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HOMES CONDOS
NE
W IN
ON ON2 SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015 SECTION H
A major tree questGet the perfect one, H2
Home is still where the hearth is — but thehearth is now found in diverse locationsoutside the home in this age where workand lifestyle converge.
At 150 Redpath condos in Toronto, build-ing designs and amenities cater to the 24-7atmosphere in the Yonge St. and EglintonAve. area. The hearth is now, for instance,at the common-area fire pit and by the bigscreen in the lounge.
The neighbourhood was once known asYoung and Eligible — a play on the streetnames and its reputation as a mecca foryoung singles. Named earlier this year asthe second-busiest GTA intersection, witha combined vehicle-pedestrian trafficcount of 128,564 over 24 hours, the arearemains a magnet for young professionals.
This upmarket, younger demographic isnot necessarily interested in schools, day-care and two-car parking. They’re eyeingthe range of great restaurants, the shop-ping, the subway and LRT intersection attheir doorstep. All components of a life-style that goes around the clock.
“We’re definitely attracting young buy-ers,” says Matt Young, 30, of Capital Devel-opments. The company, with Freed Devel-opments, is building 150 Redpath, a38-storey highrise with 543 units includ-ing townhomes, condos, lofts and pent-houses ranging from 376 square feet to1,403 square feet and from $221,990 tomore than $1million.
Young and his colleague Alexis Albert, 28,of Freed Developments, are exactly thedemographic the condominium is aimedat: “A lot of 27- to 35-year-olds, not quiteready to start a family, who don’t want kidsrunning up and down the halls, but want agood neighbourhood built around theirlifestyle,” he says.
It’s a unique demographic: work hard,play harder and rest up in luxury. As aresult, the neighbourhood has that 24-7buzz.
“There’s so much in the way of foodaround the area,” says Albert. “I think it’sthe variety people love. Japanese, Mexi-
can, Italian, whatever you feel like. Some-times, it’s a cheeseburger.”For us, by us: After studying and envi-sioning their buyers, Young, Albert andthe team around the table discussing theproject soon realized they were looking inthe mirror.
“We’re all in that range,” she says. “Wedon’t live 9-to-5, we don’t just come homeafter work. We want those shared ameni-ties and shared spaces. Time is preciousso we want to carve out more living in thespace we have.”
The condo units themselves becomemore like private spaces for sleeping,showering and downtime — but theshared spaces — the amenities — take onmore prominence.
Buyers know what they want becausethey’ve already experienced it, says pro-ject designer Johnson Chou.
“They’ve travelled and they’ve seengreat spaces in private lounges at air-ports, or hotels or their own workspaces,”he says. “Our role was to evoke thoseexperiences in the spaces of the condo
units and in the shared spaced and ame-nities.
“The design concept here is not aboutdefining space but that the design shouldarticulate the lifestyle,” Chou adds.
Articulation will also happen in otherways.
“In working with these buyers and po-tential buyers we’ve started to add servic-es to complement the amenities,” Albertsays.
Designs for a 24-7 lifestyle
Matt Young, 30, of Capital Developments and Alexis Albert, 28, of Freed Developments, say the 150 Redpath condos are conceived “for us, by us.”J.P. MOCZULSKI FOR THE TORONTO STAR
Condo in Yonge-Eglinton neighbourhood speaks to work-hard-play-harder ethos of young professionals
“We don’t justcome homeafter work. We want those sharedamenities andshared spaces.”ALEXIS ALBERTON TARGET AGE RANGE REDPATH continued on H6
IAN HARVEY SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Eight decades of construction has taught us a thing or two about building condominiums.We weave our long and proud history of innovation and design into every Tridel home.With Canada’s top designers, planners and construction experts at the helm, our storiedhistory is your ultimate peace of mind.
tridel.comEIGHT DECADES OF HOME BUILDING. OVER 80,000 HOMES BUILT.TRIDEL COMMUNITIES ARE BUILT GREEN. BUILT FOR LIFE.®
Tridel Built for Life®, Tridel Built Green. Built for Life.® are registered trademarks of Tridel and used under license. ©Tridel 2015. All rights reserved. E.&O.E. December 2015.
BUILT on history.CURRENT TRIDEL COMMUNITIES TO CALL HOME
TORONTOAlterTen York300 Front Street West101 ErskineBlythwood at HuntingtonSherwood at HuntingtonOne Old MillTwo Old MillAqualina at BaysideAquavista at BaysideSQ at Alexandra ParkSQ2 at Alexandra Park
NORTH YORKScalaTrio at AtriaAlto & Parkside at AtriaArgentoAristo at Avonshire
ETOBICOKEBloorvistaIslington TerraceWest Village
SCARBOROUGHAvani at MetrogateAvani 2 at Metrogate
City of Toronto Archives
H6⎮TORONTO STAR SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2015 ON ON2
See what’s available — and for howmuch — with a selection of GTAOpen Houses.
