True "Hard Lofts" outside Toronto?

[Retsujou]

Hello Forum Readers.

I am an Austrian living in the United Kingdom who will be joining his Canadian Partner in Toronto in about a month.

We are both moving to Ontario so we are both not very familiar with the area.

I will be working in Mississauga and she will most likely work in Toronto. We are both in love with the idea of a "hard loft" such as the The Abby Church Lofts in High Park or the Candy Factory.

We would love to rent initially but buying somethig in the range of 450K to 650K is realistic to us.

The reason why I am turning to this forum is that I did not really find any information on "hard lofts" or their development outside Toronto. I do not want to get up in traffic jam hell when I commute to work in the morning.

We would do not mind living in an area that has not been fully developed yet, we do not care about hip bars or super pretty streets, we are fine with living in an more industrial area as long as we can find the right open plan living area.

I was wondering whether you have any ideas as to what sites I can use or where to look for a service that is specialised on finding such "developments".

I would guess that we would not be renting before February 2009 and if we decided to buy I think we would wait until late 2009.

To me this is an importat process, my home is a part of me and it defines who I am just as much as anything else. I want to find the right home, so I thought I should start looking around early.

Every input is welcome, if I have not been clear on what we want and missed out on giving vital information, please let me know and I will correct that.

Thank you very much.

 

[junctionist]

It'll be hard to avoid long rush hour commutes if you live outside the city but work within it. But your preference for hard lofts means you might find a building by a rail line with a commuter train service.

I can't think of anything myself. If you don't find anything, you could consider Etobicoke, which is close to Mississauga yet still part of Toronto. In that case there's Network Lofts, which is also close to the subway.

 

[Retsujou]

I can't think of anything myself. If you don't find anything, you could consider Etobicoke, which is close to Mississauga yet still part of Toronto. In that case there's Network Lofts, which is also close to the subway.

I have no propblems with driving my partner to a railway station or public transport hub for her to get into Toronto.
I have looked at the Loft development your recommended and I am pondering whether I would consider that a hard loft. I guess we are really looking for something more industrial. I have no idea where the "ex" industrial areas are though

Thank you, I will keep you posted on what I find.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Try the Network Loft at 2 Fieldway Road near the Islington Subway Station.

 

[DarnDirtyApe]

Hi Retsujou,

You might have a problem finding a hard loft outside of areas that are relatively close to downtown. Generally speaking, most multi-storey industrial buildings here were built prior to the 1940's, after which point industrial development tended to consist of one-storey buildings. Toronto is such a new city that most suburban areas were farmland (or small villages) until the last few decades. Industry was concentrated in a few areas that are all located within the city of Toronto proper. Almost anything you'll find will be within the older parts of the city.

I'm not sure I would consider Network Lofts to be a 'hard loft', since the place had a former life as an office building rather than a warehouse.