[M II A II R II K]

This will be located on one of Canada's most important intersections. Yonge & Bloor.

http://www.1bloor.com/

RENDERING

http://www.condominiums.com/Toronto/toronto/images/images/1blooreast.jpg

STREET LEVEL

http://img400.imageshack.us/img400/4868/1bloor2newmar07sk8.jpg






Here are some shots of what's going on at the site at the end of last month, courtesy tomms at urbantoronto.








http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3186/2620753769_304f0dced3_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3243/2620755171_9e5178a20f_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3033/2621577348_27fd5d7f9d_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3187/2620754135_d313e3b773_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3171/2621577160_1e142c8daa_o.jpg

[CHAPINM1]

This one has been in the works for a VERY LONG TIME; however, it is great to see it finally see it happen! Great to see Toronto get a new 2nd tallest as well!

[Jobohimself]

I am impressed. Good job, TO. :)

[northwest2k]

Possibly the worst street name ever. "bloor" lol. But congratz to Toronto. It's a nice looking building. Although I'd rather it were an office tower but oh well.

[TOBoy]

The previous development was proposed by a Florida developer who left the Toronto mrkt to focus on its florida portfolio. This development is different, with a new developer and has been around about a year or so.

[koops65]

Great for Toronto for a new TALL building. (possibly to be a supertall) The first render is old and should be updated though... here's the newest I've seen...
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2030/2659782287_59a6de307e_b.jpg
It should also be noted that this tower, along with Aura (residences on College Park 3) and Signiture Tower (Cityplace) are in a sort of 'height war' for the tallest residential tower in Toronto (and Canada). I would also like to point out that Canada uses the Metric system, and the heights in the title should be in metric also.

[Jobohimself]

Seriously, people need to stop bitching about metric/imperial.

3.28ft=1m.

We're all intelligent people, I hope. It shouldn't be too hard.

[M II A II R II K]

I would also like to point out that Canada uses the Metric system, and the heights in the title should be in metric also.

The way it's currently set up is that U.S. and Canadian project threads have the emphasis on feet, and everywhere else meters.

But even so the latest rendering for this project is not 1000 ft or 300 m. So this wouldn't be in the supertall category unless they upped the height beyond that.

[M II A II R II K]

Here's a picture I took the other day.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/MIIAIIRIIK/DSC00697.jpg

[M II A II R II K]

Another update

Courtesy dt_toronto_geek @ urbantoronto.ca





http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee140/laserboy_TO/PICT1718.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee140/laserboy_TO/PICT1726.jpg

[JDRCRASH]

http://img400.imageshack.us/img400/4868/1bloor2newmar07sk8.jpg


OH GAWD, that s**t is attractive!!! We sooo need that in L.A.!

[Brandon716]

OH GAWD, that s**t is attractive!!! We sooo need that in L.A.!

You SO can't have it!

[Hayward]

Here's a picture I took the other day.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/MIIAIIRIIK/DSC00697.jpg

Thank God this mess is finally going. They aren't very attractive, despite being vintage building stock. On every visit to Toronto I always thought there was no way these structures were going to stick around much longer

[yyzer]

some recent pics by dt_toronto_geek, posted at the urbantoronto.ca forum, showing slow but steady progress on the demolition...(subway line and station are directly underneath)..

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee140/laserboy_TO/PICT1781.jpg

closer in, efforts are being made to save a window on the brick building centre right (not for facade, it will be carted away)...

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee140/laserboy_TO/PICT1779.jpg

and here's an historic pic showing the same buildings, many years ago...note the mansard roof on the building to the left, which is still there today, but now covered with ugly aluminum panels...

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee140/laserboy_TO/f1257_s1057_it0053.jpg

as of today, under the wrecker's ball...

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee140/laserboy_TO/PICT1805.jpg

[Davis137]

Looks like that'll be a pretty impressive building...