UXBRIDGELocation: 23 Colonel Sharpe Cres.,Brock St. W. and Quaker Village Dr.Type: two-storey detached; 4 + 1bedrooms; 4 bathroomsAsking price: $685,000 Open house: Saturday, Dec. 12, 1p.m.-3 p.m.Listing agent: Marie Persaud, Coldwell Banker R.M.R. Real Estate,Brokerage, 905-852-4338; MariePersaud.ca
KAWARTHA LAKESLocation: 5 Marsh St.,Hwy. 35 and Coldstream Rd.Type: two-storey detached; 3 bedrooms; 3 bathroomsAsking price: $419,900Open house: Saturday, Dec. 12, 1p.m.-3 p.m.Listing agent: Kathyryn Johnson,Coldwell Banker R.M.R. Real Estate,705-324-3411; cbrmr.com
SUNDERLANDLocation: S11985, Sideroad 17,Concession Rd. 7 and Lake Ridge Rd.Type: two-storey detached; 3 bedrooms; 2 bathroomsAsking price: $870,000Open house: Sunday, Dec. 13, 1p.m.- 3 p.m.Listing agent: Marie Persaud, Coldwell Banker R.M.R. Real Estate,Brokerage, 905-852-4338; MariePersaud.ca
GOODWOODLocation: 65 Wyndance Way,Goodwood Rd. and Brock Rd.Type: detached bunga-loft; 4 bedrooms, 4 bathroomsAsking price: $1,273,000 Open house: Saturday, Dec. 12 and Sunday, Dec. 13, 1p.m.-4 p.m.Listing agent: Gerald Lawrence,Coldwell Banker R.M.R. Real Estate,Brokerage, 905-852-4338; 65Wyn-danceWay.GeraldLawrence.com
NORTH YORK Location: 801Sheppard Ave. W., Unit 209,Sheppard Ave. W. and Bathurst St.Type: condo apartment in a midrisebuilding; 1+ 1bedroom; 1bathroomAsking price: $284,500Open house: Saturday, Dec. 12, 2 p.m.-4 p.m.Listing agent: Oana Popescu, SuttonGroup Realty Systems Inc., Brokerage,416-896-3333; suttonrealty.com
CLAIRLEA-BIRCHMOUNTLocation: 9 Rockelm Rd.,Warden Ave. and St. Clair Ave. E.Type: detached bungalow; 3 bedrooms; 1bathroomAsking price: $648,800Open house: Sat. December 12, 2-4 p.m.Listing agents: Jill Fewster-Yan andMichelle Saitta, Jill’s TEAM, RoyalLePage Signature Realty, Brokerage,416-443-0300; jillsteam.ca; 9Rockelm.comCompiled by Allison Harness frominformation that is publicly available.Send recent homes sales to [email protected]. Not all submissions can be used.
> OPEN HOUSE
>>HOMES & CONDOS
“Things like a dog-walking servicein the building . . . having a milk-shake from the ground-floor 24-hour restaurant delivered to yourdoor.”
In that respect, 150 Redpath will besimilar to a high-end hotel; not sur-prising given that developer PeterFreed’s offices are in the ThompsonHotel, the luxe boutique hostelry hedeveloped in the West King Westneighbourhood that is a go-to spotwith its celebrity-attended rooftoppool and fine dining.
“We really got into a discussionaround how we like to live, or wouldlike to live,” said Albert. “It’s for us, byus, in respect to the demographic —we get it.
“It’s a lifestyle that puts your homeat the centre of your social circle. Butit’s not the space you live in as muchas the shared spaced you have avail-able in the amenities which are soimpressive.”
That impression is set starting atthe entrance’s two-storey lobby withwaiting-area lounge and 24-7 con-cierge services. Then there’s theamenities spread over two floors: thegolf simulator, fitness facilities; a spawith hot stone therapy room, steamroom and tranquility lounge.
It’s those little details that set itapart among the young-profession-als demographic of buyers.
The ’round-the-clock restaurant onthe ground floor will cater to thatcrowd with fine ales, wines and up-scale (but not too upscale) food. Aswell as takeout, it is planned to offerdoorstop delivery for both thosesweats-and-T-shirt nights in or forevenings spent entertaining at theMiami-inspired, 80-foot outdoor in-finity pool. Food can also go to thegames room so no big moment ismissed during playoff action on thebig-screen. Better yet, fire up the bar-becues and take one of the privatedining areas or gather the gangaround the fire pit.
Call it showcase living. Or just call itthe midtown lifestyle.
Condoaims to besocial hubREDPATH from H1
The 24-7 diner planned for150 Redpath, top, will also dotakeout and deliver toresidents in the building. Thelounge, bottom, is designedfor groups and also to providea level of personal space toindividuals.
