Since it's Thanksgiving, the Storeys team thinks it's the right time to pause, digest our turkey, and offer some heartfelt expressions of gratitude.
So on a day when we gather with our (online) family to consider the blessings we’ve received, let us reflect on all the Toronto real estate sector has given us.
We're thankful for the artistry and innovation of local architects like David Pontarini, Peter Clewes, Rudy Wallman, Sol Wassermuhl and Charles Gane (among others), who've all contributed this year to redefining Toronto’s skyline.
We’re grateful to the designers—IIxIV, Mike Niven, Alessandro Munge, and so many more—who've shown us how to live a big life, in a small space.
To Canderel Residential, the developers of Aura at College Park, we give thanks for showing us that developers with big vision can build big towers. Aura soars 80 storeys over Yonge and College, and since it opened a few years ago, condo developers today are now planning towers that will reach 90 storeys and beyond.
We appreciate the pioneering efforts of developers who've looked at pockets of this city—areas crying out for intensification and investment—and created dynamic, new neighbourhoods. Freed’s work to reimagine King West, Menkes’ creation of the South Core District, Liberty Development’s projects along Highway 7, Streetcar’s efforts along Queen East…. These are just a few of Toronto’s most innovative development companies making a difference, neighbourhood by neighbourhood.
We thank Allied Properties Real Estate Investment Trust, and their architects at Sweeny & Co. Architects, for giving us the QRC West Building (at the corner of Adelaide and Peter). Trust us on this one. It’s pretty cool—check it out!
We’re thankful to Tridel and Hines, Westbank Properties, Mizrahi Developments, and Mirvish Enterprises, for bringing 3XN, Bjarke Ingels, Sir Norman Foster and Frank Gehry to Toronto. We’ve always believed Toronto is a world-class city, and having the world’s best architects designing our skyline is proof!
To Toronto’s marketing firms specializing in real estate, like Montana Steele, The Brand Factory, Gladstone Media, L.A. Inc., P&B Marketing, Ryan Design and others, a group whose innovative campaigns, clever copy and impactful brand strategies are being pursued not just by local developers, but by residential and commercial real estate companies across North America and around the globe. We're constantly amazed by your creative efforts, and your housing campaigns continue to make us want to buy!
We're thankful to the developers, planners and politicians who steadfastly work to ensure Toronto’s residential real estate boom not just be for the rich! Like them, we agree all Torontonians deserve a home they can be proud of—regardless of economic status—and that our city is richer with affordable places to live.
We want to offer a big thank you to Canada’s ‘other’ real estate market—Vancouver. Your over-inflated real estate market, popularity with foreign investors, and front page articles in the Globe and Mail are helping make the Toronto market look better, just by comparison.
Finally—and most importantly—we're grateful to you, the readers of Storeys.
Whether you check in on the site daily, or stop by once-in-a-while, catch up with us on Facebook or Twitter, or wait each week for our newsletter to reach your inbox, we appreciate your interest in the Toronto real estate market, and your willingness to let us share our ‘storeys’ with you every day.
Wishing you all a safe and happy Thanksgiving.
