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A condo grows in Regent Park
Downtown units at 'fairly good value' trumping worries over area's stigma
Donovan Vincent
CITY HALL BUREAU
STEVE RUSSELL/TORONTO STAR
Despite Regent Park's rough reputation, buyers are lining up to buy into new digs. Bruce Weese is among a select group of buyers allowed first crack at a condo unit at One Cole. He is optimistic the $1 billion redevelopment of Regent Park will make the area safer.
Sunita Samlal's daughter is so excited about moving into a new home in Regent Park, she sleeps with the condo brochure under her pillow.
For 12 years, Sunita, husband Shawn and their two children have occupied a cramped one-bedroom apartment in a St. James Town highrise – the children sleeping in the bedroom, mom and dad on the pullout couch in the living room.
Eager for a larger unit, the family at one point joined the city's controversial waiting list for subsidized housing, but gave up, frustrated after waiting seven years.
Though currently paying market rent, Sunita, 35, and Shawn, 32, found ways to scrimp and save, pulling together enough cash for the down payment on a two-bedroom, $343,000 unit at One Cole, the first ever condo building at Regent Park. If all goes as planned, they'll move in late this fall.
The One Cole condos don't officially go on sale until June 13, but Sunita's family is among a select group of 200 "inner circle" purchasers who paid the developer about $250 to get first crack at one. They'll be lining up Tuesday at the sales office on Dundas St. E.
Like the other "inner circle'' members, Sunita and Shawn will be taking the plunge as homeowners in Regent Park, a troubled community undergoing a $1 billion revitalization that promises to transform the area from 100 per cent public housing to a mixture of condos, townhouses, public housing and market rentals. These buyers have heard about the area's troubles with drugs and shootings, but that doesn't seem to be putting a damper on demand for the new condos.
Location is a powerful draw for potential owners considering a move to Regent Park, strong enough for many that it trumps concerns about the area's reputation, says professor David Hulchanski, a housing expert at the University of Toronto.
"Location is so important that these condos will sell well, I'm predicting ... the so-called stigma (of Regent Park) won't be a factor," Hulchanski says.
"If you want to live near downtown, and many people do, and if you want to get what I assume will be fairly good value for your money, this is that neighbourhood."
The promised amenities at One Cole Рwhich combines a nine-storey and a 19-storey building Рinclude a grocery store, Tim Hortons and a bank on the bottom floor; a fitness centre; caf̩ bar and 24-hour concierge. Built to better environmental standards, it's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold-certified, with a rooftop park and two "living walls" Рplanted walls that help filter dust and pollutants out of the air.
Real estate brokers have already started lining up chairs outside the condo building, staking out a spot for when the units go on sale to the general public in June.
Shawn is confident the redevelopment underway is eroding the crime problems because roads that cut off Regent Park from the surrounding community are being opened up. Hidden corridors considered breeding grounds for crime are disappearing, and amenities such as banks, grocery stores, new green spaces and recreational facilities – a big new pool, for example – are all coming.
"They're getting rid of a lot of things to try to uplift the area. I think it's going to work," he says.
Bruce Weese, another inner circle buyer, shares that optimism.
"I think it will make for a much safer Regent than previously, because you're going to have a large mix of people living in the area, which is what makes a successful city," says Weese, who rents a one-bedroom near Yonge St. and Davisville Ave. and is buying a one-bedroom condo for $252,000 – his first home purchase.
Like Sunita and Shawn, Weese, 46, is moving to the area because it's close to his job as a marketing manager for a health care services company in Cabbagetown. "I can walk to work. I don't need a car, or to use transit. It's ideal," he says.
Sunita will still be able to walk to her housekeeping job at Women's College Hospital near Bay and College Sts., and the kids will remain close to their schools and friends.
"We thought it would be nice to stay in the community," she says.
The couple and their children are getting butterflies waiting for their big moving day. Daughter Lelandra, 13, and son Isiah, 11, are "beyond excited," according to their mom.
"They took the brochure of the designs of the bedrooms. They're planning what they're going to do, what they're going to put in their rooms."
