Tag: one delisle

• Infill balcony housing — an adaptive reuse proposal

  Balconies are a never ending debate here in Toronto (and in many other places). In some cities, like New York, they don’t seem to matter for new housing. Residents seem to be generally content without them. But here in Toronto, we have typically included them in new high-rise housing and there has been a lot of debate and criticism around both their utility (high up in buildings) and their impact to overall energy performance.

  I have noticed that we are starting to see fewer balconies on new buildings, and I suspect this might increase with the way that costs are right now. And for some people and some (sub)markets, this will be just fine. But I happen to be a huge fan of outside. As my tanned dad likes to say when asked about the value of outdoor spaces in multi-family housing, “you don’t get this dark by staying inside.” He is pretty tanned.

  I also believe that great outdoor spaces are an important ingredient in shaking off the deep-rooted cultural biases that this city has toward low-rise housing. Since pretty much the beginning, low-rises houses with backyards have been seen as noble, whereas apartment buildings have been viewed as disease-breeding tenements liable to morally corrupt even the best of intentions.

  This is one of the reasons why we created the two-storey House Collection of suites at Junction House and why One Delisle is almost entirely formed by its outdoor spaces (both balconies and terraces). We wanted to celebrate multi-family living.

  At the same time, I really like this adaptive reuse proposal by Peter Song over at BDP Quadrangle. The idea is to allow people to infill their balconies with more interior space so that our existing stock of housing can become more flexible for growing families and for when people’s lives just generally change.

  

  It would be a great way to capture additional space within our existing stock of buildings, and I think it would be pretty interesting to see what people ultimately choose when given a binary option: more interior space or more outdoor space. Maybe it would help provide some clarity to the great balcony debate.

  Technically, it is my understanding that this is entirely doable.

  In the middle of writing this post I shot an email over to one of the best structural engineers in the city (James Cranford, Principal at Stephenson Engineering), and he confirmed that strength is no problem. Typically balconies are designed to accommodate more load than the suites. The thing we’d have to look at is slab deflection, since this is not usually limited on balconies.

  The greater challenge is likely to be the overall coordination.

  In some cities this sort of thing happens all the time on an ad hoc basis. People just do it and the end result is likely more functional, but the building elevations end up looking pretty schizophrenic. Here you’d need each condominium corporation to bless the change (since the envelope is a common element). And people would also need to agree on what design(s) should be used across the building.

  It would require some work, but I think Peter’s idea is a really good one. What do you think?

  2022.06.18

• Ground, broken

  Ground, broken #onedelisle pic.twitter.com/xE7q6RQG6u

  — Brandon Donnelly 🇨🇦 (@donnelly_b) June 15, 2022

  Buildings take a long time. Slate started investing in the Yonge & St. Clair area in 2013 and we acquired the first parcel for One Delisle in 2015. And here we are now in 2022. When it’s all said and done, it’ll be over a decade.

  So it’s important to celebrate the milestones when you can, and we did that today with the official ground breaking event for One Delisle. It takes an army of smart and dedicated minds to realize a project like this, so a huge thanks to everyone involved. You know who you are.

  Today was a real milestone. But I’m looking forward to concocting some others so that we have more reasons to celebrate as we complete this very rewarding marathon.

  2022.06.15

• Studio Gang in Amsterdam

  Slate Asset Management, RAD Marketing, and the top producing brokers for One Delisle were fortunate enough to be able to tour a Studio Gang-designed project in Amsterdam today called the Q Residences. A huge thanks to the developers — Kroonenberg Groep and Neoo — for their time and hospitality this afternoon.

  Here are two photos of the exterior:

  

  

  The building, which is a mixed-income rental apartment, is still under construction, and occupancy is expected sometime this fall. The structure is poured-in-place concrete, but the balconies were all pre-fabricated and installed on site. You can tell this by looking near the top of the above photo.

  Here are a few other interesting takeaways from the tour:

  – 40% of the complex is social housing (which is housed in an entirely separate but similarly impressive building); this is a mandatory requirement

  – The land is owned by the city and is being leased to the developers; the lease rate was discounted to account for the social housing requirement

  – The entire building uses in-floor heating and cooling, so there are no ducts or bulkheads in any of the suites (slabs are all about 300mm to accommodate this)

  – The balconies all have a rainwater collection system, which is mounted and concealed on the exterior of the building (it rarely goes below freezing here I am told)

  – The parking ratio for cars is very roughly about 0.5 per unit and the bicycle parking ratio is very roughly 3 per unit (remember this is the bicycle capital of the world)

  – Structural system is mostly shear walls; they also have some post-tensioning in the slabs

  – Less reliance on metal wall studs; instead they use a more expensive block-like system that offers more rigidity and better sound attenuation (I will look for the exact specification)

  – There is also this odd/interesting requirement that all of the suites have an operable window that can provide both natural ventilation and sound attenuation; in other words, it needs to let air in and block sound at the same time

  Here’s what that looks like at Q Residences:

  

  

  We don’t have a requirement like this in Toronto and so that’s why I used the word odd. We have ventilation and sound requirements, but they don’t need to be solved simultaneously in this same way.

