Which is the largest condos in Toronto or the tallest condos in Toronto? Which has 73 & 84 Storeys and breathtaking views? Today, we will update some of the recent changes made to the development of the Gehry Condo, also called Forma condos, Mirvish Condos, or Gehry towers Toronto. Many people call it a World-Class Masterpiece.
As this project was scheduled to launch in the summer of 2022, this luxury mixed-use community will be rising high at 266 King Street West in the King West area of Toronto. Located in Central Downtown Toronto, a few steps to TTC, 2 Minutes to Union Station, 8 minutes to CN Tower, and Rogers Centre. The Gehry Condo has neighborhoods such as the financial districts, downtown Toronto, and King West street.
This article will give you an idea of what we can expect from the largest condo building in Toronto.
The Model of Gehry Condos
First, let’s take a look at this model of Toronto lakeside, everything in pink is planned or approved, while everything in blue is already under construction. Of course, we do not need to introduce the site of the Gehry condo. Everybody is quite familiar with this project, which is right across the street from King’s, right across from Roy Thompson Hall on Ed Mirvish Way. And then we can see the two towers to the east and west. And then there’s the theater grounds and another proposal that we are going to talk about immediately. Walking around the building you can get a sense of the architecture, obviously unique. And here we can see the 73 story tower and the 84 story tower.
Everything I show you is based on public documents submitted to the city for condominium approval. Long before a condominium launch, you can’t get the prices for plans. Now, I will share with you in advance what you can expect when the construction site opens, hopefully, this summer.
The two buildings were designed by Frank Gehry; 73 and 84 stories for 2,034 units in total. There is also a fair amount of retail and office floors, which we will talk about. At the end of the article, we will finally talk about the prices.
The Gehry Condos have changed over time. Most of us have been looking forward to this project for quite a long time. It was one of the first incredibly extravagant building proposals.
I have no idea what the floor plan would have looked like, but, of course, the plans changed over time. There was a second rendering between the first one and the one we saw now. And then finally we have today’s proposal.
Most people think it’s the most feasible rendition because a historic building like this is still unique by world standards, especially by Toronto standards, where the architecture is relatively bland. It’s anything but a mediocre
project. It has both glass facades and a sort of mirror facades, which will be somewhat similar to the reflective aluminum panels that Gehry has built in France, the Oral Building, to give you an idea of what the facade may look like. It’s definitely a mirror. It will catch and reflect the sun in a very interesting way. So the exterior will be a landmark building that will stand out among all the others.
We prefer the new proposal because the floors will be much more functional, and less wasted space. We can still see that it’s super unique compared to what we see now in Toronto. And we also have a perspective with this model when we compare it to the Theatre Park building. The Theatre Park is an existing building by Brad Lamb. Brad Lambtwo is known as a very popular builder, they have one of the most successful commercial buildings in our city. Just to give you an idea of the scale and size of the Gehry Towers we can compare it to the Theater Park building, Dream Office Reit and Humbold Properties who have proposed an 80-story mixed-use building. It will feature commercial office and retail space and then residential space. It will have 569 residential rental units on the upper floors.
Here’s a map of the site, as seen from above.
You can see the west tower and the east tower with Ed Mirvish Way in between. The layout of the units, again, is just an initial proposal. It could change. But currently, the unit mix based on the architectural plans is 237 studios with an average size of about 430 square feet. 1,025 one bed and one-bed dens with an average size of under 600 square feet. 550 two bedrooms with an average size of just under 900 square feet. And 222 three-bedrooms.
In the east tower, the average size of three bedrooms is 950 sq. ft. In the west building, the average three-bedroom size is 1,280 square feet. Some of the larger units are located on the upper floors of the west building. Of course, as you move up in the building, there are larger and larger units, especially for the better views. In total, the current architectural plans show 385 parking spaces. So, like many condos we see in the city in recent years, limited parking is likely to be given to the larger suites.
This is a photo of the ground floor of the east and west buildings.
Both the east and west residential lobbies are facing King street. You can also see two commercial spaces in the west tower, and a commercial space in the east tower, and they are also facing South to King street.
Then on the east tower, we can see where 263 is located, so a little over 3,000 square feet of OCAD College. And then on the fifth level of the building, there is a second floor complete with services. There’s a whole floor of health facilities in the east building, such as a huge weight room and cardio room, a small spinning studio and the health club. When you go up to the sixth floor, there’s another whole floor of services in the east building, a couple of outdoor decks to sit on. And then there’s a floor plan, probably the largest combination of lounge and party room we have ever seen in a building, a whole floor. In the east tower, the residents area start from the seventh floor and above.