Source
Downtown units at 'fairly good value' trumping worries over area's stigma
Donovan Vincent
CITY HALL BUREAU
STEVE RUSSELL/TORONTO STAR
Despite Regent Park's rough reputation, buyers are lining up to buy into new digs. Bruce Weese is among a select group of buyers allowed first crack at a condo unit at One Cole. He is optimistic the $1 billion redevelopment of Regent Park will make the area safer.
Sunita Samlal's daughter is so excited about moving into a new home in Regent Park, she sleeps with the condo brochure under her pillow.
For 12 years, Sunita, husband Shawn and their two children have occupied a cramped one-bedroom apartment in a St. James Town highrise – the children sleeping in the bedroom, mom and dad on the pullout couch in the living room.
Eager for a larger unit, the family at one point joined the city's controversial waiting list for subsidized housing, but gave up, frustrated after waiting seven years.
Though currently paying market rent, Sunita, 35, and Shawn, 32, found ways to scrimp and save, pulling together enough cash for the down payment on a two-bedroom, $343,000 unit at One Cole, the first ever condo building at Regent Park. If all goes as planned, they'll move in late this fall.
The One Cole condos don't officially go on sale until June 13, but Sunita's family is among a select group of 200 "inner circle" purchasers who paid the developer about $250 to get first crack at one. They'll be lining up Tuesday at the sales office on Dundas St. E.
Like the other "inner circle'' members, Sunita and Shawn will be taking the plunge as homeowners in Regent Park, a troubled community undergoing a $1 billion revitalization that promises to transform the area from 100 per cent public housing to a mixture of condos, townhouses, public housing and market rentals. These buyers have heard about the area's troubles with drugs and shootings, but that doesn't seem to be putting a damper on demand for the new condos.
Location is a powerful draw for potential owners considering a move to Regent Park, strong enough for many that it trumps concerns about the area's reputation, says professor David Hulchanski, a housing expert at the University of Toronto.
"Location is so important that these condos will sell well, I'm predicting ... the so-called stigma (of Regent Park) won't be a factor," Hulchanski says.
"If you want to live near downtown, and many people do, and if you want to get what I assume will be fairly good value for your money, this is that neighbourhood."
The promised amenities at One Cole Рwhich combines a nine-storey and a 19-storey building Рinclude a grocery store, Tim Hortons and a bank on the bottom floor; a fitness centre; caf̩ bar and 24-hour concierge. Built to better environmental standards, it's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold-certified, with a rooftop park and two "living walls" Рplanted walls that help filter dust and pollutants out of the air.
Real estate brokers have already started lining up chairs outside the condo building, staking out a spot for when the units go on sale to the general public in June.
Shawn is confident the redevelopment underway is eroding the crime problems because roads that cut off Regent Park from the surrounding community are being opened up. Hidden corridors considered breeding grounds for crime are disappearing, and amenities such as banks, grocery stores, new green spaces and recreational facilities – a big new pool, for example – are all coming.
"They're getting rid of a lot of things to try to uplift the area. I think it's going to work," he says.
Bruce Weese, another inner circle buyer, shares that optimism.
"I think it will make for a much safer Regent than previously, because you're going to have a large mix of people living in the area, which is what makes a successful city," says Weese, who rents a one-bedroom near Yonge St. and Davisville Ave. and is buying a one-bedroom condo for $252,000 – his first home purchase.
Like Sunita and Shawn, Weese, 46, is moving to the area because it's close to his job as a marketing manager for a health care services company in Cabbagetown. "I can walk to work. I don't need a car, or to use transit. It's ideal," he says.
Sunita will still be able to walk to her housekeeping job at Women's College Hospital near Bay and College Sts., and the kids will remain close to their schools and friends.
"We thought it would be nice to stay in the community," she says.
The couple and their children are getting butterflies waiting for their big moving day. Daughter Lelandra, 13, and son Isiah, 11, are "beyond excited," according to their mom.
"They took the brochure of the designs of the bedrooms. They're planning what they're going to do, what they're going to put in their rooms."
Source
