Brandon Donnelly

Daily insights for city builders, delivered every morning at 6 AM ET. I’m Brandon Donnelly — a Toronto-based real estate developer and founder of Globizen. I’ve been writing here since 2013.

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Tag: junction house condos

  • Best innovative suite design

    Junction House won “Best Innovative Suite Design” at the 39th BILD Awards (2019) last night. A big congrats to the team. Below is the floor plan that won. It is a 2 bedroom suite from our two-storey House Collection (JH_2B_H1).

    This design is fundamental to Junction House. It is why the project is called what it is. The goal was to create a suite that felt less like a condo, and more like a low-rise single-family home. Credit to Superkul Architects, and the rest of the team, for figuring it all out. There was a long list of requirements.

    We wanted dedicated kitchen (+ island), dining, and living areas. (The living area is also wider than what you’d typically find.) We wanted a terrace with (standard) water and BBQ connections. We wanted the bedrooms upstairs for privacy/separation. We wanted both of them to have direct window exposure. And we wanted a master ensuite bathroom with a double vanity.

    The House Collection includes some of my favorite suites in the building, which is why — full disclosure — I’m going to be moving into one of them. If you’d like more information about Junction House, reach out to Paul Johnston and his team at info@junctionhouse.ca or at 416-900-6076.

  • And that’s a wrap

    Mark Garner (Downtown Yonge BIA), Jon Simo (Neon Demon Studio), Rebecca Stubbs (Downtown Yonge BIA), Brandon Donnelly (Slate Asset Management), Rick Sole (Globizen Developments)

    What a weekend.

    Almost 4,000 people came through the Junction House sales office for our neon popup gallery. At one point throughout the day on Saturday, there was an over 1 hour wait to get in. The team had to implement a viewing time limit in order to keep the line moving.

    The event surpassed all of our expectations in terms of visitors and buzz. Many of the local businesses in the area also experienced a pop in foot traffic as a result.

    The Downtown Yonge BIA and Neon Demon Studio (as well as many others) did an incredible job coordinating and curating the exhibit. And we are thrilled to have played a small role in bringing it to life.

    What is clear to me after this weekend is that people really love neon (and, of course, Instagramming said neon) and that there’s a market here in Toronto for a permanent museum. It’s going to happen.

    For those of you who missed the exhibit, there’s no shortage of photos online. Check out #JunctionHouse and #NeonMuseumTO to get started. A big thank you to the entire team for making this happen.

    For more information on our Junction House condominium project, click here.

  • Junction House featured in the Toronto Star

    This morning the Toronto Star published a profile piece on one of Junction House’s earliest purchasers: Barbara Martinez. Barbara downsized from a house to a 1-bedroom condominium in Roncesvalles, but then realized that she still wanted space to entertain and have guests over. So she decided to buy a 3-bedroom penthouse at Junction House with an approximately 350 square foot terrace. That’ll work. It is truly one of the nicest suites in the building, and will come equipped with a view of the Toronto skyline that looks something like this (see background projection below):

    I am quoted in the article as saying that mid-rise condominiums in Toronto’s neighborhoods naturally tend to attract a different set of buyers compared to, say, a downtown tower. That is true and we are seeing it play out at Junction House. Yes, we have 1-bedroom suites that are perfect for young professionals and/or investors, but we also have some spectacular 2-storey suites (the House Collection) and larger single-storey suites for people just like Barbara. Congratulations on your new home purchase!

    Photos: Steve Russell for the Toronto Star

  • Junction House is a finalist in the 39th Annual BILD Awards

    I am excited to announce that Junction House is a 2019 finalist in the 39th Annual BILD Awards. The project is up for the following 4 awards:

    1. Best Signage (it was probably the neon that did it)
    2. Best Suite Design (large suite)
    3. Best Innovative Suite Design (it’s a suite from our unique 2-storey House Collection)
    4. Best Mid-Rise Building Design

    This last one is a “Pinnacle” award, but I’ll be honest in that I don’t know what that means. It sounds impressive though.

    BILD received some 850 submissions this year, so kudos to the project team: Superkül, Dialogue 38, Vanderbrand, Unique Urban Homes, DTAH, WND Associates, and others.

    We spend an inordinate amount of time on our floor plans — they are people’s eventual homes. So it’s nice to see a bit of that effort reflected above.

  • Junction House Sales Gallery — Now Open

    We just received a bunch of photos back of our Junction House Sales Gallery. So today is photo day on the blog. (Thank you Dialogue 38 for coordinating these.)

    Here’s the front “gallery” area. The artwork hanging on the wall is by local artist, Leeay Aikawa. Her work is terrific. You can see this space as you walk along Dundas Street West.

    Here is the model suite pavilion and main reception area (evening shot). The bar area is absurdly long. It was designed to accommodate beers from Indie Ale House down the street.

    Dialogue 38, the designers of the space, really wanted the model suite to be a “pavilion” — something akin to Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion. So here’s the ramp that takes you up and inside.

    Finally, here’s the model suite. The kitchen is by Scavolini. And the backsplash is a penny tile.

    The sales gallery is located at 2720 Dundas Street West and is now open every day of the week except Tuesdays. The hours are 1PM to 7PM during the week and 12PM to 5PM on the weekends.

  • Forever

    About a month ago, I said on the blog that we had partnered with two local artists for our Junction House project. The first was Leeay Aikawa and the second was a surprise. 

    Well the second one is no longer a surprise. It is Ben Johnston and he started work on his mural this evening. Here is a photo (courtesy of Shanique Small – thank you!):

    image

    It should be completed this week if you’d like to stop by 2720 Dundas Street West. I am planning to be there this Saturday to take some photos and generally just hang out in the Junction. 

    Stay tuned for more surprises. 

  • Photogenic neon in the Junction

    We just finished putting up some additional signage at the future sales office for Junction House. Clean and minimal, but fun. I am pretty pumped with the way everything turned out. Creative and photos by Vanderbrand. Instagram story mashup and failed neon photo by me.

    This week I learned that properly photographing neon takes a bit of work. The neon “Junction House” sign is actually all white when you see it in person. Apparently it has something to do with the frequency. 

    I’m going to go back one evening with my tripod and Fuji and see if I can do better.