Are there any non-glass-and-steel condos anymore?

[1234567891011]

Hi, I'm new to this forum. I don't really have any serious plans as of yet, so I don't want to talk to a realtor, but I figured you folks are the experts on all things condominium-related, so I was wondering what kind of condos there are in Toronto. I live in PEI right now with my girlfriend (just temporarily. she is an artist who likes to travel.), but I am relatively familiar with Toronto.

I am wondering if there are any concrete or brick or stone condos in Toronto, particularly ones in historic buildings.
I know there are a lot of "main street" style buildings in Toronto, with the shops on the bottom and the apartments on top, and many of these are in old buildings, but are any of these actually condos?
I see some brick and concrete condos when I have driven through Toronto, but all of these are either just partially concrete or brick, or have the huge windows, and the glass and steel balconies which I don't care for. The facade of the building is something very important to me, and coming from a small town with lots of historic buildings, I feel like Toronto will be a difficult city for me to move to unless I settle for something sub-par (according to my taste, anyway).

[Taller, Better]

Welcome to the group! Are you thinking only of condominiums, or perhaps apartment buildings too? Because the condo trend is fairly new within the past 30 years or so, there are plenty of styles of older apartments to choose from; many gorgeous old ones too. Maybe it would be wise to rent for a bit before buying a condo to see if you like it here. I've photographed hundreds of older apartments in my photothread:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=334362
but unfortunately it is a bit big and bulky of a thread to navigate through. Even I have probably forgotten much of what is in it! hehe....

[1234567891011]

Thanks Taller, Better. You have lots of great photographs of the city, my goodness.

[Taller, Better]

There are kabillions of lovely old apartments in Toronto; everything from neoclassical, Gothic, Art Deco influenced, etc... I advise coming to have a look for a few days first instead of buying a condo right off the bat. You can get a wonderful old apartment quite easily here!

[monkeyronin]

There seem to be a fair amount of older apartment buildings where the units are sold as condos - this place for example has a unit for sale right now:



http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetail...ey=-1922931513


And there's loft conversions of old warehouses & churches and the like.

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr



Or there's always faux historic. Some nice...

image hosted on flickr



...some not so nice.

image hosted on flickr



Just to be clear, you don't like things like this, right?

[1234567891011]

Originally Posted by monkeyronin

There seem to be a fair amount of older apartment buildings where the units are sold as condos - this place for example has a unit for sale right now:



http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetail...ey=-1922931513

Thank you. Yes, that's a very nice building. Exactly the type of place I was looking for. Are condos like this in Toronto few in far between? I have only visited Toronto, never lived there yet. I know Toronto has a lot of Victorian architecture, but most of the areas I have seen with a large stock of it tend to be mostly houses rather than condos. Am I just not familiar enough with the city's neighbourhoods?
And yes, the glass-and-steel type of building material, whether used wholly or partially, is just not really my taste. That One Saint Thomas building looks great as well.

[monkeyronin]

Originally Posted by 1234567891011

Thank you. Yes, that's a very nice building. Exactly the type of place I was looking for. Are condos like this in Toronto few in far between? I have only visited Toronto, never lived there yet. I know Toronto has a lot of Victorian architecture, but most of the areas I have seen with a large stock of it tend to be mostly houses rather than condos. Am I just not familiar enough with the city's neighbourhoods?

I wouldn't say they're few and far between, but they're definitely not too common either. Most (or at least many) of the Victorian homes are multi-family homes, but most of those are rentals. Still, there are some that are condo properties (which seem more likely to be higher-end places like the one above though).

[ThatOneGuy]

Way too many bland glass condos in this city.

[Taller, Better]

When you say "this city", do you mean Toronto, or Fort Lauderdale from where you post?

[vid]

I'm specifically looking for a condo that uses structural wood and oiled paper windows.

[rbt]

Originally Posted by vid

I'm specifically looking for a condo that uses structural wood and oiled paper windows.