[yyzer]

Latest reports on urbantoronto.ca indicate that this project is presently still planned to go ahead....the hotel portion has been pretty much confirmed as a Sofitel....construction permits from the city of Toronto are still pending (since August/08)...

[sledhead35]

good to hear, this one is a beauty! although time is of the essence.

i had forgotten about it so i got excited seeing it for the first time, again lol.

[Dale]

Doesn't 953' make it a new tallest ? I thought 952' is the current tallest.

[M II A II R II K]

Actually the current tallest is 971'.

[Roaming]

wow this is going to look so amazing on the skyline! :tup:

[Dale]

Actually the current tallest is 971'.

Thanks

[BlondieK]

Correct me if I am wrong... but I heard that this project was financed through Lehman Brothers... and well... we all know where they are now.

I've also noticed that they've paved over the site and it has been sitting idle for months now... anyone have any updates on whether or not this is actually going to happen? Should I be encouraged by the fact they haven't turned it into a parking lot yet and might break ground soon?

[TOBoy]

The city has not given them approval to begin excavation. No approval, no digging. Until they get approval, nothing can happen on this site despite the endless rumours that persist to run rampant without and basis on all of these sites.

[M II A II R II K]

Questions surround high-profile condo development

Published: Thursday, April 16, 2009

The construction site of "One Bloor" remains empty

Global News

An empty eyesore remains at one of downtown's prime intersections, and just 18 months ago it was set to be the hottest development in Toronto.

Condo hysteria swept the city back in November 2007, all because of a project called "One Bloor", an 80-storey building that took the housing boom to new heights.

Buyers camped outside the sales office for a week and prices shot up.

Mark Cosman got caught up in the hype and put down a deposit on a one bedroom suite.

"Bloor and Yonge, it couldn't be any better," said Cosman. "Centre ice in the City of Toronto."

Almost the entire building was sold, the site was quickly bulldozed, but construction never actually started.

Developer Bazis International is on its second extension of its condition date to start building.

Buyers are desperately trying to get answers.

"They're excited about the project, they're nervous about the project, but they're still hopeful," said Anna Cass from Royal LePage. "They want it to happen."

The holdup appears to be project financing that was tied up with Lehman Brothers, the failed U.S. investment bank. Lehman Bros. is now in bankruptcy court and that means the money that was supposed to help finance this project is tied up in the courts as well.

The developer has remained silent. Calls by Global News to Bazis International were not returned.

The project has not been cancelled but no one knows if or when it might be built.

"I was very happy with my investment intitially," said Cosman, "but now, if i could get out from a legal perspective, I would."

People who bought into One Bloor may still have a chance to walk away.

As of June 15, Bazis has 31 days to cancel the project at no risk to purchasers, or they can choose to proceed with construction.

[graupner]

If all the units are really sold, why no other bank step up and finance this thing??

[isaidso]

If all the units are really sold, why no other bank step up and finance this thing??

If it's sold out I don't see why not either, but I imagine re-financing with another bank would take time to hammer out. Despite the credit crunch, Canadian banks remain very solid. I'd be somewhat surprised if this didn't go through.

[Serge]

The deposit is in other hands, problems are already there for any bank wth any interest in this project.

^ my frenglish is good?

Bad news :(

[M II A II R II K]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/luxury-tower-at-1-bloor-east-to-go-ahead-minus-a-few-storeys/article1223098/

[Jonovision]

Great news. Sad that it won't be as tall though. I wonder if there will be a redesign or if they will just lop off a few floors from the current design?

[TOBoy]

There is still the issue of approval and financing which is still not a done deal. This project most likely wont go up, but you never know. Best scenario is they cancel it and a new developer takes over and develops the site to its full potential in the future.

In the meantime, my attention turns to Aura at College Park and its title as the new tallest residential and possibly tallest building in Canada.

