Backstage Condos (Cityzen, Castlepoint Realty, Fernbrook Homes) - Real Estate -

Backstage

My guess is that we will see $600 to $625 psf at the Platinum Broker event, 259 units. This maybe my next investment, lets see what the info session brings. I am guessing the platinum broker only info session will be late Sept with the first buy op early Oct.
 
Last edited:
Backstage

So I don't see any buyers ID'ing themselves...

I just purchased a unit in Backstage, and am excited about the prospects, both as a home and as an investment. That said, the highest of my unit-type still available was the 15th floor, and i have concerns about proximity to the trains...

I'm in the 10 day cooldown period, during which I can rescind my offer, and I am heavily considering it, in light of the noise issues my friends and colleagues have been warning me about. Needless to say I'm a bit nervous, and was frankly surprised to see very little has been said of this in this thread.

As such, I have a few questions for anyone with experience living by the tracks:

1. What floor are you on? and what exposure are you looking at?
2. How loud is the noise when trains come in? (a bit of a rumble, louder noise, can you hear the train whistle? does it wake you up?)
3. Do the other neighbors complain about it?
4. Beyond the noise, so you feel the rattle and shake of the trains? Is it excessive (glasses in pantry shake?)
5. Do you know if the windows in your building are specially treated (i.e. double glazed for noise reduction)?
6. Is there anything else I should be asking about the train situation that I haven't thought of? Anything at all that you've learned, based on your experience living so close to the tracks?

This is a very important decision - I'm very excited about everything about this unit (location, $/sqft, floorplan, view) EXCEPT for expected noise issues - and I have VERY limited time to think about it, and I want to be completely sure I'm committed to it, any insight/help you can provide is much appreciated.
 
I live in Montage and face the tracks. I'm on the 40th floor. The trains don't shake the building and there is no rattling of dishes, glasses, etc...

However, there is more noise than I expected. It is not overwhelming, but can be enough to wake you up in the morning if you're not deeply asleep. I've never been woken up at night by train noise. Except for when I'm in bed in the morning I don't really notice the trains. I don't think it matters much what floor you're on, the noise travels up very easily. I'm pretty sure there is no difference in the glass used in my unit compared to any other cityplace condo. I don't hear any train whistles at my place, mainly because trains have no need to blow their whistles at that particular section of track, I imagine if they did I would hear them fairly clearly.

You didn't say it in your post, but I assume your unit directly faces the tracks?
 
Mo-tage said:
I live in Montage and face the tracks. I'm on the 40th floor. The trains don't shake the building and there is no rattling of dishes, glasses, etc...

However, there is more noise than I expected. It is not overwhelming, but can be enough to wake you up in the morning if you're not deeply asleep. I've never been woken up at night by train noise. Except for when I'm in bed in the morning I don't really notice the trains. I don't think it matters much what floor you're on, the noise travels up very easily. I'm pretty sure there is no difference in the glass used in my unit compared to any other cityplace condo. I don't hear any train whistles at my place, mainly because trains have no need to blow their whistles at that particular section of track, I imagine if they did I would hear them fairly clearly.

You didn't say it in your post, but I assume your unit directly faces the tracks?
Click to expand...

Im on the 8th floor of Luna, facing the tracks and my experience with the noise is the same as yours. No vibrations, or dishes rattling, barely any noise at night, and I can even sleep no problem during the day. The evening rush hour seems to be the worst for noise... but Im a commuter too so Im not around for most of that period.

One thing I noticed while looking for a condo... some builders will use double doors and double windows to reduce the amount of noise entering the unit from the trains. DNA in King West has two layers of sliding doors and windows which seem to do a great job of dampening the sound. Here at Cityplace, its a standard door and window. Nothing special, but the noise isn't that bad.
 
Last edited:
@mo-tage: correct, facing tracks

@tuscani: the double paned windows is precisely what backstage uses, have you heard anything first hand?
 
Tenshi said:
@mo-tage: correct, facing tracks

@tuscani: the double paned windows is precisely what backstage uses, have you heard anything first hand?
Click to expand...

Double paned windows are used in all condos now days. Its having 2 sets of double panes that I noticed at DNA. It was significantly quieter than what I settled for at Luna, but the noise wasn't a deal breaker for me as I used to live under the flightpath for a runway at Pearson. You get used to the sound eventually as I am now at Luna. The only trains I really notice when they go by are Ontario Northland trains, as their engines are extremely loud... but I hear it once a day.
 
@tuscani:

This is the kinda stuff i wanted to find out about, thanks!

so what about DNA3 then? close to tracks? facing or away from? and you think it'd wake a person up at 7am?

re Ontario Northland: when do these come by?
 
Tenshi said:
@tuscani:

This is the kinda stuff i wanted to find out about, thanks!

so what about DNA3 then? close to tracks? facing or away from? and you think it'd wake a person up at 7am?

re Ontario Northland: when do these come by?
Click to expand...

DNA3 wont be facing the tracks at all. I was checking out the first phase of DNA, which is south of King. The unit I liked faced the tracks and was on the 4th floor.

It doesn't wake me up at 7am and I am not a heavy sleeper. In fact, I slept until 10:30am this morning and only woke up to the sound of knocking on my door. You won't have any problems with noise on weekends because trains don't run that frequently. Ontario Northland is twice a day I believe. One in the morning and one in the evening.
 
Hi Tenshi,

We actually just did a blog post giving some background information on some of the issues that you brought up - you can take a look at it here

Hope you find it informative!

Cityzen
 
Thanks for that,

I had actually read that post, and did find it informative, but wanted first hand accounts to address my concerns.

I'm actually happy you replied directly, because I have another question, as per the blog you just linked:

it said all SOUTH FACING windows are double-paned... my condo is a corner unit, what's the situation with my WEST FACING windows? are they double paned? what about the window panes on my balcony?

Kindly advise,
Tenshi
 
It's great to hear about the PATH extension possibly being extended all the way to St Lawrence Market! Now only if it also opens on Sunday!
 
@Tenshi - all of the windows are double paned so you're in good shape!

@springroll - We're working very hard on the PATH extension, and we're with you on opening up St. Lawrence Market on Sundays!
 
Ground breaking took place on Saturday the 14th. Here's Castlepoint Realty's Alfredo Romano with introduction by Hunter Milborne. A fun listen.
[video=youtube;_nW91nYw8JQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nW91nYw8JQ&feature=channel_video_title[/video]
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top