Toronto M5V Condominiums | 118.87m | 35s | Lifetime | Core Architects

M5V is a lot closer to the Club District which might result in slower sales. The noise, traffic, crime, vandalism, etc. on Thurs, Fri, and Sat nights might play a factor. I have talked to people who live in the Wellington/Bathurst area who cannot sleep on those nights because of the noise of cars, yelling, and especially the sound of bottles being tossed out by clubs as they're cleaning up. Based on the same argument, I don't know how well TAS' project at 320 Richmond will sell.
 
Don't underestimate how TAS' reputation might affect M5V's sales...DIA sold extremely slowly (there's still units available). They're not exactly an established builder yet and they've experienced some growing pains.
 
It's not their reputation that will affect sales, it's the location of the building. I really like some of their buildings, including M5V, for the architecture, layout of the units, and also for their new commitment to LEED standards. The units are a bit pricey, but you get what you pay for imo. Would I buy here? (if i had any sort of money) - no. Why? - location. I love the area and what it's becoming, just not where I would want to live. The clubs would piss me off with the extra traffic, noise, etc. I would prefer a bit more west near bathurst/king. I know it's really close to M5V, but being on the other side of Spadina makes a big difference. There's still some noise and traffic, just not at my front door.
 
I currently live at Portland and King West and it is clubby, but I kind of like it. I like seeing that the city has life at night. That is what makes Toronto a better city than a place like Detroit, which becomes a scary ghost town after 6pm. The downtown core is abandoned. Toronto actually comes to life at night. Yeah, there is some noise, extra traffic, drunk girls & guys (amusing usually), and other club related collateral damage, but that is expected when living in the downtown core. I feel safer when there are lots of people around (even if they are drunk) late at night rather than walking down deserted streets by myself.
The benefits of living on King West around M5V or the Freed buildings is the amazing location. You can literally walk to almost every major event, attraction, restaurant, play/musical, concert, club, cne, store, eaton centre, movie cinema, museum, gallery, hotel, city hall, financial district, cn tower, acc/rogers centre, etc, etc. I do not need to own a car by living in the King West area and if i really need one I just grab an Autoshare vehicle which are all over the area.
I guess my long blathering above is in response to someone mentioning that M5V might not have sold as quickly due to the location. I disagree.
 
lazarus said:
I currently live at Portland and King West and it is clubby, but I kind of like it. I like seeing that the city has life at night. That is what makes Toronto a better city than a place like Detroit, which becomes a scary ghost town after 6pm. The downtown core is abandoned. Toronto actually comes to life at night. Yeah, there is some noise, extra traffic, drunk girls & guys (amusing usually), and other club related collateral damage, but that is expected when living in the downtown core. I feel safer when there are lots of people around (even if they are drunk) late at night rather than walking down deserted streets by myself.
The benefits of living on King West around M5V or the Freed buildings is the amazing location. You can literally walk to almost every major event, attraction, restaurant, play/musical, concert, club, cne, store, eaton centre, movie cinema, museum, gallery, hotel, city hall, financial district, cn tower, acc/rogers centre, etc, etc. I do not need to own a car by living in the King West area and if i really need one I just grab an Autoshare vehicle which are all over the area.
I guess my long blathering above is in response to someone mentioning that M5V might not have sold as quickly due to the location. I disagree.
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The centre of downtown Toronto becomes a ghost town at night, too, thanks to "district" segregation. Visit the central business district at night or any time on a weekend and watch out for tumbleweed. Hopefully the new residences being built will bring some life to the area.

I also live in the M5V area (facing both King and Spadina), and I love how busy it is there. I use Zipcars, however. :) The corner of King & Spadina is an endless source of balcony entertainment. Something about crossing the street there causes people to scream randomly between 12 and 3am. Also, one in four drivers lose all ability to operate a vehicle at that intersection. I'm very sympathetic to streetcar drivers now. King west AND east of Spadina is very clubby. This is not annoying at all, unless you're hypersensitive to light ambient noise. Anyone annoyed by clubber noise is going to loathe the streetcar noises, which are more often and noiser than any club-related noise in the area. Seriously though, if you don't like noise, don't live in the city. I've lived where it's dead quiet at night (Mississauga, Burlington) and it's really unsettling to me.
 
hmm..

Not really sure about that, compared to many many other cities the CBD is a lot more active, especially on weekends, even if it is just people walking through to get to places.
 
Barring kids skateboarding all over corporate monuments and fundraising joggers, and a few people on their way to the mall, it gets pretty empty at times. There could be maybe a dozen people (tourists) in the entire PATH between front and richmond. You could visit downtown and pretend you're Will Smith.
 
