By now, it’s abundantly clear that the Greater Toronto Area’s new condo market is not what it once was. Pre-sales have slowed to a crawl and inventory is building up, resulting in projects being shelved, cancelled, and converted into rental.

“The condominium market has, for a long time, been progressing on the basis of points of arbitrage,” explains Sayf Hassan, CEO of Toronto-based Elysium Investments. He points out that the strategy the condo market has long relied on — wherein investors purchase pre-con product and later offload it at a profit — has become “untenable” amid higher interest rates and depleted buying power.

“The entitlement process, hijacked by political self-interest and turned into a years-long zero-sum game, forced an untenable cycle of commodification," Hassan says. "Now, the market is shifting decisively toward purpose-built rental — stable, enduring, and fit for modern urban needs.”

‘The Paradigm That's Here To Stay’

While other developers are making a “pivot” to purpose-built rental, Elysium is already there.

“Elysium’s focus, from the very onset, was clear: purpose-built rental is the future. Unlike the condo market, where bloated planning approval timelines create fleeting arbitrage and speculative chaos, it offers permanence, utility, and reason — housing as it was meant to be.” says Hassan.

“You don’t need to pre-sell to investors, the delivery timeline for rental units is faster, entitlements are more accommodating, CMHC offers support, and there are greater municipal fee economies available."

“"From a market perspective, we’re gratified to have been right," Hassan says. "Two years ago, we made the call: every site we’ve acquired and underwritten has been for purpose-built rentals. We never entertained the investor-driven condo model — it’s always been about the end-users, the tenants themselves.”

READ: From Baltic Shopping Centres To Toronto High-Rises: The Evolution Of Elysium

Prioritizing “Good Faith Transactions”

At a time when many developers are scaling back, Elysium has 4,000 residential units across five projects in the pipeline in Toronto alone, for a development value close to $3 billion. The company also has several sites currently under consideration. And that’s all to say that there’s much more to Elysium’s success than a commitment to purpose-built rental.

For one, Hassan says, they have deviated from the hyper-competitive, “dog-eat-dog” nature of new condo development in favour of a strategy he calls “collective serendipity.” This involves working closely with sellers and agents to identify “their highest and best ambitions” for a prospective development site.

“We distill the seller's needs into key metrics and structure long closings to meet them," Hassan explains. "This approach allows us to secure entitlements and financing while limiting upfront capital. Non-refundable deposits, released at intervals, provide sellers with meaningful cash events before closing, aligning interests and fostering trust. It’s not just a deal; it’s a partnership.”

Optimism For The Future

Although the GTA’s market may presently be a challenging one for housing development stakeholders to navigate, Elysium has a lot of faith in the future. In part, because the region has strong fundamentals in its favour — particularly if you know where to look.

For instance, the company is poised to be in the student housing niche, which has been chronically underserved for decades. Hassan hints at plans to bring affordable, high-quality rentals close to major post-secondary institutions.

He also points to the fact that there’s been a push amongst municipal leaders for more density as a reason to be optimistic for the future.

“Municipal leaders today are far more receptive to density," Hassan remarks. "This shift has fostered a collaborative approach to urban development, opening up new possibilities for housing delivery. More importantly, it has redirected planning discussions away from the repetitive focus on height and toward meaningful considerations of built form and the design of public spaces."

To learn more, visit elysiuminvestments.ca.

This article was produced in partnership with STOREYS Custom Studio.

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