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

[Bill123]

I used to like this project as well but then the floods started, the anchor tenants all bailed, the doors keep breaking, the walls are stained with water damage, the management doesnt do anything but still takes your money every month, the subway entrance of which we paid a 10% premium for is 2 years late. But hey at least this building looks cool right?

There will always be people who like this project like how there are people who are happy living in 3rd world countries.

You two have no stake in this place. Amnesiajune can just rent somewhere else, Mkerian doesnt even live here. Put yourselves in our shoes. We can't just bail out of this place like you can, we are stuck holding some sort of bag.

 

[Mint]

This thread has more whine than the Bayview Village LCBO. Is the building flawless? No. Is it bad? Absolutely not. There's nothing to genuinely complain about in this building as a renter. You can tell that they cut some corners here and there but the construction quality is at least as good as any similar-size condo downtown. Having to walk one entire block to get into the subway isn't a reason to bail when the typical rent is the same as (if not lower than) most other condos on Yonge built in the last 5 years.

Wanna see a bad building? Walk two blocks east to 88 Sheppard. Unfinished ceilings, tiny bedrooms, paper-thin sliding doors, very dark hallways, bizarre location, and units there cost about as much to rent as here in Emerald Park. And they have two walk two blocks to get to the subway (oh the humanity!).

If I were a renter, why wouldn't I just pay the same amount of money to rent across the street in a well run building where the TTC connections actually work? Look, I purchased here specifically for the TTC connection. If I didn't need one, I would have moved into Harrison Garden for significantly less money and have a parking lot that isn't designed by imbeciles.

Even if the TTC connection were finished tomorrow, how can you call this a "luxury" condo when the mall connected to this condo looks like a dump with no support from the developer? Nothing about these 2/3 month-old boarded up doors is "luxury" to me.

Then there's the subpar build in the units. I have issues including a misaligned Miele overhead fan, faulty security pad, and literal holes left in the wall where the wires feed into the LEDs above the sink. My island is squeaky as hell from the slightest touch and the underside of the surface doesn't even look nor feel finished. I won't even talk about how useless management is since we all know already. Security is just as bad. People in the party room play music that can be heard through FOUR floors. Residents keep making noise complaints and all they do is phone the room to ask them to quiet down. That's it. No action. No consequences. People constantly park in front of the garage entrance blocking EVERYONE from entering or exiting and nothing gets done to address it.

Actually, after typing this out I guess you're right. If I were a renter I probably wouldn't care about these things so I probably would stay. As an owner, it's all pretty disappointing.

 

[mkerian]

I used to like this project as well but then the floods started, the anchor tenants all bailed, the doors keep breaking, the walls are stained with water damage, the management doesnt do anything but still takes your money every month, the subway entrance of which we paid a 10% premium for is 2 years late. But hey at least this building looks cool right?

There will always be people who like this project like how there are people who are happy living in 3rd world countries.

You two have no stake in this place. Amnesiajune can just rent somewhere else, Mkerian doesnt even live here. Put yourselves in our shoes. We can't just bail out of this place like you can, we are stuck holding some sort of bag.

But that's the thing - I am trying to put myself in your shoes. I have no qualms on discussing the many faults of the developer/management. None at all!

Can I say I like the looks of the building? I would like to think so. Can I say that I understand how you feel and wish you all the best and that things turn a corner? I'd like to think so as well, and that's why I've been constantly saying that I like the retail and I'm hopeful that things will get better! I think the comparison to a 3rd world country is a bit extreme, but I'm not trying to diminish your thoughts/pains at all. If that is how my words have been received, I apologize.

Previously, I purchased and lived in a less-higher profile building that had not as many problems, but they were a great source of anxiety/depression/anger, etc. It was only after going through that experience did I know what to look for in my new home. But again, I apologize if people thought I was minimizing their views. That wasn't my intention.

I will sit on the sidelines and no longer take part.

However, I refuse to back down when someone accuses me of a blatant lie! That's what really pissed me off was being accused of "Pro Bazis Emerald Park" views and being accused of reporting posts as if I'm one of their corporate stooges! Note how there's no long post from a certain someone in reply because they know they crossed a line!

