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New in Toronto real estate: E Condos
E Condos has been making Toronto's architectural elites drool. The pre-construction project slated for the northeast corner of Yonge and Eglinton is striking in its rendering phase, most notably by its pair of cantilever pools halfway up of the paired glass towers. Yes, this is the type of thing you see when you sort your Pinterest feed by "Popular."
The "eFinity" pools are just some of the many amenities planned for the "E8" and "E15" towers, which still have a long way to go before expected occupancy in 2017. A joint project by Bazis Inc., Metropia and Riocan with TMG Builders on construction, here's a breakdown of the coolest (or, at the very least, the "tallest") thing coming to Yonge and Eglinton.
SPECS
Number of towers: 2
Exterior: Glass
Number of units: 736, 266
Number of floors: 64, 38
Unit sizes (in square feet): 424 - 739 (+ penthouses)
Starting price: $290,000
Parking: $58,000 (for 2-bedroom units over 700 sq.ft.)
Storage locker: $5,000
Maintenance: $0.52 /sq. ft.
Parking maintenance: $150 /mo
Locker maintenance: $29.95 /mo
Hydro included?: No
Amenities: 24-hour concierge, cantilevered pool and lounge (x2), gym, dining room, party room, guest suites, technology rooms, yoga studio, outdoor terrace (and more...)
Expected occupancy: August 2017
THE GOOD
Damn, those pools are cool. As much as I'd love to be a wet blanket and rhetorically ask about the safety of a couple of cantilever pools up on the 31st floor, I can't. Just imagine the view! (Limited only to those who can open their eyes underwater, mind you. Or those who don't fear social ostracization as a result of goggle-wearing.) Yes, I know Toronto seems to have a wee (read: awful) problem with glass falling out of the sky, but I should hope that E Condos is taking every necessary precaution, especially will all of this pool-centric attention.
Without a doubt, this development has location on its side. Whether you're a "Young and Eligible" fan or not, you can't deny that everything will be within seconds of the two new structures. There's grocery shopping and a movie theatre across the street, lots of bar and restaurant options right down the road, and a (proposed) underground connection to the subway and (to-be-constructed) Eglinton LRT. Residents will basically never have to go outside, not even have to leave their building to work out or go for a swim, and be able to bask in the satisfaction of having everything at their footsteps while maintaining a midtown address. It'll be Yonge and Dundas without the Ryerson kids or people handing out Jesus pamphlets.
And perhaps this is redundant, but I think the view (this time, from the suites) merits another touting. While some units boast a measly 17 square feet in balcony space (why not just a closet?) others come with wrap-around balconies totaling 257 square feet. Seeing as this is not downtown Toronto with a skyscraper ending every block, you might actually be treated to a great scene outside your bedroom window.
THE BAD
Cost. Can I say that again? Don't let the "Starting At..." or inoffensive $0.52 /sq. ft. maintenance fees fool you. You're going to pay for a unit at E Condos. While you may still be able to snag a unit for under $300k, you're undoubtedly going to get one that's under 500 square feet. Considerably so. Depending on the unit, you're looking at paying somewhere between $650 and $700 per square foot in either building, which is not chump change for us non-venture-capitalist types. And call me a pessimist if you like, but with E Condos' incredible list of amenities, I have a nagging suspicion that maintenance fees won't stay at $0.52 /sq. ft. for too long.
And the costs just increase from there. While the storage locker price is pretty standard at $5,000, parking for a whopping $58,000 is not. (I'm tempted to calculate the cost of parking per square inch at E Condos, but I fear the result will be overwhelmingly depressing.) Plus, residents who own both a locker and a parking space are looking at spending an additional $2,160 in fees, on top of regular resident maintenance fees. Renting is suddenly looking a lot more appealing...
The units themselves are somewhat underwhelming. Though they boast all of the now-obligatory double paned sealed windows, energy-efficient appliances, and nine-foot ceilings, the floor plans leave much to be desired. There is a noticeable lack of counter space in almost every unit, and the bedrooms boast barely enough room for a nightstand (nevermind two). I suppose such are the symptoms of a plan that turns a 734 square foot space into a 2-bed+den unit. In short, the suites are small. Better make good use of that yoga studio.
THE VERDICT
I'd very much like an affluent friend to purchase an E Condo suite and subsequently invite me over for an eFinity swim. I'll even bring the goggles. While there are surely those who would trade extra living space for fantastic amenities and a super-accessible location, I'm not one of them. With E Condos poised to bring a cool 1,000 people (though likely, many more) to the intersection in the next five years, the eligible at Yonge and Eglinton will get that much more competition. I think I'll sit this one out.