And then we go to the west building. There are commercial offices on the second and third floor and up to the 10th floor. And then on the 11th floor, there’s a whole service floor and a huge open-air terrace on the north side. On the south side of the building, there is an outdoor pool. It will be interesting to see if the outdoor pool is a shared amenity between the two buildings. We are not the developer and we don’t want to make any assumptions, but this is a point worth paying attention to.
There is a lot of recreational space in both buildings, with a total of 38,000 square feet of indoor space split evenly between the two buildings, and 14,000 square feet of outdoor space, which is primarily located in the west tower. And then on level 12 of the west building, there’s also an entire floor of indoor gym. Then it goes up to level 13, and from that level to the top, there are the residence units.
The Price of Gehry Condos
Finally we are here to talk about the pricing. These are just guesses and assumptions based on what we see selling today. Developers don’t give any indication of what prices will be so far in advance of launch. They usually announce expected prices a month or a few weeks before launch. So we are making assumptions. This is not a commodity project. This building is a landmark. It was designed by a world-class architect. And we have other projects like this one in Toronto that are currently for sale in the pre-construction phase that we can look at to get a sense of where prices are going.
Here are some quick examples. There’s the Concord Sky on Yonge st., which is selling for over $2,000 per square foot for a one-bedroom. King Toronto Condos is the closest neighborhood rate to the Entertainment District. And it’s also designed by a world-renowned architect. We’re talking about $2,100 to $2,200 per square foot. There’s the United building at the university, which is $2,000 per square foot for the lower floors and $2,800 per square foot for the upper floors.
If you look at the most common projects that have been built in recent months in Toronto, they are above $1,600 per sq feet. I think it’s safe to say, almost 100%, that there’s no way Gehry‘s condos are going to go below $2,000 per foot. That is, the units definitely start at $1,000,000. That makes sense to me for this building, considering the other flagship projects that are currently in the market.
The Tallest Condos in Toronto Before Forma Condos
Before the Forma condos (or Gehry Condos), the tallest condo in Toronto is the Sky Tower. It is also the tallest residential tower in Canada, 95 stories in total, even higher than the Gehry Condos which is 73 &84 stories. If you look to the south, you get a sense of the three phases, the heights, and many units that have at least a partial view of the lake in these developments because obviously, we’re very close to Queen’s Quay.
There’s the Toronto Star building to the left. Above that is an office building. And then this piece of land is against the lakefront. You can see the Pier 27 development to the south. And then the three phases and the big podium surrounding the three buildings. This big podium is where all the commercial activities and the road connection will be.
The amenities of the Sky Tower are numerous, let’s quickly summarize some of them. One of them is, of course, a full gym, a fitness room, a spinning room, an outdoor pool, a jacuzzi, a sauna, and a beautiful party room. Here are also some quick facts about the development. At 95 stories, it is the tallest residential tower in Canada. Ten of these floors, from the ground floor to the tenth floor, are a hotel, and commercial occupancy is scheduled for November 2024. Actually, we’ll probably see it a little bit later. Let’s say 2025. Because being the tallest condo in Canada and it’s quite an architecturally challenging construction. So we expect some delays.
Maintenance costs are estimated at 67 cent per square foot. The hotel and the condo company are completely separate. So there are no financing issues. And if you buy a unit here, you’ll also see that in your purchase contract. For example, if you buy on the 60th floor, on your contract it is 50th, because there is a 10-story hotel and the hotel is not included in the condo corp.
The amenities include the outdoor pool and hot tub, terraces, barbecues, lounges, plus a large fitness center with yoga studio, spinning studio, game room, party room, children’s play areas, study rooms and dining rooms.
When you look at the top-down birds’ view picture of the buildings, you can see exactly where it is. The Toronto Star building is to the south, on Queen’s Quay, north of the harbour. So it’s three towers with a total of about 2,500 residential units. There are 80,000 square feet of amenities. In the southeast part of the podium is a 50,000 square feet community center.
