Monday 16 November 2015

Athlete village built for Pan-Am Games transformed into condominium complex

Canary Park will also include stores in its 'planned' subdivision
Building the residential spaces for Pan-Am Games is a win-win situation

By Mark Schadenberg
Ten years ago there were more cynics than positive thoughts about the Toronto area hosting the Pan-Am Games (July 10 – 26, 2015).
I don't believe there was any real profit, but the events were very well attended, we certainly gained national spirit, and the Toronto / Hamilton areas gained many recreational facilities for the municipalities to enjoy for the next two generations, such as the Matamy National Cycling Centre now thriving in Milton.
As for residential gains, many of the athlete village apartments are now being transformed into condominiums, so there's another gain.
The Toronto Star link is attached below, but by next April as many as 2,000 people will reside full-time in the neighbourhood built for part-time residents – tourist athletes ranging from Antigua and Aruba to Venezuela and the Virgin Islands.
The quickly redeveloping area, which was built for this specific purpose, will also include dozens of stores and restaurants.


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From the Toronto Star:
The move will happen over four months because we’ve only got so many elevators,” says Jason Lester with a smile. He’s the vice president of Dream, which, along with Kilmer Van Nostrand, co-developed the $800 million-plus project, a 35-acre neighbourhood to the east of the Distillery District.
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It's an interesting system for temporary housing as during the Pan-Am Games as many as five unrelated athletes lived on one 'apartment' in the Canary Park 'village', but many of the owners of these condo units were taking a small risk because many had purchased their future residence as many as three years ago during pre-construction marketing.
I'm not a big fan of this system often – especially when the buyer never actually lives in the unit as it was purchased (sometimes) solely as an investment. The math is quick here and somewhat accurate. Could you imagine if 200 people pay $300,000 for a condo in 2012 that they will not be able to live in until 2015. The developer has their secured money and construction begins. Therefore, the builder is happy. Within the next three years – due to market conditions known as supply and demand – the condo owner sells their unit (investment share if you prefer) for $375,000. Original buyer is also happy. Right?
Not to twist the original story today, which in my opinion is a good news tale because it provided residential spaces for athletes and was the impetus to revive a neighbourhood, and placed a lot of emphasis and a gamble (for the developer there) as more than 130 condo are still for sale and the builder (Developer named Dream and their co-developer Kilmer Van Nostrand) is replacing carpets in common areas such as hallways and also completing common elements spaces such as recreation rooms in these complexes. The most significant addition to the units will be kitchen cabinetry, counters and more plumbing fixtures as the athletes had cafeterias and on-site eating venues so the compartment apartments really had no formal kitchen originally installed.

This Canary Park condo complex is certainly not the only residential growth to Toronto since the Pan-Am Games this past summer as some athlete village areas will be converted into affordable housing while others will be part of student residents for George Brown College.
The Pan-Am Games was the result of six years of planning in all facets as Toronto won its energetic bid in 2009.

Fast Facts
Canada won 78 gold and 217 medals in total – very impressive when you compare to Team USA.
The U.S. won 103 gold and 265 medals.
Canada's team included 715 athletes.
More than 6,100 athletes competed from 41 countries in 36 different sports.
Toronto Pearson International Airport recorded 2.2 million passengers entering and leaving during the games, a modest increase compared to 2.088 million passengers during the same period last year.
While the Pan Am Games were July 10 – 26, the Parapan Games were Aug 7-15.
Lima, Peru and Bogota, Columbia were the other two bidders for the 2015 event.

LINKS:


Mark Schadenberg, Sales Representative
Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)
Royal LePage Triland Realty Brokerage
757 Dundas St, Woodstock
www.royallepagetriland.com
(519) 537-1553, cell or text
Email: mschadenberg@rogers.com


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