You can get those too. As an added bonus, they often come with a fireplace, sometimes woodburning!

[1234567891011]

Originally Posted by vid

I'm specifically looking for a condo that uses structural wood and oiled paper windows.

Originally Posted by rbt

You can get those too. As an added bonus, they often come with a fireplace, sometimes woodburning!

Come on, now. If you were looking at buying property wouldn't you want it to suit your taste in architecture?

[rbt]

Originally Posted by 1234567891011

Come on, now. If you were looking at buying property wouldn't you want it to suit your taste in architecture?

Sure. I was being honest.

Most townhouse and single-detached condos are wood construction, do include a fireplace of some type, and he could very easily add an oil-paper based treatment to the windows.

Condo isn't a built form, it's a type of ownership.

[vid]

I was being sarcastic. Most condos will incorporate steel and glass into their construction. What you're looking for is a design choice, though, and unfortunately those steel and glass designs are the least expensive in the short term for the developers to build, which is why they are going to be so many of them. Long term for you, probably not a good choice. Glass has a short lifespan and once it needs to be replaced it's going to cost millions per high rise.

[1234567891011]

Originally Posted by vid

I was being sarcastic. Most condos will incorporate steel and glass into their construction. What you're looking for is a design choice, though, and unfortunately those steel and glass designs are the least expensive in the short term for the developers to build, which is why they are going to be so many of them. Long term for you, probably not a good choice. Glass has a short lifespan and once it needs to be replaced it's going to cost millions per high rise.

So they're not just visually unappealing to me, but they are a scam as well? Can anyone think of some large condo developments that aren't glass and steel? I can't imagine they're terribly rare, are they? I remember seeing one large concrete building that I assumed was a condominium tower block on Yonge, south of Bloor and I think north of Dundas. Are even the concrete condo buildings hard to find?

[OEincorparated]

Most buildings over three stories use some sort of rebar weather it is the thick or thin kind. And if you're putting in windows you usually will use glass unless you don't want to see outside in which case you can seal the windows with shutters.

[Taller, Better]

123etc...... it all depends on how much money you are willing to spend on a condo. If you have very deep pockets you can pick and choose; otherwise you may have to take what you can afford.
An alternative might be to move to a city like Hamilton; there are some STUNNER condos in beautiful old buildings that are a fraction of the price of Toronto.

Originally Posted by vid

I was being sarcastic. Most condos will incorporate steel and glass into their construction..

What you mean is newly built condos. There are many condos available in older buildings that have been renovated for condominium use.

[rbt]

Originally Posted by vid

Most condos will incorporate steel and glass into their construction

This is a recent phenomenon.

Up until 2005 in the GTA there were about:

* 2200 applications residential condominium plans registered
* 600 applications were not built
* 800 townhouse condominiums completed (built). The vast majority of these are wood-frame construction.
* 100 single-detached houses converted to contain multiple condominium units

These are all approximations because TREB has a ton of incorrect records, lost records, and a whole host of other problems.

I confirmed what I could with geowarehouse.ca.


1234567891011 is going to find it difficult and expensive to get an authentic loft type space in Toronto; but they might like something in 11 St. Joseph or 633 Bay Street which are still fairly affordable.

[1234567891011]

Originally Posted by rbt

1234567891011 is going to find it difficult and expensive to get an authentic loft type space in Toronto; but they might like something in 11 St. Joseph or 633 Bay Street which are still fairly affordable.

Well, I'll be willing to spend a good amount of money if I can get the type of residence I've been wanting. And out of the lower-priced units, that 633 Bay Street building looks nice, and the location is better than I would have expected for the price.

[monkeyronin]

Originally Posted by rbt

1234567891011 is going to find it difficult and expensive to get an authentic loft type space in Toronto

I dunno about that, they don't seem any more expensive than other condos. A few for sale right now:

http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetail...ey=-1238569207
http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetail...dKey=431593726
http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetail...Key=1578096411
http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetail...dKey=393271641
http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetail...Key=-321273994