There is a 250-room, ten-story hotel located in the scenic tower building. 160,000 square feet of commercial space. So there are a lot of boutiques, high-end stores along the first floor. You have a direct link to the street. It’s on the second floor of the podium. You can walk to Union Station in less than five minutes. Also, with the addition of the Toronto Star, the office space is 1.5 million square feet, which is enough for about 10,000 to 15,000 jobs. In addition, the Menkes Condos, located directly to the east, offers an additional one million square feet of office space.
Right now, prices start at around the low $900,000 for a one-bedroom unit plus den. From an investment standpoint, the resident’s Zone 9, is a 680-square-foot, one-bedroom condo with nice northern exposure and an unobstructed view of the city skyline, if you go high enough. And it’s a perfect layout for one or one plus bedrooms. Many builders strive for very small units just to meet the affordability requirement.
Pinnacle is going in the opposite direction with this tower, which is a luxury building. That’s why they’re going for the big plans. There’s no wasted space on this floor. The floorplans are the perfect layout for a one-plus den. The dens are 9 by 10 feet, unlike little nooks in other recent developments, and the price is $910,000 for each one is really good. That’s less than 1,400 square feet. And if you’re active in the pre-construction market, people are paying $1,400 a foot in the Empire Quay building, and 199 Church building is selling for almost $1,400-1,500 a square foot right now. That’s actually a good deal considering how much you get for that price.
The Landmark collection goes from the 73rd to the 78th floor. The Landmark units go from 73 to 78. And once you get past 78, the units get bigger again. As we can see, the Landmark units start at $1.6 million for a two-bedroom, 940-square-foot per unit, and go up to $3 million with a stunning lake view.
Let’s talk a bit about the neighborhood. To give you an idea: the East Waterfront neighborhood in Toronto is probably the fastest growing community in all of Toronto, not only in terms of housing but also in terms of city plans. This gives you an idea of where it all stands. We’ll go through them one by one.
The red building that was just highlighted, is the Sky Tower. And then the two blue buildings, that would be the Prestige, and the third phase for One Yonge. The green one is the office buildings to the south. Then there’s the Menkes, and the Sugar Wharf complex. The penthouse units are trading around $1,550-1,600 a foot. The green building directly to the south is an office building, which is another million square feet of office space. Directly east of that is the Daniels Lighthouse community. To the east of that we’ve got the community on the shore of Greenland Lake. And in between, we’ve got the Empire Quay Building. And to the south, we have Tridel’s Bayside community, which of course is end-user oriented, sort of an upscale community. Aqualuna is the final phase of that.
To the north of Tridel, was the Google Sidewalk Labs plan, which was cancelled. Obviously, a new development will come to take its place, it’s just a matter of time. This area is prime real estate on the waterfront. Time will tell what will happen, but I’m sure it will be something local, whether it’s residential with retail or all retail and office, something will happen that will enhance the area.
Then we have the redesign of the lowland, which is currently the largest lakefront recreational redesign in all of Canada. I’ll give you a quick first look here. It’s a collection of low and mid-rise buildings, with lots of commercial space and many acres of recreational space. This is one of the first renderings of Canoe Cove. I’m sure we still need to wait many years before Canoe Cove truly becomes this beautiful. However, they are moving very quickly on this project. To give you an idea of the size of the project, this leisure and retail park with mid-rise community is over 300 acres, about the same size as Singapore’s Bay Gardens. It is also slightly smaller than High Park, and they are developing very quickly.
And then we have the East Harbor, where the baby blue buildings are located on the right side of the screen. The First Golf recently sold this particular project to Cadillac Fairview for $680 million. CF is the development team for this job. It will go very quickly in their hands. To give you an idea, this is what it looks like. So if you go to DVP someday, you’ll see the East Port signs, and this is what the line will look like. So it’s a commercial and retail development, It’s expected to bring 50,000 to 70,000 jobs to the area. Obviously, it’s going to be high-end office space for rent, and there are probably going to be a lot of high-income people in the area.
This is also a transit center. So the plan is to have Queen’s Quay, to have a streetcar connection to Union. None of this matters if you’re at One Yonge, because you have a direct connection to the transportation, so you have a traffic advantage over this project.
However, the transit hub coming to the eastern front of the harbor will help property values increase in the area. More restaurants will come into the area, and more shopping or retails will come into the area. And it all contributes to the growth of that particular area of Toronto.
And then we also have the 3C condos, which I haven’t highlighted here, they will bring thousands and thousands of units and a ton of retail and office space to this neighborhood, too.
For more information about the Tallest condos in Toronto, please click here: Forma Condos