[americanskyscraper22]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/luxury-tower-at-1-bloor-east-to-go-ahead-minus-a-few-storeys/article1223098/

still good news :)

[katzky]

..That city is pretty known as one of the nicest constructed building...!:yes:











taux emprunt
immobilier (http://simulationempruntimmobilier.com/)

[M II A II R II K]

1 Bloor condo dreams alive

Great Gulf Homes said to be the buyer; high-rise condo expected on site, but minus the hotel

Aug 20, 2009 04:30 AM

Tony Wong
Business Reporter

http://media.thestar.topscms.com/images/cd/00/3aabac1b4bceae613c02fe5435b2.jpeg

Hundreds of buyers who paid $500,000 and up to live at 1 Bloor high-rise, illustrated above, are hoping development proceeds.

The condominium property site at 1 Bloor may have been sold, but the dream of putting a high-rise building at one of Toronto's most prestigious addresses lives on.

Industry speculation is that Toronto-based Great Gulf Homes is the likely buyer of the property.

``They are an established builder familiar with the area and with a good track record,'' said one source.

The company will likely commit to developing some form of high-rise condominium, although the hotel component may no longer be a part of the building, according to sources.

Calls to Great Gulf Homes were not returned yesterday. The privately held company is one of the largest home builders in the Greater Toronto Area.

The controversial 1 Bloor hotel and condo project was at one time supposed to be the tallest residential tower in Canada.

Developer Bazis International Inc. said late Tuesday that ``a well-established Toronto developer has entered into a binding agreement with Bazis International for the One Bloor property with closing in mid-September.''

The Kazakhstan-backed company said last month in documents filed in court it had intended to sell the property on the southeast corner of Yonge and Bloor streets.

Realtor Anna Cass was one of the first in line to buy a unit in the building. She purchased a 1,300-square-foot unit, and sold units to many of her clients.

``This wasn't just about making a deal; this is where I wanted to live,'' said Cass. ``This was my dream.''

Cass says she hopes the building will still be completed.

``I'm just a regular salesperson. It took a lot of hard work for me to get ahead – and this is what happens. It's been a difficult couple of years.''

Hundreds of buyers like Cass had lined up for weeks in 2007 to own a piece of the property, which featured units priced from $500,000 and up. The penthouse was reportedly sold for $25 million.

Jamie Johnston, a broker whose firm specializes in condominiums, said he warned investors to stay away from the 1 Bloor project when it was first marketed.

``I thought it was over-hyped and over-priced,'' he said.

Developer Michael Gold stopped making payments on a $46 million loan in December. When the loan continued to be in default, a consortium of lenders tried to place the project in receivership.

The group offered $50.5 million to Gold. But he ended up selling the property to someone else.

The 500 people who bought units in the hotly sought-after property are also waiting to hear what will become of the $70 million in deposits held in trust. A spokeswoman for Gold said her client was not granting interviews.

However, Audrey Loeb, a real estate lawyer with the Toronto firm of Miller Thomson and the author of two books on condo law, says deposits by buyers are held in trust under the Condominium Act.

``The funds have to be in place with the developer's lawyer or another law firm so they should be safe,'' Loeb said. ``Not getting back your deposit is not a typical problem that we would have.''


http://www.thestar.com/article/683145

[M II A II R II K]

Condo buyers may have to line up again

`No contractual obligation' to original purchasers, property's new owner says

Aug 21, 2009 04:30 AM

Tony Wong
Business Reporter

http://media.thestar.topscms.com/images/47/97/1cca1404429eb51a20a055ea79b2.jpeg
CARLOS OSORIO/TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO
Hundreds of buyers who camped out to own suites at 1 Bloor for $500,000 and up will get their deposits back, plus interest, the original developer says. (Nov. 7, 2007)

A new highrise will soar at 1 Bloor, considered one of Toronto's most prestigious addresses. But it looks like former buyers of the condominium project will have to get back in line if they still want a home in the blue-chip neighbourhood.

Toronto-based Great Gulf Group of Companies confirmed to the Toronto Star yesterday it had purchased the stalled condo development from Kazakhstan-based Bazis International.

The new owner of the site at the corner of Bloor and Yonge streets says it intends to build a high-rise development that will include retail and housing.

