The latest upcoming luxury condo to transform Toronto's Yonge and Bloor intersection, The One (1 Bloor Street W), has just released a lavish penthouse suite -- and it's the priciest condo to ever hit the Toronto market.
With a price tag of $34,700,000, this clearly is the type of abode that caters strictly to the one percent of the one percent.
According to Toronto realtor Paul Johnston -- who's no stranger to selling multi-million-dollar condos -- the price of the penthouse surpasses the previous condo listing price record of $28,750,000 set in 2019 (it sold off market for less than asking).
READ: The Three Most Expensive Toronto Condos to Sell During COVID
Mizrahi Developments and architects Foster + Partners created The One Toronto building, which is currently coming to life at the iconic -- and rapidly changing -- intersection.
Towering over the designer shop and gourmet restaurant-packed Yorkville neighbourhood, the view-filled full-floor penthouse residence offers 8,752-square-feet of impeccable living space, with luxurious details at every turn.
This means features including sleek interiors of marble and wood, opulent metallic tones, and spa-worthy bathrooms. The buyer will have the option to customize the layout of the sunlight-soaked home in the sky. The sprawling five-bedroom, seven-bathroom home features floor-to-ceiling windows throughout, a statement-making spiral metallic staircase, and a rooftop pool.
“It’s the tallest building in Canada; there is no other penthouse in the country that is situated at over 1000 feet. The spectacular south-facing views are unprecedented and go across Lake Ontario to Rochester, New York,” says Sam Mizrahi, president of Mizrahi Developments. “The finishes are unparalleled; there is no other unit or building in Canada with the same quality of finishes; it’s our forte.”
The rooftop is another major selling feature, according to Mizrahi. “You have an outdoor rooftop pool and outdoor entertaining area with a kitchen that you can actually enjoy because it has wind engineering built into it,” says Mizrahi. “You can actually utilize the rooftop of your penthouse. In some buildings, you can’t even open the window.”
For those wondering, the estimated mortgage would be a cool $127,273 per month.
Like the shiny new condo towers in which they are housed, apparently, the cost of a pre-construction GTA penthouse is soaring to new heights. Earlier this month, a record-setting penthouse condo in the upcoming Exchange District hit the Mississauga market with a price tag of $15M.
But whether or not they sell for record-breaking amounts is another story; the penthouse's price tag may be designed more to generate PR than actual dollars, says Johnston.
"Here, it’s the story that matters," says Johnston of the newly listed penthouse at 1 Bloor W. "The mere existence of the condo is the story here, with very little expectation that it will actually sell. But it gets people talking, and creates a halo effect. Asking [nearly] $4,000 per square foot for a unit also helps to make other suites appear more affordable -- and certainly more attainable!"
Johnston says it's highly unlikely anyone will pay this price. "The unit will either be divided up or sold for considerably less than the asking price, quietly, in a few years," he says. "But for now it’s great publicity! Certainly it’s a trophy property atop a building that might be quite remarkable (only time will tell), but generally buyers seeking this style of residence will seek out a smaller scaled, more intimate, and more exclusive building."
However, Mizrahi says there are no PR strategies at play. “There were only four penthouses available at The One and we already sold the other three,” says Mizrahi. “I can’t yet disclose the prices under confidentiality agreements, but I can confirm that they sold for very close to the listing price of this last penthouse unit. It’s no PR stunt.”
Specs:
- Address:1 Bloor Street W, Lp7900
- Bedrooms: 5
- Bathrooms: 7
- Size: 8,752-square-feet
- Price: $34,700,000
- Listed by: Katy Torabi, Royal LePage
Still, Johnston doesn't anticipate a long line of buyers.
"Investment buyers -- both foreign and domestic -- who have been attracted to this building are clearly looking for both holding income and long term appreciation," says Johnston. "The rent would be ballistic to cover the cost here, so an income buyer isn’t going to look at it twice. The buyers flowing in and out of Billionaire’s Row in Manhattan aren’t likely to pay this much attention -- Bloor Street isn’t 57th Street, and there isn't a deep enough pool of buyers to create any kind of liquidity for this type of home when the buyer wants out."
There’s a small chance that a special buyer will somehow rationalize paying this money, says Johnston -- it’s $1,000 more per square foot than his record breaking condo sale -- on the basis of prestige and notoriety. "But my experience is that buyers of luxury condominiums are craving homes in buildings of a more modest scale," he says. "Boutique, this is not."
Still, if you happen to have an extra $35M laying around...
RENDERINGS
Renderings via NEEZO Studios
