Does anyone know when sales for this project will start approximately? Or when they expect sales to start?
I am tempted to reply: 'Probably in a year or two..... plus or minus a year or two', but here is a little more insight than a simple glib response.
The various approvals for a project of this nature take a very long time - official plan amendment, zoning, Toronto and East York Community Committee, City Council, Ontario Municipal Board are all different processes which may be involved. More specifically, the developers, Pinnacle Corporation have appealed the project directly to the OMB while they are negotiating with the City as to what they may be able to build on the site. A further wrinkle is that the site is within the scope of the Lower Yonge Precinct Planning exercise, a joint initiative of the City and Waterfront Toronto. So, the final agreement as to specifically what can be built on the site still has to be agreed and approved.
And then all the detailed construction drawings have to be prepared, submitted to the city, reviewed, approved (which for a project of this size and complexity, would never happen without iterations of going back to the developer and the design team for clarifications and or modifications) and permits issued.
All that being said, two bits of contextual information. First of all, the developer, Pinnacle, and the design team, headed up by David Pontarini of Hariri Pontarini, have been working extensively with the City to develop an overall plan which meets both the developer's and the City's objectives, and comments from both members of the proponent's team and from representatives from Waterfront Toronto are that the process seems to be going well, and prospects for an agreed solution, which would be presented to the OMB for approval, appear to be good.
Secondly, Pinnacle has a history of starting construction on projects without waiting for a minimum threshold level (e.g. 60% or 65%) of the condominiums being sold in advance. Construction of the four tower Pinnacle complex on Lake Shore Boulevard between Bay and Yonge Streets started at the same time as sales were launched - shoring and excavation started at the north-east corner of the property while the sales pavilion was being opened on the south west corner.
The one factor I have not mentioned so far is possibly one of the most important in determining when a project will actually launch - Market Conditions. Market conditions are obviously quite good right now, but who knows what they will be when the project is actually about to come to market.
So, given the above considerations, and without me being privy to any inside knowledge (and unless anyone else has more specific knowledge) , it brings us back to the statement above: 'Probably in a year or two..... plus or minus a year or two'.