"We are working very diligently to see what is appropriate for that corner, which we envision to be some kind of mixed-use development," said Jerry Patava, president and CEO of the company.

"Right now we are looking at what we can do, although it's too early to determine what exactly will be there."

An affiliate company of Great Gulf purchased the property from Bazis with a closing in September, Patava said.

Bazis, the original developer, had sold purchasers plans for a striking tower design that was supposed to be the tallest in the city.

Great Gulf's Patava said his company would likely be in touch with condo buyers to see if they are still interested in living at 1 Bloor.

"Right now it's a blank slate," he said. "We have no contractual obligation to the former buyers. But obviously they thought this was a great place to live.

"It's one of the most attractive corners in Canada."

Purchasers will receive their deposit money back, Bazis International said in a statement. About 500 purchasers put down $70 million in deposits for their units. Realtors who sold the units and the company have been flooded with calls from worried buyers.

"Bazis International wishes to assure all purchasers at One Bloor that their deposit money placed for a condominium suite is in the vendor's solicitor's trust account and earning interest," the statement said.

Great Gulf Group builds homes, shopping malls and office towers throughout North America. It owns the Taboo resort in Muskoka and its Great Gulf Homes subsidiary is one of the top five residential builders in the GTA by volume.

The company also knows the luxury market in Toronto, having built the nearby 18 Yorkville condo complex.

The privately held company was formed in 1975 by publicity shy brothers Elly and Norman Reisman. Their brother Sam, CEO of investment bank Rose Corp., was the driving force behind the Filmport movie complex in Toronto before selling his ownership stake earlier this year.

The sale of 1 Bloor signals the end of an at-times contentious relationship between Bazis and buyers who wanted to know whether they would ever see their units built.

Hundreds of buyers lined up for weeks to own a unit in 2007. Some realtors hired students to stand in line for them. Units sold for from $500,000 and up; the penthouse was reportedly sold for $25 million to a Hong Kong businessman.

Bazis's problems started due to the vicious credit crunch that began last fall with the bankruptcy of New York investment bank Lehman Bros., the financial muscle behind the deal.

Bazis developer Michael Gold had stopped payments on a $46 million loan in December. When the loan continued to be in default, a consortium of lenders tried to place the project in receivership.

The group offered $50.5 million to Gold. But he ended up selling the property to Great Gulf for a sum believed to be substantially higher.


http://www.thestar.com/article/684267

[M II A II R II K]

Bazis mum on buyer

1 BLOOR SITE SOLD

August 21, 2009

Developer Bazis International has announced the sale of its troubled 1 Bloor condominium tower site.

“A well established Toronto developer has entered into a binding agreement with Bazis International for the One Bloor property with closing in mid-September,” read a statement issued Tuesday. “It is too early to discuss future development plans; however, further details will be made available at the appropriate time after closing. Due to the confidentiality agreement, we cannot comment any further at this time.”

The empty lot on the southeast corner of Yonge and Bloor streets was to be Canada’s tallest residential tower, reaching 80-storeys and incorporating 500-condo units, three floors of retail and a six-storey, 132-room hotel. When the project was officially launched in October 2007 Bazis stated that occupancy would begin by the end of 2011.

Bazis issued another statement yesterday assuring those who purchased units, which started at $500,000, that their money is secure. The statement notes that “deposit money placed for a condominium suite is in the Vendor’s solicitors’ trust account and earning interest, as per Section 81 of the
Condominium Act.”

Then Bazis had recently run into financial difficulties with regard to the site. The developer had taken out a $46-million loan from French bank Société Générale. When the bank ran into financial troubles a group of Toronto lenders bought up the loan. Bazis defaulted on the loan, a situation that Bazis’ North American head Michael Gold attributed to the ongoing global financial crisis. A court decision last month gave Bazis until mid-August to finalize the financing required to replace the defaulted loan. (See
NRU-Toronto Edition, July 24.)