  Why I also think this is interesting is because I think it speaks to a greater reliance on natural ventilation over active mechanical systems. In Toronto, the underlying thinking is that if it’s too hot and noisy, it’s just a matter of shutting your windows and turning on the AC.

  Of course, we obviously we have to manage around a very different climate, so I don’t mean this as a criticism of Toronto codes. It’s just an observation.

  If you aren’t familiar with the Q Residences, or the work of Neoo and Kroonenberg, I would encourage you to search around online. The project is gorgeous and so is the rest of their work.

  2022.05.05

• Columns vs. shear walls in residential and office construction

  

  If I were to make a broad generalization for the way that we typically design the structural systems for residential buildings and office buildings here in Toronto it would be as follows: office buildings tend to have a big structural core with perimeter columns and residential buildings tend to have a smaller core accompanied by both columns and shear walls (long structural walls essentially). There are a myriad of other differences, but for the purposes of this post, I’m going to run with this broad classification.

  When something is typically done a certain way it often means that it is generally what the market wants and it is a cost effective solution. In the case of office buildings, this sort of structural system is essential for maintaining open plans and future flexibility. You can’t have shear walls interrupting your floor plates. And because big office buildings also tend to have a lot of elevators, the structural core is usually what provides lateral stability to the building (or at least this is what the structural engineers tell me).

  But this same imperative for open plans isn’t usually there for residential buildings. In this case, the unit demising is often fairly fixed and the individual resident/tenant spaces tend to be smaller than in office buildings, which makes frequent structural elements a lot more palatable. And since the elevator cores also tend to be smaller (fewer elevators), there is usually a need to introduce other structural elements that can provide the building with lateral stability. (Again, this is what the engineers tell me.) So enter all the shear walls.

  But every now and then, somebody in Toronto will ask: Is this the right way to be building? Other cities don’t build their residential buildings with all of these shear walls and so should we really be limiting the future flexibility of our multi-family housing supply by constructing in this way? These are good questions. The short answer is that it tends to be easier/cheaper to build this way. Our market is used to it. And generally end-users are just fine with it.

  However, this method of building isn’t necessarily a universal truth. The structural system for One Delisle, for example, is far closer to that of an office building than it is to that of a typical residential tower. Much of this was driven by the building’s architecture and its continually changing floor plates. I have also heard of instances where purpose-built rental developers are choosing to go column over shear wall so that there’s greater flexibility in the future. There’s certainly a case to be made for this.

  As developers, it is impossible to know all there is to know about any one discipline. You need the right team in place for that. But we do have to look at the bigger picture, weigh all of the constraints, and then hopefully make a reasonably good decision. This is one example of that.

  Image: Bay-Adelaide Centre North, Toronto

  2022.03.04

• What happened in 2021 — a review of my predictions for the year

  

  On January 1st of this year, I wrote a post called, “My 2021 predictions.” It was part of a new practice that I have adopted where I try to forecast the year (I will be wrong) and then evaluate how I did at the end of it (the focus of today’s post). This year was, of course, a tricky year with lots of uncertainty. But here’s where my head was at in January and here’s what ultimately happened.

  Life will feel a lot more normal by spring/summer.

  This more or less happened. Cases, at least here in Ontario, were way down by the summer. Those who wanted to be fully vaccinated had the option to be. Cities reopened and summer felt pretty good after a long winter of lockdowns. As soon as it was possible to do so, we reopened our office and many/most people came back. I ended up being in the office this year more than I wasn’t. Of course, I had no idea that Omicron was going to be a thing back in January.

  Working from home/the office.

  I think the jury remains out on this one. It’s still too early to draw conclusions. I have been in the office full-time for most of this year, but I recognize that that hasn’t been the case for everyone. I know from the super scientific “Jimmy the Greek Reopening Index” that I developed that office utilization rates are not yet back. When I wrote about this topic back in October, the US average was thought to be just below 40%. Still, I remain bullish on office.

  An explosion of global travel.

  Well, Airbnb’s stock isn’t maybe as sky high as I suggested in my predictions post. But it is still up over 19% YTD:

  

  Marriott is also up nearly 27% YTD:

  

  The reality is that travel was/is rebounding. I managed to take two weeks off at the end of the summer, which is something I hadn’t done in at least several years. But Omicron has certainly impacted the recovery:

  

  Urban/downtown real estate will strongly rebound.

  I would argue that we saw this play out in the residential sector. Here in Toronto, Q3-2021 saw condo rents in the core increase 11.4% quarter-over-quarter. This was a fairly significant snapback. It was the largest increase in the region, outpacing both the inner suburbs and the outer suburbs. On the for-sale side, we saw evidence of the condo market returning as early as Q1. We were also able to successfully launch One Delisle and are now preparing to start construction.

  Trends accelerating.

  In some cases, what we saw was a reaction to short-term dislocation. Peloton’s stock is down about 73% YTD at the time of writing this. In other cases, what we saw was just a “pulling forward.” (Link to post by Fred Wilson.) The pandemic led to greater consumption of certain products and services, but now those companies could be headed for a period of slower growth. At the same time, there’s evidence that certain things, like buying more groceries online, may actually be sticking.

