Avenue
Active Member
It most certainly isn't at a standstill. Didn't you see the photo of the second dumpster?
Yup. I can attest to the existence of the second dumpster. It's the real thing:
It most certainly isn't at a standstill. Didn't you see the photo of the second dumpster?
"Casually situated at Toronto's pre-eminent Yonge and Bloor interstice, a rectilinear structure featuring four erected walls fastened to a base-plate testifies to marked progress at Mizrahi and Foster's sumptuous The One. Boasting amenities such as space, room and more space, the itinerant structure also features cutting-edge corners designed to sustain a motley aggregate of objects, each of which has been de-purposed from its original application(s).I trust UT will be running a story tomorrow on this incredible milestone.
Mr. Mizrahi – who is marketing the building as The One, named for its marquee address, 1 Bloor West – says everything is on track, with a groundbreaking now set for August or September.
Despite the litigation he is facing, Mr. Mizrahi tells The Globe and Mail he has landed the construction financing he needs from a Chinese state-owned enterprise, which he will not name, and whose deep pockets are set to soon make his dream tower a reality.
(via https://www.theglobeandmail.com/new...-torontos-tallest-condotower/article35334918/, behind a very easily defeated paywall.)Just who this Chinese backer is, Mr. Mizrahi won’t say. But last May, he brought representatives of a company called China-East Resources Import & Export Co. (CERIECO) in to City Hall to meet Mayor John Tory. In a tweet about the meeting, Mr. Tory described the company as “partnering” with Mizrahi Developments “on The One tower at Yonge & Bloor.”
The deal was apparently not finalized. And Mr. Mizrahi’s schedule for launching condo sales and beginning construction has been pushed back repeatedly. Last November, he told The Globe that a deal with his mystery backer would be signed and public in December, with condo sales launching in April. On Jan. 25, he said the deal still had to be finalized, blaming the delay on the holidays and the Chinese New Year.
Now, he says the deal is done, with the Ontario Municipal Board approval last month his lender’s final precondition. Some of the delay came as condo documents needed to be revised, he said, because of the addition of a luxury hotel component in the project’s retail base. Sales are set to launch by September, and the whole project, Mr. Mizrahi says, should be completed by 2023.
(via https://www.theglobeandmail.com/new...-torontos-tallest-condotower/article35334918/, behind a very easily defeated paywall.)
Quite the eye opener in the Globe today on this one. Based on that bombshell story it is looking less likely that this mega project will move forward with the current development group. The Chinese company sounds more like a broker than a bona fide construction lender capable of funding a deal of this size. There are a lot of intermediaries from China on the scene.
Did others interpret the story to imply that the only mortgage debt against the property now is to CREIT? Have the other lenders swapped debt for equity?
Interesting... perhaps 8 levels of vertically integrated retail, even with the marketed column-free interiors, was harder to lease than previously imagined - even at Yonge and Bloor.
Way back when, Bazis also had plans for a small hotel in the base of their iteration of 1 Bloor East.
I know. Something here isn't quite passing the smell test, starting with clandestine demos of heritage designations-in-waiting.I think it's going to go through as well... but there have been some odd detours and delays; despite his blandly confident assurances, this guy Mizrahi seems a little rough around the edges - that's the impression I get, at any rate.