[M II A II R II K]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/time-out-for-one-bloor-and-time-to-reflect/article1258855/

Time out for One Bloor – and time to reflect
John Bentley Mays
Last updated on Friday, Aug. 21, 2009 09:58AM

As the wrangling over ownership continues, the interval should be used to explore a better way to develop a unique building site


The announcement earlier this week that a mystery buyer had stepped in to take over One Bloor Street East – a project once billed as Canada's tallest residential structure, at 80 storeys – did little to clarify the eventual fate of the huge empty lot on the southeast corner of Yonge and Bloor Streets.

In a terse press release, the developer, Kazakhstan-based Bazis International Inc., said an unnamed “well-established Toronto developer” had entered into a binding agreement to buy the property, but that confidentiality agreements barred them from discussing future development plans or any other details prior to the deal closing in mid-September.

So, we are left to wait and speculate about what's to become of Toronto's most famous intersection. A couple of weeks ago, I argued in this column that the happiest outcome would be an excellent, tall condominium building, which would provide much-needed human density to an otherwise desolate downtown corner. In the same column, I opposed the proposal that the vacant lot be turned into a public piazza. What Toronto needs, I said then and still believe, is more population in its downtown core, not another empty space, windy and cold and wet during much of the year.

Given Toronto's official and popular suspicion of tall buildings, it didn't surprise me that my remarks attracted a little heap of e-mails, almost all running strongly against my wish for Yonge and Bloor. One of the messages, however, stood out from the rest. It came from Larry Wayne Richards, former dean of architecture at the University of Toronto.

“A couple of days ago, [I] paused at Bloor-Yonge and tried to imagine a piazza there,” Mr. Richards wrote. “It's a huge site. If the piazza was really spectacular, I think it could be convincing. But of course you are ultimately right that Toronto simply needs a lot more people living downtown – eating, shopping, mixing, connecting. This leads me to believe that it would be possible to do both at the south-east corner of Bloor-Yonge – to construct a skinny 80-storey condo tower and a low volume that, together, helped give definition and dynamism to a public square.”

This engaging idea deserves a close look by the prospective developers of the lot, and also by citizens concerned about the design of our city.

With imagination, the three elements in Mr. Richards's scheme – a very slender tower, a low structure and a plaza – could almost certainly be fitted on the spacious corner lot. These could be arranged in various ways. The skyscraper, for example, could be raised near the corner of Bloor and Yonge, in order to emphasize the intersection, while the low building could front on to Yonge Street, reinforcing Yonge's traditionally low-rise streetscape. This short, street-side building might be the home of a multiscreen cinema complex, a use proposed by Bazis International for the lower levels of their tower in an early iteration.

The “piazza” feature could then be provided by a broad street, amply supplied with cafes and restaurants and stores, running across the site between the tower's base and the cinema, from Bloor Street east to Hayden Street on the south. This little intra-block street would serve two purposes: to break up the mass of building on the lot with a somewhat sheltered, busy pedestrian walkway, and to recall Roy's Square, the tiny laneway (one of the few remaining in uptown inner-city Toronto) that was erased when the corner property was assembled.

Another possible arrangement: the tower and the low building pushed to the east side of the lot, with the piazza opening on to Yonge Street. The appearance of such an ensemble would at least be familiar to Torontonians: We've seen it all before on King Street, where tall banking towers step down toward the sidewalk. In this layout, the low structure (or laterally extended base of the tower) would have the job of giving what Mr. Richards calls “definition and dynamism” to the piazza. I am not clear about how the building would do so. By presenting to the piazza a gala cinema façade, as the palatial movie houses of the 1930s did? By inviting pedestrians into an enclosed shopping mall? By featuring cafes and restaurants that would spill out into the piazza during good weather?

For the public space to work, whether it's an internal street, a plaza running down Yonge Street or whatever – someone, somewhere, must be responsible for its continuing, year-round activation. We can't depend on cash-strapped city hall to take on the task. So what about the landlords? They have something to gain by seeing that their part of the city is vibrantly alive. Whether they have (or can get) the creative talent necessary to inject new life into Bloor and Yonge is a question only they can answer.

