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

[sunnyraytoronto]

The line of dead trees along south side of Emerald Park along Poyntz Ave *might* be removed/replaced later as options are to slightly change road configuration especially closer to Yonge with odd intersection at Yonge-Poyntz/Anndale as part of ReImagining Yonge Street Study,.... also looking at replacing those ugly wooden hydro poles along south side of Poyntz,...
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Good news, bad news,.....

Good news: UrbanForestry recently determined that 2 of the dead trees along Poyntz Ave needed to be replaced.

Notice: more cement work due to poor quality work!!!!

Bad news: The other 9 "dead" trees,... were determined to be "not dead enough"!

 

[m6kim23]

Good news, bad news,.....

Good news: UrbanForestry recently determined that 2 of the dead trees along Poyntz Ave needed to be replaced.
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Notice: more cement work due to poor quality work!!!!

Bad news: The other 9 "dead" trees,... were determined to be "not dead enough"!
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Who ends up paying for this? The developer or the condo owners

 

[sunnyraytoronto]

Who ends up paying for this? The developer or the condo owners

While the pedestrian sidewalk around any property (large development like EmeraldPark) is on City-Right-Of-Way Property, it's the developer's (Bazis/Metropia/PlazaCorp hiding behind EmeraldPark 2010 Inc) responsibility to build new sidewalk and whatever public realm entities as agreed upon. And these contracts specifies a certain level of quality.

EmeraldPark buyers already paid for this, along with a certain amount to cover reasonable repairs & re-dos.

Here, the quality of the pedestrian sidewalk and public realm space was so poorly built, at least half had already had to be replaced at the City's request due to poor quality work. I documented this in a previous post about a year after Emerald Park open. Walk around Emerald Park and you'll see so many of the panels of the pedestrian sidewalk are different shades due to re-dos.

Usually, developer smart enough to contractually insist that Contractor are responsible for poor quality work. The problem with these low-est price contractors is they have stronger financial incentive to do cheapest quality crap work and once there's too much warrantee-repair/redo type of work, they'll just dissolve and declare bankruptcy,... only to reappear under a different company name the next day!

While technically developer is responsible,... I wouldn't be surprise if the developer has a way of shafting these fees back to Emerald Park buyers via maintenance fees.

Building pedestrian sidewalk isn't rocket science. Keep in mind these are sidewalk redo's because the City determine the quality wasn't there (sidewalk cracking prematurely or concrete not durable enough due to adding too much sand filler into mix (cheapening)),... and City insisting these redos must be done to correct the quality issues in the Public Realm space. Now who looks for construction quality issues inside EmeraldPark,... are they ever fixed???? These poor quality build issues will come back!

Once again,... look across the street at Tridel HullmarkCentre,... Tridel build with their own internal worker to ensure high quality work! Examine all the pedestrian sidewalk around Tridel HullmarkCentre for different shade indicating re-do work,.... the only time I ever recall any of their sidewalk panels being redone are a few panels in front of 2 Anndale by the curb about a year ago,... as seen in photo, likely for subway-water vent/fire hydrant work (thus, not due to quality issue but repairing or adding something underneath - maybe water vent for that large flower bed planter).

The way to ensure good quality work for all public realm sidewalk around every development is to force developer to hire the City's approved contractor for such work - any City approved contractor that does poor quality work will no longer be a City approved contractor.

 

[Torontovibe]

Yes! That's a very easy problem to solve!

 

[Uncle Meat]

What I am wondering is why these trees along Poyntz are dead in the first place? Crappy street furniture, defective sidewalks, dead trees, a subway entrance delayed by 2 years. This exposes a system which is poorly equipped to deal with developers who don't give a flying fajita about the public realm.

Speaking of the subway entrance, the signs of wear and tear on the walls are becoming increasingly visible. It already looks like it is a lot older than its real age.

 

[Mint]

Go to Hullmark's main subway entrance where 4/6 doors are perpetually broken (often the accessible one doesn't work) and one escalator is almost always out of service, and then tell me about how much better-managed that building is.

You’ve got to be kidding me. That’s the minor league of poorly managed buildings compared to Emerald Park.

 

[amnesiajune]

You really need to set foot in a third condo building if you think Hullmark Centre is a remarkably well-managed building and EP is horrible. Literally talk to anyone who lives in a relatively new condominium with more than ten floors.

Especially when the residents here pay SO MUCH in maintenance fees.

There's nothing wild about 75 cents per square foot, especially in a building where apartments are appreciating by 20+ percent year-over-year (which is way more than normal for condo apartments nowadays).

 

[sunnyraytoronto]

What I am wondering is why these trees along Poyntz are dead in the first place? Crappy street furniture, defective sidewalks, dead trees, a subway entrance delayed by 2 years. This exposes a system which is poorly equipped to deal with developers who don't give a flying fajita about the public realm.

Speaking of the subway entrance, the signs of wear and tear on the walls are becoming increasingly visible. It already looks like it is a lot older than its real age.

