Last weekend, I was showing condos to two investors from Dubai who seemed overly concerned with the price per square foot.
No matter what I showed them, they wanted it cheaper!
A unit at Mozo Lofts was priced reasonably at $420/sqft, and they somehow thought that was too much.
Here are the most expensive pre-construction condominiums in Toronto….
#5: $1,102 per sqft @ Seventy-Seven
77 Charles Street”Seventy Seven” was the best name these marketing guru’s could come up with? How about “Dolla-Dolla-Bill-Y’all”? This modest 16-storey building will house only 72 units, meaning an average of between four and five units per floor in total. The average square footage per unit: just over 2000. Their marketing slogan: “We didn’t set the standard for Yorkville living in Toronto. We merely perfected it.” Well, that certainly has me getting out my chequebook…
#4: $1,137 per sqft @ Trump International Hotel
325 Bay Street
Visit the website for this project and you’ll see that they spend more time selling the city of Toronto than they do selling the actual development itself. The building was initially slated to consist of 68 stories, but has undergone a slight haircut down to the 57 stories that are currently being built. Ask The Donald and he’ll put a positive spin on it, but I think the project just wasn’t selling.
#3: $1,242 per sqft @ Four Seasons East
1263 Bay Street
The Four Seasons East building will be 55 stories in height, smaller than it’s West counterpart, but will “only” average 1748 square feet per unit, of which there will be 356 in total. This is the largest project in the history of the Yorkville area, and what better brand to have than the Four Seasons? Plans originally called for both buildings to be 55 stories, but the combination of two towers, one tall and one short, will surely make the complex somewhat more appealing to the eye.
#2: $1,541 per sqft @ Museum House
Do the math here: There are 19 stories and 24 suites in total. So only ten people are forced to share an entire floor of the building with a neighbour. Those poor things! Directly across from the new and improved Royal Ontario Museum, this building will incorporate a retail storefront on the main level (Prada? Gucci?) and be home to some of the biggest yuppies in the city. If you’re interested, there are still SIX suites remaining!
#1: $1,580 per sqft @ Four Seasons West
55 Scollard Street
The West tower of the Four Seasons makes the East tower look like a government housing project! With only 25 stories and 101 suites in total, the average suite is 3293 square feet, making the average price a cool $5.2 Mil.
The average cost per square foot in Toronto during 2006 was $369. I paid $474/sqft for my condo in March, but I have an additional 440 square feet on the outdoor terrace. My friend Pete paid roughly $427/sqft for his Queen’s Quay condo, and my friend Tara paid an unreal $291/sqft for her 3-bedroom condo in The Beaches.
I can just picture the Yorkville residents turning up their noses at the prices we paid to live our NORMAL LIVES in our modest condos.
I can think of about a billion better ways to spend $5,000,000 than to purchase a 3,200 sqft condo at Four Seasons. I for one, would much rather own a 4-bedroom house in Leaside and still have $3,500,000 to buy a vacation property, cottage, or just save the money for the proverbial rainy day. Maybe keep the money aside for my children’s education?
NAAAAAAH!
“Everybody into the ivory-inlayed hot tub at Dave’s Museum House condo! Don’t forget the caviar and Dom Perignon!”
