Montreal-based Jesta Group has just announced the acquisition of a bulk condominium portfolio in downtown Toronto valued at $30 million. This also marks the launch of a larger $500 million program targeting more than 1,000 residential units over the next 12 months. Here's a snippet from the press release:

"Toronto's fundamentals remain strong and the current market environment has created a unique window to deploy capital at scale," said Anthony O'Brien, Senior Managing Director at Jesta Group. "We are aggressively pursuing opportunities that fit this investment ethos and encourage developers with qualifying inventory to reach out directly."

Anthony's email is aobrien@jesta.com.

Sentiment seems to be changing here in Toronto. Maybe it's because summer is coming and the winter was long, or maybe it's because our looming supply bottom is drawing nearer. Regardless, a $500 million program certainly suggests that somebody believes we are at or near the bottom.

Cover photo by Rodolfo Flores on Unsplash

I am currently sitting in CDG and running on somewhere between 3-4 hours of sleep. We spent the entire day in Paris on a layover and are now waiting to board for Tokyo. So today's post is going to be two quick announcements related to Junction House. One, we just received the final architectural photos from Double Space Photography, and they turned out great. If you'd like to take a look, most of them can be found here. And two, we just listed suite 607. It's a spacious two-storey and two-bedroom suite, and one of the best in the building. Over the last few months, we've been seeing strong demand from end users (as opposed to investors) and I'm sure this one will go that way as well. For much of the last cycle, it was frankly easier and more profitable to just target investors. But I would argue that the opposite is true today. And that's a positive thing for the market.

Cover photo: Double Space Photography

On Saturday, I went on a bike ride all around Toronto. We cut across midtown (checking in on One Delisle), stopped at the Chester Hill Lookout (which if you grew up in the east end is where you probably went as a teenager to make out), shot down the Don Valley, and then turned west along the waterfront. The weather was perfect.

As we were going along the waterfront, we passed the new Aqualuna building that is under construction on Queens Quay East, near Parliament Street. Being the architecture nerd that I am, I immediately noticed that as you pass by -- at the speed of a bike -- the balconies create this really nice cinematic effect.

So I stopped to take these photos (I probably should have taken a video now that I think of it):

I then tweeted a tweet calling it one of the most beautiful buildings going up in Toronto today. Judging from the responses, most people seem to be in agreement, but a few people questioned the practicality of balconies like this. Namely how private and usable they will be. I don't disagree, but I still think it's fine looking building.

What do you think?