HarbourPoint Condos, 250-270 Queens Quay W (Huang & Danczkay, 20 + 2x 31s, ?)

[interchange42]

Twelve years later, there's an interesting article in The Star today about change coming — at some point — to the HarbourPoint buildings. Now that the Maple Leaf Quay buildings are partway through their (so far, so good) rebirth, the retail and three condo components at HarbourPoint are thinking about what they might do to fix things.

There's a funny quote in it — funny to me at least as someone who lives in a building where the special assessment is very dirty word — where one residents says she'd be happy to give up to $1,000 to make the building prettier. Good luck with that thousand bucks.

Anyway, worth a read: http://www.thestar.com/business/eco...e-renovations-coming-to-the-harbourfront.html

We'll see what happens!

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[Filip]

When replacing the coolers for my complex cost each of us two extra maintenance payments (well north of 1000) - I doubt redoing the facade will be any less.

 

[taal]

Replacing coolers should have been covered in your reserve fund, it did fail much earlier than expected ?

 

[Filip]

Replacing coolers should have been covered in your reserve fund, it did fail much earlier than expected ?

It was part of a larger rebuild initiative. Coolers sort of blew the bank to so speak. Building is 24 years old. Piping is being replaced as we speak as well. Fund very healthy.

 

[ttk77]

I own a unit it one of these buildings. The buildings are generally well managed, and the people that live there seem to care about keeping them well maintained, but a vote was held earlier last year about having the windows in the building replaced 15 years early (they are sadly very inefficient) that would have resulted in an $8000 special assessment. It was resoundingly shot down in a vote by the unit owners. I'm guessing anything over $5K won't stand a snowball's chance in hell of getting passed.

As much as I'd like to see improvements made to the look of the building and would be willing to put up some money to see it done (any reasonable amount spent to fix the exterior is likely to result in property value increases of at least as much), I also think large special assessments should be limited as much as possible to emergencies and other unforeseen "must-dos" that can't be covered by the reserve fund.

 

[interchange42]

Each tower here is a separate condo corp, so it's quite possible that each tower will act at different times, and may choose different ways to update. Here's hoping not, however.

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[maestro]

Paint wouldn't be too expensive.

 

[junctionist]

Paint wouldn't be too expensive.

True, but once you start painting, you have to keep repainting every few years. Otherwise, the building will end up looking neglected as the paint fades and chips off. It adds to the cost of maintenance in the long run, and it isn't good for the environment.

 

[maestro]

Painting raw concrete/masonry should last decades with a quality acrylic paint. Everything fades. Chips is a symptom of shot masonry. Peeling is associated with latex/acrylic applied over oil.

 

[modernizt]

Painting is not a solution to thermal performance issues or the replacement of failing building envelope. Which is what projects like these are generally instigated by; the need to re-clad or replace at least some building components (and is necessary every few decades at least). In terms of cost, there is no workaround, unfortunately.

 

[#Makethesistersgreatagain]

I wonder if anybody likes these buildings? One of the things I have noticed most about this discussion list is that there is always someone to defend a building, but this have no takers. Don't be shy, now ...

As an Owner/Resident in one of the Three Sisters I can say with great pride that my wife and I love our home. Sure, the street scape is a bit unsightly, but in my opinion one doesn't need to look any further than the condition of the commercial space to feel nauseous. I've included a few recent pictures for your viewing pleasure of the condition of the commercial area. The commercial area is suppose to be maintained by RML 250 Queens Quay LTD., but clearly they are not doing a very good job. If anyone would like to help us get them to cleanup their space I would love to hear from you. In short, the architecture is not very eye appealing, but if any of you have been to Chicago, you'll now that the diversity in architecture is one of the things that makes that city great.

I've included this picture, taken from our Roof Deck Patio..there is no better view in the city...

 

[DSC]

As an Owner/Resident at 260 Queens Quay West I can say with great pride that my wife and I love our home. Sure, the street scape is a bit unsightly, but in my opinion one doesn't need to look any further than the condition of the commercial space to feel nauseous. I've included a few recent pictures for your viewing pleasure of the condition of the commercial area. The commercial area is suppose to be maintained by RML 250 Queens Quay LTD., but clearly they are not doing a very good job. If anyone would like to help us get them to cleanup their space I would love to hear from you. In short, the architecture is not very eye appealing, but if any of you have been to Chicago, you'll now that the diversity in architecture is one of the things that makes that city great.

If the commercial areas of your building are actually part of the condominium (and they sometimes are not) your Board has a legal responsibility to maintain them (if they are common elements) or to force the owner to do so (if they are "Unit property") If a unit owner refuses to do necessary repairs to their Unit the Corporation can have the repairs made and the cost charged to the owner.. You should write to your Board and ask them what the exact ownership is and what they are doing about having repairs made. From the photos the areas needing repair appear to be part of the structure of the building so are probably a common element.

 

[#Makethesistersgreatagain]

The owner (s) of the commercial property is Jack Rabba. The property is managed by RML 250 Queens Quay LTD. The property management companies of the three buildings have had a difficult relationship with Jack Rabba and RML 250 Queens Quay LTD. There is a lot more to the story, but the bottom line is it hasn't been as easy as asking for the repairs to be done, and the repairs being done. I hope to share more in the future, but right now I can not.

 

[#Makethesistersgreatagain]

I found this thread through a Google search, and when I saw the comment looking for someone who likes the buildings, I saw it as an opportunity to introduce myself..

..more to come in due time

 

[#Makethesistersgreatagain]

Each tower here is a separate condo corp, so it's quite possible that each tower will act at different times, and may choose different ways to update. Here's hoping not, however.

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There has been on going discussions between the three buildings regarding what we can do to "improve" the exterior look of the buildings. However, the three boards are waiting to see the "vision" Jack Rabba has been promising for some time, please reference the article I've linked below for more about that.

www.thestar.com/business/economy/2016/02/26/what-to-do-with-torontos-three-ugly-sisters-more-renovations-coming-to-the-harbourfront.html

Sorry, I'm reading this thread in reverse, just noticed you linked this article 2+ years ago..