 

[sunnyraytoronto]

Can we avoid discussion on the ethnicity/legality of potential owners for these stores? This thread has had multiple negative mentions of how small or 'Pacific Mall like' stores will be in place here. Enough, we get it.

http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/thread...-rosario-varacalli.4829/page-107#post-1039657

In response to this old post from September 24, 2015 from our favourite wannabe internet cop,... it is what it is,.....

Right from 2008 marketing, when Loblaw's T&T signed up to be 2nd floor anchor tenant,... it was mainly all Chinese store-owners investors buying up the PacificMall like cubicle store,... here's a list of some of the first floor retail unit owners (you can easily figure out most of their ethnicity based on name):

And if you need a visual representation of the local ethnic demographic of the area,... here's one based on Statistics Canada Census data,....

http://neoformix.com/Projects/DotMaps/TorontoVisMin.html

Note: For unit 146, "Emerald Park Galleria Inc" owner represents units that defaulted (original buyer-investor couldn't find any tenant or buyer and was forced to default the unit back to the developer who's now trying to resell the unit). There's about 11 of these defaulted PacificMall type cubicle retail-condo and office-condo units,.... not to be confused with the 25 - 35 other retail & office units still for sale or lease privately,... still after more than a year on the market! Note: The brokerage selling the defaulted retail-condo and office-condo units on behalf of Bazis are still advertising Metro, LCBO and Starbucks coming,.... "alternative facts"!

As for "legality of potential owners",... notice the numbered companies,.... that's a technique commonly used by some foreign investors who could be hiding (tax evasion) or laundering (dirty-illegal) money in Canada via numbered companies and the help of local signatures,... My favourite newspaper, The Toronto Star, just ran a series of articles on it,... The Canada Papers,... Canada's version of "the Panama Papers":
http://projects.thestar.com/panama-papers/canada-is-the-worlds-newest-tax-haven/
http://projects.thestar.com/panama-papers/how-a-quebec-company-hid-millions-from-tax-collectors/
http://projects.thestar.com/panama-papers/canada-signatures-for-sale/
http://projects.thestar.com/panama-papers/lessons-for-canada/

Some of these numbered companies owning PacificMall-like cubicle retail-condo units and office-condo units at EmeraldPark have no interest in opening their own shop/office or even selling or renting out their space (thus, all the empty office-condo and retail-condo units),.... as I've already demonstrated with the 77.5% office-condo vacancy rate at Tridel HullmarkCentre across Yonge Street:
http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/thread...l-kirkor-architects.668/page-108#post-1147431
http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/thread...l-kirkor-architects.668/page-108#post-1147434
http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/thread...l-kirkor-architects.668/page-108#post-1147440

 

[sunnyraytoronto]

Can we avoid discussion on the ethnicity/legality of potential owners for these stores? This thread has had multiple negative mentions of how small or 'Pacific Mall like' stores will be in place here. Enough, we get it.

The retail will soon open and we can discuss how good the stores are then once we actually see what's in place.

In response to this old post from September 24, 2015 from our favourite wannabe internet cop who mainly post to criticize other posters instead of actually posting useful information or even photos,... retail-condo units were released to owners in Fall 2015 (plumbing work until Spring 2016),...they had more than a year to settle in, so how's that working out? Or are you still waiting,.... Apparently Bazis love people who like to wait!