> 150 REDPATH
I went to an open house but theagent asked me to leave if I didn’tprovide ID to sign in. Is that al-lowed?
This is a great question. Openhouses can be a great way to checkout different properties that youmight be interested in. I love pop-ping into open houses and I’m oftenasked for identification, just as youwere.
But it’s important to rememberthat you’re entering someone’sprivate home.
Try to see it from the seller’s per-spective. Under most other circum-stances, you wouldn’t let strangersroam around your home, especiallywhen you’re not there to personallykeep an eye on things. It’s not hardto imagine how would-be thievescould take advantage of the situa-tion.
Because of the risks, we encourage
sellers to take additional precau-tions.
When it comes to open housepreparations, people tend to focuson cleaning and decluttering to helptheir home look its best. But run-ning an open house should involve alot more than that.
By planning ahead, sellers can do agreat deal to ensure the safety andsecurity of an open house.
As you’ve encountered, it’s a goodidea for the seller’s representative tokeep track of everyone who entersthe property and have them sign in.They can also limit the number ofvisitors in the home at any one timeand bring a colleague to ensure allvisitors are escorted as they tour theproperty.
Sellers should also consider re-moving or securing certain itemswhen they’re hosting an openhouse:á Anything of significant senti-mental or monetary value.á Small items such as portableelectronics and jewelry.á Bills, credit-card receipts, bank
statements, passports and otherimportant documents.á Prescription medications.
We recommend storing theseitems in a safe or somewhere offsite,such as a friend’s home.
Since you’re on the buyer’s sideright now, you’re more concernedabout finding the property that’sright for you.
That’s an area where a registeredreal estate professional can be a bigasset. Based on your criteria, theywill be able to identify suitable prop-erties that will meet your needs.
And they can work with the seller’srepresentative to schedule a privateviewing of the properties you’reinterested in.
If you decide to sell in the future,keep open house safety in mind.Joseph Richer is registrar of the RealEstate Council of Ontario (RECO). Heoversees and enforces all rules govern-ing real estate professionals in Ontario.Email questions to [email protected] more tips at reco.on.ca, follow onTwitter @RECOhelps or on YouTube atyoutube.com/RECOhelps.
Open house events need to be controlled
When opening your home toprospective buyers, it’s a good ideato take some precautions.
DREAMSTIME
Joe Richer
Q&A > JOHNSON CHOU
BRINGING SPACE TO LIFEDesigner created multifunctional areas Johnson Chou, the interior designerfor 150 Redpath, was charged withbringing life to both the shared andprivate spaces, while creating a senseof seamlessness between them. Chou has worked in both architectur-al and industrial design, furniture,interiors, graphic identity and corpo-rate communications. His hallmark ismulti-functionality and his imprintcan be found at the Museum of Ca-nadian Contemporary Art, Blowfish,Red Bull Canada’s headquarters onQueen St. W. and the Bang and Oluf-sen showroom in Yorkville.
At 150 Redpath, there is a lot offocus on shared spaces. But they’renot big, empty rooms and areas.What’s the thinking?In all of the spaces, the TV area, themain room, the pool area, they mayseem large at first, but then yourealize they’ve been separated intosmaller spaces, rooms within rooms,where you can be alone or be withsomeone in a more private setting.
Smaller condos mean a bigger chal-lenge. How did you deal with it here?The level of sophistication is reflect-ed in the details, like a basin near thesteam shower, the built-in wine cool-er with backlighting, the built-inbookshelves in the unit with doorsand without, so the owner can
choose to hide or reveal their collect-ibles. It’s a way of dealing with clutterwhich is often an issue in condos.
What’s the design concept, overall?The design concept here is not aboutdefining space but that the designshould articulate the lifestyle.
Typical buyers are expected to bethose with busy lives. How do youdesign for that?As designers, it was really our task to evoke a level of sophisticatedpurpose into the interiors, both theprivate and the public spaces. Youthink about how people will engagewith the space . . . People can chooseto engage with others or not. Youdon’t have to feel awkward when youwalk into the pool area because thereare cabanas — you can go there toread and be alone if you choose. In allthe open spaces it’s the same, youcan choose to be alone or choose toengage with other people.
Ian Harvey
Johnson Chou,project designerfor 150 Redpathand principal ofJohnson Choudesign practice.
Size: 543 units; 38 storeys. Suites from376 sq. ft. to 1,403 sq. ft.,townhomes, condos, loftsand penthousesPrice: From $221,990 tomore than $1 millionDeveloper: Capital Developments & Freed DevelopmentsArchitect: Peter Clewesof architectsAllianceInteriors: Johnson ChouOccupancy: Fall 2018Info: 2239 Yonge St.,416-996-5428, redpathcondos.com,[email protected]
