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National Post | Street Smarts: Toronto’s Yorkville, Heart of the City
February 22, 2012
Written by SUZANNE WINTROB | Photograph by DARREN CALABRESE
She won’t be taking possession for at least two years, but Vickie Zemelman is already excited about her new pied-à-terre.
The North York mother of three school-aged children has just bought a one-bedroom, $500,000 condominium at the New Residences of Yorkville Plaza, Camrost Felcorp’s 32-storey, 500-unit tower on the site of Toronto’s renowned Four Seasons Hotel. When it’s complete in 2014, Ms. Zemelman plans to use it as her weekend getaway so she and her husband can have some alone time or entertain friends on their terrace. Her parents, who winter in Florida, have bought a similar unit down the hall and will use it whenever they’re in town.
“When I was much younger, we used to hang out in Yorkville,” reminisces Ms. Zemelman, 39.
“[My friends and I] used to go to Remys and hang out on the steps at Over the Rainbow. It was always a hip place to be. I love it there,” she says. “I love the fact that the street itself is very quiet but yet you’re two steps away from Bloor, near a lot of the major attractions in the city — it’s the heart of our city and I’m looking forward to living there.”
With hundreds of brand new condominium suites up for grabs in Yorkville, developers are banking on people such as the Zemelmans to snap them up; the purchases will afford them an exciting entry into Toronto’s growth.
Hotelier and man-about- town Charles Khabouth doesn’t live in the ’hood but once owned six Yorkville venues and now has Bloor Street’s La Societé Bistro on his roster. He’s looking forward to Yorkville’s future.
“I’m jealous a little bit of the cosmopolitan big American cities where the density is so exciting, there’s so many people, [there’s an] energy level, and I’m happy that this is happening to Toronto and that specifically the Bay-Bloor-Yorkville area is moving in that direction,” he says. “I’m more for density and more traffic and more energy, people and better sales. It all translates into happier residents and happier commercial tenants. Overall it’s a great experience.”
So what’s on the go? Here’s a sampling of what’s making headlines in Yorkville:
The Perry
11 storeys, 45 units Builder Mansouri Group Location Pears Avenue Suite AvailabilityCondos and two-storey townhomes from 650 to 3,950 sq. ft. and priced from $550,000 to more than $5-million Hot Tickets All suites have either terraces or a full-height glazed sliding façade component Status Sales centre launches in mid-March OccupancyDecember 2014 Contact 416-837-8689; theperry.com.
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