We should be asking this and many other hard questions, just as soon as the future of that acreage at Bloor and Yonge is decided.

[eMKay]

So this is dead? Too bad if so, that was a beautiful design.

[M II A II R II K]

This incarnation I'm afraid, now that it's been sold we'll have to wait for the new proposal to be known.

[amor de cosmos]

too bad, 1 bloor looked like the coolest condo project in the country :(
One of Toronto's largest home builders will start fresh and develop a new mixed-use condominium at the site of the 1 Bloor luxury condo project after buying the property from its cash-strapped developer.

Great Gulf Homes confirmed Thursday it will take ownership of the site from Kazakhstan-based Bazis International Inc. in mid-September, writing a new chapter in a cautionary tale of marketing hype, frenzied sales and the crush of the global credit crisis.

Toronto's real estate world buzzed with word of the sale, as realtors fielded calls from anxious buyers concerned about deposits and the future of the project – once envisioned as Canada's tallest residential building – at the corner of Yonge and Bloor Streets.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/mixed-use-condo-to-replace-1-bloor-project/article1259295/

[M II A II R II K]

well it's begun.

[M II A II R II K]

New plan for Yonge & Bloor: Shorter tower, no hotel

By Megan O’Toole, National Post

The new condo tower set to rise at the famed One Bloor site will be shorter than the previous developer planned, but observers predict the demand will be high as buyers flock to secure a piece of one of Toronto’s hottest addresses.

Developer Great Gulf Group, which acquired the property at the corner of Yonge and Bloor streets after Bazis International failed to get its much-hyped 80-storey condo tower off the ground, officially closed the deal today.

Details of the building’s final design and pricing are still being hammered out, company president Jerry Patava said, but he confirmed the high-rise tower will be a mix of luxury condos and high-end retail space.

“It won’t be quite as tall as what was previously suggested for that site,” Mr. Patava said. “It will be a design that people will find very attractive and appealing... We want to have something that will be appropriate to that location and that’s really our goal, to create something that will fit in at Yonge and Bloor.”

The development will not have a hotel component, something Bazis had planned on including, and condos will be priced “to market,” Mr. Patava said, noting more details will be released in the fall as plans begin to crystallize.

Units in the original One Bloor building were going for between $400,000 and millions of dollars.

The Bazis project created mass hysteria in 2007 as people camped out for days outside the sales office, and even as prices soared, almost all of the units were sold. But after the failure of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers, which was helping finance the project, Bazis, facing increasing pressures, sold the property to Great Gulf.

The bulldozed lot remains empty to this day, and Bazis buyers have started getting their deposits back — some for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Mitchell Cohen, whose Toronto-based real-estate company Urbanfund Corp. teamed up with its largest shareholder to acquire a one-third stake in the Great Gulf project, called it an “iconic corner” and expressed optimism at the site’s prospects.

“It is probably the best crossroads in Canada,” he said.

Garth Juriansz of Re/Max Realtron Realty said he sold more than 20 units at the original Bazis tower, even purchasing one himself. More than half of his clients have indicated they want to try again at the new building, he said, though the sales office will not be opening for awhile yet.

Despite the issues surrounding the Bazis project, Mr. Juriansz says he still expects the new condo tower to be massively popular, though perhaps not to the same fever pitch.

“I don’t think it will create less interest, but I don’t think you’re going to have the hype,” Mr. Juriansz said, noting Bazis developer Michael Gold was a “visionary” whose unique design created a “stampede” among buyers.

“My clients went crazy when they saw that design,” Mr. Juriansz said. “That was all part of the hype of Michael Gold. He created something spectacular that people just did not want to miss. They wanted to be part of it.

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/toronto/archive/2009/09/16/new-plan-for-yonge-amp-bloor-shorter-tower-no-hotel.aspx