Retail-condo units were released to owners in Fall 2015 (plumbing work until Spring 2016),...they had over a year to settle in, so how are the EmeraldPark retail units doing now:
- Anchor tenant Loblaw's T&T bailed long ago, Metro came in with LCBO and Starbucks,.. but Metro won't open after realizing the local demographic is wrong for them! Thus, Metro 2nd floor retail space remains empty,... been trying to rent or sell it for last 2 years (if you need a representation of the local ethnic demographic of the area,... here's one based on Statistics Canada Census data,.... http://neoformix.com/Projects/DotMaps/TorontoVisMin.html )
- LCBO finished renovation almost 2 years ago but won't open until there's a supermarket opening,... already took down their "Opening Soon" signage
- Starbucks is nothing but a couple of pipes sticking out of a wall,... literally!
- EmeraldPark "anchor tenant" is basically whichever store is the newest store on the block! Current anchor are Allwyn's & TimHortons
- the larger Yonge Street frontage store like TimHortons (only real brand-name store), TheMaze (haircut), Presotea are mainly busy but most folks don't realize there's a mall here because there main doors to the mall isn't on Yonge Street but on Poyntz
- Food court in rear is filling up with tiny stores,... mainly small ethnic Mom&Pops ready-made food stores (some cook off-site and heat up here due to lack of space)
- Some of the non-FoodCourt units especially along Yonge frontage are food places (TimHortons, WhaleJuice, JerkKing, Chinese noodle, Presotea),... which defeats the purpose of putting the FoodCourt in the rear to force people to walk through the mall
- the rest of the mall between Yonge frontage and food court has pockets of store and empty area,... here the more typically sized PacificMall cubicle retail-unit in the middle along Poyntz windows are still mainly empty - they're the toughest ones to rent out/sell

Main issue is Bazis and their mall management team,.... due to their greed, there's no mall doors on Yonge so most folks don't even realize there's a EmeraldPark Mall back there! Northwest mall doors blocked off since mid November (fire inspector had to issue safety order to unblock it), 2 more mall doors broken since mid December,.... none of these doors have been fixed yet. Certainly doesn't leave a good impression to anyone visiting EmeraldPark retail mall or office.

And even if store owner commits, it'll still take a good 6, 9 months or more before they could open mainly because Bazis take their sweet time approving the store renovations (usually 4-6 months),... the Chinese noodle place next to Presotea was one of the first to advertise their opening soon in Fall 2015,... still under renovations!

EmeraldPark TTC subway entrance opening is already 24 month late and counting! Toronto Star article shows how incompetent Bazis is,... article interviewed City Building Department, TTC, local councillor, local ratepayers group,... and interviewing Bazis just shows Bazis' usage of "alternative reality",...
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...trance-remains-closed-as-delays-continue.html

Look at this EmeraldPark thread,... full of pissed off EmeraldPark residents, office tenants, retailers, and area locals,.... interestingly, poster that used to defend Bazis and attack "Bazis bashers",... now are looking to switch sides,....

 

[mkerian]

http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/thread...-rosario-varacalli.4829/page-107#post-1039657

In response to this old post from September 24, 2015 from our favourite wannabe internet cop,... it is what it is,.....

Wow - you're something else. My intention there was how I felt the owners of these stores were being disparaged because of the comparison to 'Pacific Mall' style units.

Have you had any reported posts yet? I've fallen behind in my Bazis stooge activities.

 

[mkerian]

In response to this old post from September 24, 2015 from our favourite wannabe internet cop who mainly post to criticize other posters instead of actually posting useful information or even photos,... retail-condo units were released to owners in Fall 2015 (plumbing work until Spring 2016),...they had more than a year to settle in, so how's that working out? Or are you still waiting,.... Apparently Bazis love people who like to wait!
View attachment 98919

Oh geez, are the only people allowed to post or comment need photos or 'useful' information? I guess I have to go delete all of my forum accounts now...

I stand by everything I said. I'm not going to delete or remove any of my posts. Face it, you're twisting in the wind. I stand by saying I want to see the retail open to discuss. And guess what? Retail opened and we started discussing about the stores that opened. Or should I have not said anything until all the stores opened?

You claim I'm the wannabe internet cop, but you seem much more pro at policing everyone's opinions!

Keep it coming - keep trying to accuse me of blatant lies. See if I back down!

 

[amnesiajune]

If I were a renter, why wouldn't I just pay the same amount of money to rent across the street in a well run building where the TTC connections actually work?

Because you can't afford to. Rent in the Hullmark Centre is at least $300 more for a one-bedroom and $500 more for a two-bedroom. Meanwhile rent at Emerald Park is the same as in the older condos farther north on Yonge Street.

