12")) / 22 floors ) = 8" ,.... thus, each condo units of West Tower from 9-30 floor lost about 8 inches of ceiling height,.... which is quite significant especially since most of these condo units are only about 500-700 square feet in area. Loosing 8" on that is like loosing about 333-466 cubic feet of space!

Now whether the condo occupant really need a hard hat after loosing 8" ceiling height would really depend on 2 factors: 1. how tall they are to begin with, and,... 2. if what's in their head is really worth protecting especially considering that they dealt with this developer,... ;p

But then again, most of the occupants of EmeraldPark tends to be Asians and Asians tend to be vertically challenged anyways,.... in addition, about 70% of these units are rented out, so it's generally NOT the original buyers who are actually occupying them. Remember, they brought in 2008 and delivery date was delay from 2011 to 2013 to 2015,... that's a 7 years wait,... how many people can figure out what kind of living spaces they'll need in 7 years. Surely most of the original buyers moved on with their lives and if they kept the EmeraldPark condo it's as an investment rental unit. When 70% of occupants are renters - not owners,.... don't expect them to take care of the place as owners would,....

BTW,... here's a little article on "Why You Should Never Buy A Pre-Construction Condo",.... and the writer uses EmeraldPark as prime example! Seems his client probably brought into EmeraldPark in 2008,... but with all the delays and life changes,... well,...
http://www.agentpawel.com/why-you-should-never-buy-a-pre-construction-condo/

 

[sunnyraytoronto]

SRT I too think you are being overly critical.

1. Many developers start marketing and selling the rights to their units prior to zoning approval. It's not the best practice but it's a industry practice and Bazis is certainly not the only one.

1. Developer marketing and selling condo units prior to getting city development approvals is more common now but back in 2008 when Bazis was doing it for EmeraldPark it was not common practice and was raising red flags as some of the posts on this thread shows.

2. Original delay in 2008 was largely due to the financial market crash. The Tridel building across the street had experienced similar delays along with many other condos. Once again, Bazis is not the only one. You can make the point that Tridel finished sooner, but they also had permits sooner and used their own in house construction company. You need to let loose some slack for smaller new developers.

2. Yes, there was 2008 market crash,.... affected developer access to cheap finaning,.... but as AutomationGallery pointed out for EmeraldPark city approval wasn't granted until April 27, 2010
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2010/ny/bgrd/backgroundfile-29435.pdf

city approval of HullmarkCentre final report was only 2 months prior,.... Feb 10, 2010
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2010/ny/bgrd/backgroundfile-27581.pdf

Once Tridel HullmarkCentre got city approval,... they started demolishing in July 2010 and digging/construction in Sept 2010,....

In a perfect world, one would expect Bazis EmeraldPark to start their construct‭ion 2 months later since their city approval came only 2 months later,... but EmeraldPark digging/construction didn't start until May 2011. Yes, small time developer Bazis had more challenges raising financing and had to take on two partners: Metropia and Plazacorp.

Tridel HullmarkCentre was able to deliver th‏eir South Tower on time in 2013. But HullmarkCentre north tower and podium was about a year late due to problems with their original design of the pedestrian tunnel connection from north tower to Sheppard-Yonge station - the redesign and city approval delayed the North Tower by a year.

But even with this delay, Tridel HullmarkCentre finished way ahead of EmeraldPark,... I live in the neighbourhood and walk by these construction sites almost everyday. The construction workers working on the Tridel HullmarkCentre project look like real army of construction workers. Those on the EmeraldPark site look more like general labourers,.... and disorganized,... even now when I pass by EmeraldPark, I often wonder,... huh? Isn't anyone working here?

As for giving Bazis some slack for being a small developer,.... come on, they got TMG as their builder,.... TMG is known throughout the industry for their innovative construction methodology and ability to put up concrete slabs and floors faster than anyone else,... but yet, those advantages still didn't help Bazis get EmeraldPark delivered on time!

3. The buildings it self actually resembles its renders much better than many other condos sold recently in Toronto. Bazis has done a much better job in staying true the the renders than the average Toronto developer, so I'm not sure why they deserve the scalding. The preference of colour is in the eye of the beholder, you don't like it but many other people may. Also the colour on a building is most likely recommended by the architect.

3. Look across the street,.... Tridel HullmarkCentre resemble it's rendering,... the only thing I could find missing so far are the blue lights along the edge of those white fins,.... yes, I'm THAT an*l!
http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2013/06/hullmark-centre-making-its-mark-yonge-and-sheppard
http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threads/hullmark-centre-nycc-tridel-hullmark-45-35s-kirkor.668/page-15

4. As long as Bazis is paying for the parking, I actually see having its own underground parking as a benefit for the church. And once again I don't see a design change to something that the church prefers as a negative for the church if they don't have to pay for it.

4. I highly doubt Bazis paid for the underground garage at Lansing United Church; that was never in the original contract. Under contract Bazis gave X amount of dollars to the city to hold in trust for the Church - otherwise, Bazis wouldn't get building permits for EmeraldPark. Once church community centre proposal was advanced far enough, city forwarded that money to the church to pay for the construction,.... as I recall that amount was about $6.7 million in 2013,... The church likely sold the contract for their 70 shared parking spaces in EmeraldPark to help raise money for their underground garage. Plus, all the problems dealing with Bazis and their builder of choice TMG over the years, delayed the church project,.... and unbelievably rebuilding the church and community centre won't be completed until after EmeraldPark,.... and we all know how long it took for EmeraldPark!

 

[sunnyraytoronto]

Last weekend, they had workers cleaning the first floor retail area. Looks like they`ll be able to deliver to retail customer soon.

First 2 photos shows south end of West Tower along Poyntz Ave, notice workers outside on top of first floor retail,.... outside on 2nd floor - looks like they`re adding an enclosed fence off area,... like an outdoor cafe seating area for the Metro,.. err, I mean Adonis,... I know the second floor grocery store will have an indoor eating - seating area,.... near escalator - likely just inside this outdoor patio,.... seems like they`re adding outdoor cafe - seating area as well.

Last photo shows frame of canopy for first floor retail on Yonge frontage,.....

 

[stjames2queenwest]

I really love the colour of this building.

 

[jksl]

I agree with the Dollarama green comment. These towers are an eyesore. Its fly is open too. How embarrassing.

Edit: credit for the zipper goes to Ann Sanderson. Not sure how she did it. In the middle of the day too. Banksy, eat your heart out.

 

[shadowen77]

I agree with the Dollarama green comment. These towers are an eyesore. Its fly is open too. How embarrassing.
View attachment 54596

Fantastic Photoshop, lol!

As for it being an eyesore, that seems a bit harsh. I love the rare color, and the flare at the top.

I'll take this over a grey/blue/seafoam box any day. More like this please.