What do you think? Would you live here? Add your comments to the thread below.
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Also, those pools will never be built as is. The Cheapening will occur.
That is the highest monthly parking maintenance fees I have seen to date. I've seen quite a few recent condos which are $30-60/month. Renting a parking spot at a newer and core downtown condo is only $150-170/month.
It's just incredibly stupid to build a huge condo on a major intersection (especially when you have one practically across the street!). That's where retail should be going, not housing. The condo should be going on a side street nearby, not the intersection itself. The pedestal will just be a big Bed Bath and Beyond or something, and won't replace all the amenities it is removing. I hope this project fails and they don't build it.
I guess builders are under the belief that there are dumb enough people to buy a glass box and are willing to throw away $600+ a month on crap they will not use.
Good job on making them rich.
Huh???
But I'm sure Toronto has building codes that would prevent that right? Just ask people walking on Wellington under those glass missiles waiting to fall.
It pains me just to think what these poor fools will be paying in maintenance fees after 5 years.
granted in a crappy suburban house you get more space --
but you're always paying a giant amount of money to keep the home running.
Plus if you've ever been to that intersection or lived in the area you'll know that those stores generate a ton of foot traffic and add a lot of life to the area. If you replace all that with a big box store in the pedestal it just kills the intersection.
Minimum codes means build as cheaply as you can with poorest quality you can get away with.
What you get is all those questionably built homes staked on top of each other.
Hope the Condominium Act's critical "owner" components are mostly updated by the goal of a 2017 move-in date.There are going to be a lot of renters within 2 years.Owner occupied units will be trapped trying to get bylaws requiring at least 50% owner approval in place to maintain a building's civility.The first board,condo property management is brought in by the builder who is motivated to
None of this is in defence of the E Condos - which are the ugliest buildings I've seen in a long time. They should take note of Minto down the street, which built a beautiful courtyard and two coffee places with always-packed patios (Starbucks and SPIN - both great for the area). This area needs more stuff like this, and hopefully Bazis will build something into the N/E corner.
As for the location, I know this corner very well. It's pretty much one of the best served transit intersections in the country. It is where tall buildings should go. We went through similar whining with the Minto buildings to the south, which were shortened to the point of looking bulky rather than attractive. Enough already!
I agree tall buildings should go in this area, but they should not be built at the expense of the area. Since most of these units will turn to rentals anyway why not build this one block up just off Yonge on Roehampton? There are a bunch of smaller older apartment buildings there that this could replace without having a negative impact on the area, and it will still be very close to the Yonge Eg transit hub.
Umm, have you seen the Minto square? It is pretty dead no matter what time of day it is. Spin always seems empty, but I assume the starbucks does well (despite having a Tims up the street and another starbucks around the corner).
It won't have a record store as this monstrosity will take out Vortex, one of the city's best and longest-running.
The developers own the TD site, the Burger King/Beauty Supply site east of Yonge and the site housing What-A-Bagel, Town Shoes, and Black's Camera (if it's still open). They also own the rental building at 25 Roehampton Avenue.
It's an odd shaped parcel with one tower at Yonge and Eglinton and one on Roehampton.
Part of the public sell on the renovation of the RioCan property on the NW corner (which is removing a significant chunk of the open space) is each of the corners should contribute to open space at the intersection. Whatever Bazis settles on, I hope it'll include "public" gathering spaces like Minto did: public-use courtyards, patios that stay open late, etc.
Those maintenance fees are high and you are not going to look at yourself swimming on the 31st floor, unless you can somehow get out of your body (the cool view will not look so cool)... Thankfully this will never be built. 2017 planned move-in date, make it early 2019 which is 7 years for this crap.
7x8 bedrooms? Seriously? This monstrosity is designed for investors from the ground-up. No end-user is going to want to live in these.
Ohhhhh glass walled pool!!!11!. I'll bet you in 10 years that shoddy junk will leak like a sieve.
We need a real estate crash so investors stop propping up these garbage developments.
I half-agree with you. The area's still dominated by the under-35 set, so I'd argue that the "Young" part still holds. It's the "eligible" that's questionable. Judging by the number of strollers I have to dodge and weave around on the sidewalks in that part of town, I'd say most of those young folks living at Yonge & Eg are well spoken-for at this stage.