Even if the TTC connection were finished tomorrow, how can you call this a "luxury" condo when the mall connected to this condo looks like a dump with no support from the developer? Nothing about these 2/3 month-old boarded up doors is "luxury" to me.

Every condo is a "luxury" condo nowadays. "Luxury" is the development industry's buzzword for "built sometime in the last decade".

I have issues including a misaligned Miele overhead fan, faulty security pad, and literal holes left in the wall where the wires feed into the LEDs above the sink. My island is squeaky as hell from the slightest touch and the underside of the surface doesn't even look nor feel finished.

I can't say I have any of those issues. The worst thing I have are doors that hit each other when both are opened at the same time, and a couple of bumps in the concrete under the carpets.

People constantly park in front of the garage entrance blocking EVERYONE from entering or exiting and nothing gets done to address it.

I guess "blocked" is the new word for "walking around a car". Obviously it's not ideal and the design of the entrance is bad for this, but that's not a reason to move out of a building. That's as trivial a complaint as you can have about any moderately-priced condo (in other words, not the Hullmark Centre) built in the last 5-10 years.

 

[sunnyraytoronto]

Sunnray, what should the height of each floor be? I feel my unit is what it should be, I think they cut more off of some floors and not all floors.

Coopero;
What were you told or shown during the sales period? Was it 9 foot ceilings? I would check with a tape measure just so I knew whether I got the promised height or my unit was chopped by 8 inches.
Unfortunately for pre-construction buyers, the builder always covers himself by putting words like "Subject to change" in fine print.

Further to our discussion yesterday,.... here's some more photos and links otherwise known as proof,.... ie: stuff that "alternative facts folks" tend not to post. ;p

Interestingly Bazis first condo ChrystalBlu features 10 feet ceiling height for every residential-condo unit
http://bazis.ca/blog/crystal-blu-celebrates-its-wooden-anniversary/

From the original Bazis EmeraldPark sales-marketing booklet from Summer 2008 (apparently, I'm a collector of crap!),... EmeraldPark residential-condo unit ceiling height is listed as 9 feet.

In the middle here it states 9 feet ceiling height:

Notice: Disclosure above,.... "All dimension, including ceiling height and area, if any, are approximate and may change."


Bazis October 9, 2013 CommitteeOfAdjustment hearing (File: A615/13NY) allowed them to squeeze in 2 more floors to WestTower within the 102m residential height already allowed. Given the 5 feet extra Bazis had to play with due to someone at Bazis not being able to do simple grade-2 math!,... I calculated an average of 8" to be shaved off each ceiling height of WestTower from 8th floor up (already cement forming 8th floor when CommitteeOfAdjustment decision granted). That means average ceiling height of WestTower residential-condo from 8th floor up is about 8'4",.... and it seems some WestTower floors got ceiling height chopped more and some less.

A GlobeAndMail article from Spring 2014, stated the reduced standards of 9' ceiling height for standard and 10' ceiling height for luxury units,.... which is interesting especially since Bazis EmeraldPark and Tridel HullmarkCentre both marketted their residential-condo units as "luxury" condo units and were both charging downtown prices (around $450/ft2) for their condos.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/real...-developers-are-saving-space/article18134051/

 

[mkerian]

poster that used to defend Bazis and attack "Bazis bashers",... now are looking to switch sides,....

I wasn't aware that everyone on this forum has to be one side or the other. Can you forward me that rule? I obviously failed since I was trying to advocate for more neutral language when it comes to describing retail unit owners and residents. But I guess I ran afoul of the actual internet cop. I'm only a wannabe.

I seem to remember someone bringing up the term "ethnic cleansing". Was that for the pro Bazis or "Bazis bashers" side?

I'm not letting you off the hook. You attack me, you accuse me of lies, you're losing your credibility with each comment that continues to insult and lie.

