Once upon a time, Toronto was nothing but a series of parking lots, with a few buildings sprinkled in between.

Today, the downtown core is so built up, that developers will look to tiny parcels of land for an opportunity to build a dense, low-rise condominium.

So as a condo buyer, how concerned should you be with potential future development sites right outside your window?

www.blogto.com did a feature a couple years back called “That Time When Toronto Was A City Of Parking Lots.”  They showed this photo here, among others:

Make sure you click the link and read the article – it’s awesome, and personally, I love looking back at old photos of the city.

A lot has changed since then, and with rampant condominium development in the downtown core, you can almost guarantee that every single vacant lot or dilapidated building is being eyed by developers.

Remember when Charlie Condos wasn’t there, and a vacant parking lot gave the east-facing units at The Hudson a great view?

Could somebody have seen that coming?

Should a condo-owner have been on the lookout for future development that would impact the value of their condo?

I certainly wouldn’t live my life worrying that a demolition crew is going to show up tomorrow and start knocking down the building outside my window, but when looking to buy any condo in the downtown core that’s next door to a parking lot or a tear-down building, you have to at least be aware of the possibility down the road.

If you really want to be certain, then ask your Realtor to look up who owns the parcel of land in question in the Land Registry system, and see if it’s a development company, or a principal of one (ie. Google the person’s name).  If a numbered corporation comes up, and you really want to get aggressive, go down to the Ontario Ministry of Business on University Avenue, pay the $12 fee, and find out the names of the Directors of that numbered corporation, and take the search to the next level.

Or, just throw caution to the wind…