I agree with Taal. The CBD doesn't totally die here, and yes, of course the new residences being inserted into it will bring more life down there after business hours, although it will be a half dozen years or maybe even a decade before enough of them are built and occupied to make a huge difference.

In that same time frame, M5V Life and the Festival Tower will be completed, as will Boutique, (and ShangriLa on the fringe between the CBD and the Entertainment District), plus the Hilton Garden Inn and Templar Hotel open. Within a decade we will also likely see Element 2, Hudson 2, the building where The Joker was, and the building on Widmer beside the Festival Tower and others added to the King east of Spadina area. I wonder how many clubs we'll see shut down without being replaced in that area in the same time - I assume a few doors will close.

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interchange42 said:
I wonder how many clubs we'll see shut down without being replaced in that area in the same time - I assume a few doors will close.
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Some doors will close for sure, but i think even more will open. As the population density increases those new residents will need places to eat, shop, and play. On King West in the last few years there have been several new clubs/lounges: Brant House, KiWe, Century Room, Loki Lounge, West, Pur Supper Club, Cheval, C Lounge (on Wellington), State Theatre, and more. I think these will even increase as thousands of more people move into the hood. The restaurants on King West (between John and Spadina) will greatly benefit when Lightbox and M5V are completed. That Shoppers Drug Mart (King & Peter) will probably see their income double over the next few years. The Paramount/Scotia Theatre will hopefully see an increase in patronage. More density will equal more businesses to meet the demands of the masses.
 
I agree that there will be more street retail, but the climate seems to be a bit sour on more clubs at the moment. I don't think we'll see an increase in them. More likely some of them will convert to other commercial uses.

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Definitely lots of residential stuff in the pipeline for the area, which will only increase club-related complaints and profitability for more local uses. The next few years will definitely see a transformation of this neighbourhood.

Don't want to stray off topic too much, but speaking of the broader area, part of the parking lot on the SW corner of Charlotte and Adelaide was dug up a couple of days ago, looks like soil samples are being taken. There's been no condo talk for this corner, but someone I know mentioned they heard a rumour about another boutique hotel on that corner. Anyone have any info?
 
I agree that the area is great for restaurants, theatres, nightlfe, etc. I am always walking around there and I love the atmoshere and action, but where are all the day-to-day amenities? Where is the nearest gym? community centre? A decent sized grocery store? library? Barbershop? Basketball court? At M5V you are about 2-3 blocks from the centre and busiest part of the club district (Peter/Adelaide/Richmond). Around there is where most of shootings, stabbings, and figths occur.

West of Spadina the impact from clubs is less. The clubs mentioned are more attractive and not as massive. But I don't think that there will be as many clubs overall in the future. The area is facing tremendous growth pressure with many more residential units going in. The new residents will join in the fight against the clubs, and will have the City on their side. New regulations are going to be enforced (some are stupid like the lineup=patio issue) which will cause clubs to close down. The club owners who have been there a long time are giving up and closing so they don't have to deal with it. New clubs will open up in their place, but run by people with no experience basically hosting a party for all their friends. Security becomes lax so more people can funnel in, and more problems arise. It will be sad if we lose our club district, but it's happening. Fez Batik is gonna be a Transistion Centre (not exactly a homeless shelter), Joker/V is going to be condos (by TAS, developers of M5V), C-Lounge has an application for condos on the site.

Pardon me for all the clubs stuff, but it is relevant for the M5V location. But hey, if the clubs all go away, this site is amazing for such a great building!
 
I am always walking around there and I love the atmoshere and action, but where are all the day-to-day amenities? Where is the nearest gym? community centre? A decent sized grocery store? library? Barbershop? Basketball court?
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Tons of gyms in 2-minute radius: Venice, Diesel, Totum, Fitness One, and many more.

Community centre is harder - there's Harrison Pool up near John/Queen - otherwise, you'd have to trek to Alexandra Park (10 min walk) or Trinity Bellwoods. The former has a public library as well.

Grocery stores are also harder, but getting better. The newly opened Fresh and Wild at King/Spadina is pretty good for most things. There's also the decent Rabba at Front/Peter.

Anyway, clearly this is a newly residential area, so it still has a bit of that frontier vibe, despite being in the middle of the "action", but it's evolving daily and it's really fun to watch that happen.

Being a resident of the area, I should also say that the shootings which have happened around the clubs on occasion are almost always something that occurs in the wee hours of the morning on a weekday. I've always found out about them on the news, and it hasn't been something that's affected me or anyone I know (knock on wood). However, it is disconcerting when you do hear about it, and I support all efforts to put an end to that, even if it does involve breaking up the concentration of clubs.
 
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