 

[Bill123]

I'm sure very few Chinese people would be insulted if they are called Chinese nor would any of these commercial unit owners be insulted if their stores here were referenced to Pacific mall. Everyday I hear the words "Pacific Mall" at least 3 times. A spade is a spade, not an insult...

I am doing fine for myself, this will be the fourth consecutive month here that I've turned a profit. I've always been fine, when I whine and complain here it's for the others that are completely getting killed from lack of traffic and Bazis shenanigans. It's also for the undecided who are considering renting here or buying Bazis real estate. It's definitely not to cater to your feelings and moral compass.

When a business is unethical and incompetent the community deserves to know especially when there is little government policy to protect buyers. Condo developers have been screwing the city left and right ever since development restrictions became lax. There are balconies downtown that people can't use because they are on the verge of falling down. During the summer time cheap glass cracks and rain down from these condos. When the government fails to protect the people from scum like Bazis, we will have to do it ourselves.

 

[mkerian]

I'm sure very few Chinese people would be insulted if they are called Chinese nor would any of these commercial unit owners be insulted if their stores here were referenced to Pacific mall. Everyday I hear the words "Pacific Mall" at least 3 times. A spade is a spade, not an insult...

I am doing fine for myself, this will be the fourth consecutive month here that I've turned a profit. I've always been fine, when I whine and complain here it's for the others that are completely getting killed from lack of traffic and Bazis shenanigans. It's also for the undecided who are considering renting here or buying Bazis real estate. It's definitely not to cater to your feelings and moral compass.

When a business is unethical and incompetent the community deserves to know especially when there is little government policy to protect buyers. Condo developers have been screwing the city left and right ever since development restrictions became lax. There are balconies downtown that people can't use because they are on the verge of falling down. During the summer time cheap glass cracks and rain down from these condos. When the government fails to protect the people from scum like Bazis, we will have to do it ourselves.

Good to hear you're doing well. Never wanted you to cater to my feelings or moral compass, nor did I expect that comment out of anything I ever wrote. Write whatever you like about this building, and Bazis. You have your opinion, and your facts as an owner. I'm not discounting the value you provide to this thread. I have my opinion, which I have rarely expressed (i.e. I like the look of the building, and most retail that currently exists). My earlier comments stand for what I was trying to convey.

You have written more in this thread than me, because I know you have much more to contribute. Same even goes for sunnyray.

And you didn't accuse me of being a Bazis stooge going around reporting posts. That's what I'm pissed off about and will not back down from.

 

[sunnyraytoronto]

From April 3, 2014,....

You can cry for all the height you want on these forums,.... but you don't seem to know anything about urban planning. The problem is today. Look around. How can the area support more people? Downtown North York Centre sees one new condo tower open every 3-4 months!

Yonge-Sheppard-401 area already has worst traffic gridlock in Toronto which has worst traffic congestion in North America. The Yonge Subway is already 100% full capacity,... southbound subway is packed in AM rush, if you're trying to get on in midtown,... good luck.
Many kids are bused out of the area for school because there isn't enough capacity in the local schools. Earl Haig Secondary School was built for 1800 students, there's about 2500 students now,.... and they take their lunch breaks in three 1-hour shifts starting at 10:30am, then 11:30am and finally 12:30pm.

The infrastructure simply isn't there to support it. And the developer isn't willing to pay extra for that extra height. The more height a developer wants then the more section 37, 42, 45 development fees and concession the city wants. Tridel-Hullmark centre across the street got more height because they gave up way more in concession,... including building a 12 storey office tower and 5 storey podium office. If Emerald Park contributed more in office space then,.....

I'm not saying more infrastructure isn't needed, and I am aware that being childless means I don't have to deal with the school issue...but the lack of a schools seems like a (relatively) easy situation to fix...If the money is there. Instead of Filion fighting further development, maybe he could extract enough money from several developments to build more schools. I believe there was a condo project on Eglinton near Yonge that rebuilt a high school in order to proceed with the development.

I also agree with you about Yonge south of Sheppard....which is why I'm glad Emerald and Hullmark will come online soon. Eventually, more pedestrians will require better conditions, and we might see progress on improving the area.

