Our first shoring rig was delivered and setup today at Junction House. A second one is on the way shortly.
It will take a couple of months to complete all of our caisson piles. If you'd like to learn about how shoring is constructed, check out this "explainer" from UrbanToronto.
It was also an absolutely beautiful day here in Toronto -- not a cloud in the sky. So here are a few photos from site.
This week Bloomberg reported that Dubai is facing a "housing disaster" as a result of overbuilding. There's simply too much supply coming onto the market. About 30,000 units are expected to be completed this year, which the industry believes is about 2x actual demand. As a result, the industry -- yes, the development industry -- is calling for a 1-2 year pause on all new construction in the city so that the excess units can be absorbed and demand can catch up.
I'm not an expert on the Dubai market. And I've only been to the city once. But my sense is that there are relatively few barriers to new supply, especially compared to markets like Toronto and San Francisco. And so it's not surprising to hear that supply is and has been outstripping demand. According to Bloomberg, the market peaked about 5 years ago.
For the industry to call for a moratorium on new construction it must mean that there's concern of a prolonged housing slump and perhaps even some sort of systemic collapse. But if the objective is more affordable housing, than you might argue that Dubai has been doing a pretty good job of that. Here is a global city with a "housing crisis" on the opposite end of the spectrum. So what is it that makes Dubai different than, say, London or San Francisco?
Photo by David Rodrigo on Unsplash
Today I'm excited to announce that the Junction House Sales Gallery has just received a Best of Canada Award (2019) from Canadian Interiors. Link, here. Shout-out to Dialogue 38, Vanderbrand, Unique Urban Homes, Superkul, and the rest of the team for making it happen. We are fortunate to have had such a cool space to work with. It was previously occupied by the art studio, Moss & Lam. And so from the very beginning the idea was always to find the right balance between old and new, raw and unpolished, playful and luxurious.
Some of you may also not be aware that before we converted the above studio into a condo showroom, we donated it to a number of creative groups who were looking for space, but maybe didn't have a lot of (or any) money. Lost & Gone used it to host an immersive rendition of Romeo & Juliet (video of the performance, here). DJ and designer Steve Aoki used it to launch one of his Dim Mak collections (okay, he has a lot of money). And Secret Walls used it for a live art battle. In fact, Secret Wall's markings are still present within the Gallery if you look up toward the ceiling.
Before we came along, the space was used as an art studio. That's an important part of the Junction House story and we wanted to commemorate that in the build out of the Sales Gallery (the "Gallery" part is meant to reference this past use). It is also one of the reasons why we partnered with Ben Johnston for this "Forever" mural on the outside of the building (yes, we see the irony); why we created a place for artists to showcase their work (currently Leeay Aikawa); and why we commissioned a celebrated local artist (Thrush Holmes) to create a custom piece for the future lobby of Junction House.
Art matters.