As you recall, EmeraldPark TTC subway entrance officially opened on March 28, 2017,.... it never went through a full winter!,... with folks dragging in snow and ice, huffing and puffing up the stairs,.... then we'll see why TTC standards include floor to ceiling tiles,... and NOT drywall like at EmeraldPark TTC entrance!

Since Emerald Park TTC subway entrance wasn't built to TTC specification, TTC never accepted it. Its the developer's responsibility to maintain and repair it,... and that's where it'll get interesting since everything seems to point to Bazis bailing back to Kazakhstan once e-condo and 1 Yorkville are completed,.....
http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/thread...york-mills-bazis-planning.23608/#post-1270294

It seems, once Bazis is gone, warrantee up,... EmeraldPark condo residents, retails and offices will be responsible for the maintenance and repair to the EmeraldPark TTC entrance,.... facing annual or bi-annual repairs, they'll likely eventually replace the drywall with much more durable floor to ceiling tiles,...

Obviously, the challenge now should be to get Bazis to fix whatever is wrong sooner rather than later,....

 

[sunnyraytoronto]

I've been bitching to City Staff about the lack of exterior handicap button here, most agree but it certainly doesn't help when the City Inspector in charge says "it meets Ontario Code",... Huh??? Seriously, no way! Personally, I think City Inspector just sick and tired of dealing with PITA Bazis so let minor issues slide,.... Me?,... my strategy then became to be more of a PITA than Bazis!

http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/thread...-rosario-varacalli.4829/page-151#post-1186145

Apparently a couple other folks also kept on complaining too,... so after about 6 months of complaining,... these constant complaints became too much PITA for the City Inspector,....

Anyways,... apparently, Hell just froze over! Bazis finally added the required handicap accessible button on the exterior of the door! Now frail folks and those in wheelchairs can finally open the doors from the outside to access the elevator of EmeraldPark TTC subway entrance. The adjacent interior handicap accessible button doesn't work now (seems like they messed up wiring). And the Caution Automatic Door signage still missing from the western door,.... hmmmm,.....

And yes, Bazis finally added the missing handicap accessible button to the doors on P1 level of the EmeraldPark TTC entrance! And surprisingly, they didn't screw anything else up doing that installation!!!

 

[constructo]

SunnyRay;
The squeaky wheel finally got some grease. I spoke to the building inspector in May explaining the same issue and lack of accessibility. He inspected the building, called me back and said those doors don't need an exterior button because the building has other accessible doors thus meeting Ontario code. My response was " there's code and then there's common sense." He agreed but said he can't enforce it. Now, the residents will have to get EP maintenance to fix the interior button.

 

[amnesiajune]

! Now frail folks and those in wheelchairs can finally open the doors from the outside to access the elevator of EmeraldPark TTC subway entrance.

People in wheelchairs now have barrier-free access to a set of escalators and a staircase. Great success?

 

[constructo]

Amnesia;
You must broaden your outlook.That elevator goes to 2 parking levels; powered door access gets people into the condos, offices, food court and retail. People other than those in wheelchairs also need easier access with those heavy doors. It made no sense to only have easier access from inside the bldg. to the exterior but not from the outside to get in. A Bazis oversight, but no surprise there.

 

[amnesiajune]

That elevator goes to 2 parking levels; powered door access gets people into the condos, offices, food court and retail.

There are already two elevators that go down to the parking garage, and an automatic sliding door about 30 feet away that takes you right to them. The push-button entrances at the subway entrance are a nice touch, but they don't make a big difference to anyone unless they're carrying two coffees into the subway or they're trying to get Presotea in a wheelchair.

 

[constructo]

Amnesia;
That is not the issue. The issue was trying to correct builder error in that the heavy glass doors had an electric door opener and wall mount activation button on the inside of the building to get out but no door opener or activation button on the outside for those trying to get in. It made no sense to install it on one side but not the other but it's finally been corrected. It may have been cost cutting by Bazis but more likely an error not caught by an inexperienced project manager. We all saw their delays in adhering to city and TTC building code and standards.

 

[NorthYorkEd]

There's nothing wild about 75 cents per square foot, especially in a building where apartments are appreciating by 20+ percent year-over-year (which is way more than normal for condo apartments nowadays).

No offense to anyone living there, but I have no idea why anyone shopping for a home would pay so much more for so much less. There are other buildings with far more space that share the same location perks and local amenities that can be purchased for lower prices. (And that are better built and managed.)

But I guess the keywords here are "shopping for a home". I suspect that most of the units in EP, like many of the new "stack-em-and-pack-em" builds of questionable quality, are being traded from investor to speculator and back again. Grab a unit, slap in a tenant (or a relative/college kid), and wait. Rinse, repeat.

Anyone who googles for five minutes can learn enough about the issues with this project to probably exercise caution or avoid this builder. I certainly would if I was planning to drop almost a million bucks on something I could get for hundreds of thousands less within a few minute's walk. After all, I'd hate to end up with a tiny shoebox that will start falling apart in a few years.