However, I've gotten on Sheppard for 5 years, and I've always been able to get on, unless there's been some other problems. You're not going to get a seat, but you'll definitely get on. That's undeniable.

http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/thread...is-rosario-varacalli.4829/page-83#post-846464


Really, that drives you crazy?

In NorthYorkCentre, infrastructure are primarily funded by Section37 CommunityBenefit fees, Section 42 (Park) and 45 fees and development charges from the high-density developments within the NorthYorkCentreSecondary Plan area,.... how's that been working? If these high-density developments could adequately fund the infrastructure required,.... there wouldn't be traffic congestion issues, nor full capacity issues on Yonge subway line in NorthYork, nor school capacity where kids are bused out of the area for school, nor the need for more park-space, nor the need for more public-realm space, nor the need for more community centres and services,....

And then we have issues where developer like Bazis have been tasked with providing public infrastructure,... what happens?

Bazis fail to build infrastructure like their EmeraldPark TTC subway entrance within a reasonable amount of time,.... that entrance been closed since June 2014,.... and still counting!!!! EmeraldPark buyers who paid 10-15% premium for their units for the direct connection subway entrance are still waiting almost 2 years after some of these residential condo owners moved in,.... and realistically, it'll likely be another year or 2 before EmeraldPark TTC subway entrance opens,... if ever!

Bazis and their contractor failed to build proper pedestrian sidewalk for the city along Beecroft and Bogert, that's public-real infrastructure!,.... about 25% of the concrete pedestrian sidewalk panels have already been replaced within about 1.5 year of construction,... due to pitting and cracking!!!

A significant portion of Section37 CommunityBenefit for Bazis EmeraldPark development went to a new community centre for LansingUnitedChurch,.... they sold air rights,.. density & height transfer. The amount of for that new community centre is paid for by Bazis to City prior to city issuing building permits for EmeraldPark,.... then Bazis and their contractor turn around and overcharged LansingUnitedChurch for the communityCentre by about $1 million. Bazis pissed off the Church who doesn't want anything to do with Bazis,... the Church insisted that the planned shared parking at EmeraldPark be converted to underground parking lot at the Chuch. And of course, Church's contractor Berkim can't build community centre on top,... until Bazis' TMG Builder finish building the underground parking,... for which of course they were late! Again,... this community centre is another example of public infrastructure for which Bazis was responsible for,... and they messed up,.... and now it's delayed opening is maybe April 2017,... 2 years after the EmeraldPark residential condo owners moved in,...
http://lansingchurch.com/content.cfm?id=3146


The area that you speak of along Sheppard West between Beecroft and Senlac is protected by the SheppardWestCommercialSecondaryPlan where only about 5 storey is allowed, these are CityPlanning issues,.... you can't just willy-nilly drop in a condo tower or townhouse where ever you think it'll be prettier,...... The City works under planning principles,.... so that there should be some infrastructure and support there for the proper type of development without overburdening the residents that already live in the area,.... it's called planning! And those "tiny medical offices" are amongst the few areas in NorthYorkCentre that actively have real occupied offices,.... that are repectable and provide employment area. Something short in an area that seen 60 new residential condo towers built in the last 19 years since amalgamation and only one real office tower.

 

[mkerian]

Ha, here it is! Keep going through my post history! Reading it again I think I sound pretty good!

Bring it alll up. That doesn't bug me at all. I know I was writing to contribute to the discussion. As I said before, I stand behind every word I wrote. In fact, in one of the posts you quoted I even said I agreed with you! But you just can't handle it if someone doesn't see it your way 100%.

But hey, stay on track here sunnyray - you accused me of being a Bazis stooge! For all the fact-checking and digging you do, you lost it with your blatant lie!

 

[interchange42]

Here's the deal. @sunnyraytoronto is going on a break until the moderators have discussed whether a permanent solution is in order. We're sick of the personalized attacks that keep coming back—he has been warned on numerous occasions. We do not want this degree of antagonism on UrbanToronto. A number of recent posts may be altered or deleted.

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