  Return of restaurants.

  What seems pretty clear is that people are quicker to return to bars & restaurants than they are to return to the office. As we know, getting together in person is fundamental to urban life. Here’s a chart from OpenTable:

  

  However, this is not to say that many restaurants didn’t have a tough go during this uncertain time.

  Public transit ridership will return to pre-pandemic levels by the fall.

  I was dead wrong and way too optimistic about this one. Office utilization rates remain lower than expected and so people aren’t commuting in nearly the same way. Those who are, seem to be driving more. As of August, Canada’s urban transit networks were operating, on average, at just over 40% of where they were pre-pandemic (August 2019). This is obviously a serious problem for operating shortfalls.

  Migration from high tax states to (warmer) low tax states.

  This is an established trend in the US and so it was certainly not a bold prediction. There are many other factors at play here beyond simply the pandemic. However, as I mentioned in my original post, what is perhaps more interesting right now is the heightened tension between centralization (urbanity) and decentralization. I’ll see what data I can uncover in the coming weeks, but we likely need to get to the other side of this pandemic before drawing any firm conclusions.

  In reviewing this year’s predictions it is clear that I was perhaps overly optimistic (which is far better than being overly pessimistic) and that missed a lot of important stuff. Some of it was unknowable, such as a new variant, and some of it I just missed, which is bound to happen. I could also be more precise and bolder in my predictions, and so I will endeavor to do that in my upcoming predictions for 2022. Stay tuned.

  If you’re not already an email subscriber to this blog, consider making that happen over here. And for those of you who have been reading all year, thank you. I truly appreciate it.

  Photo by Jamie Curd on Unsplash

  2021.12.21

• Construction starting at One Delisle

  

  Two quick project announcements today.

  One, the sales gallery for One Delisle has now officially closed in preparation for demolition and construction (above is a photo from moving day). None of us expected it to close so quickly after only having launched sales in May, but of course this is a good problem to have. We are now just waiting on our demolition permits to arrive, which we expect will happen sometime between the next few days and several weeks. The official groundbreaking ceremony will happen early in the new year once we have a clean/flat site to work with. Shoring and excavation works after that.

  Two, we just announced a partnership with Technogym for Junction House. Our team was all in the office one day and I asked a question about who makes the best performing and most design-forward gym equipment. Technogym was immediately mentioned and so we reached out. They’ll now be equipping the entire fitness center at Junction House and the plan is to make it a longer-term relationship. If you aren’t familiar with Technogym, you can check them out here. They were the official supplier for the recent Olympic Games in Tokyo, as well as 7 other Olympics, which I suppose is something.

  2021.12.02

• Weather test in Ireland

  A few of us are in Ireland right now visiting with the suppliers who will be providing the windows, sliding doors, louvers, and glass for One Delisle. Thank you for the hospitality Flynn, Duggan Systems, and Carey Glass.

  Below is a video showing a weather test that was done this morning. If any of you have been to the One Delisle Sales Gallery, you will probably recognize these sliding doors. They are fantastic.

  https://videopress.com/v/MSqkI5vJ?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata

  Many of us probably don’t think about the supply chain that exists behind the products and services that we consume. But it is there and there are lots of smart people working “behind the scenes” to make everything happen.

  FYI, the doors passed.

  2021.11.04

• There is no effort without error and shortcoming

  I had a blog post planned out in my mind for today. I was going to write about how the Penthouse Collection launch went this evening at One Delisle (our new website just went live), and the digital NFT art (by Petra Cortright) that we commissioned to accompany each of the 8 penthouse residences.

  But then my partner Lucas Manuel sent out the below quote by Theodore Roosevelt in one of our group chats and it derailed everything. I think it’s imperative that it gets reshared here immediately:

  It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

  There is no effort without error and shortcoming. But in the worst of cases, that means failing while daring greatly. Because failing while daring greatly is better than not daring at all. These are words to live by. And I would like to think that our team’s efforts to bring digital NFT art to Toronto’s condominium market is daring on some level.

  What is clear to me after speaking with a lot of people this evening is that most people don’t know what an NFT is and they don’t know how this all works. But at the same time, they recognize that real and meaningful change is underway. (I was on Global TV this evening trying to explain this stuff.)

  We may be the first (at least here in Toronto), but I would put money on the fact that we won’t be the last developer to incorporate NFTs into their projects. And that’s a good thing. We should all be building on top of each other’s work. Let’s dare greatly.

  2021.10.06

• The development manic meter

  We have a running joke in our office about the manic nature of the development business. Sometimes you feel like you’re having the best day of your life and everything is clicking and moving forward. And sometimes it feels like you’re about to die (slight exaggeration). Things are stuck, nothing is moving, and/or a new problem has just popped up. So our team likes to joke that we have a “manic meter” in our corner of the office. Sometimes it’s up and sometimes it’s down.

  Part of the challenge is that progress in the world of development generally takes a very long time. Whenever I talk to someone who isn’t in the industry and I explain our timelines, they are usually shocked and question why things move so slowly. For example, we just spent the last 82 days trying to pull a building permit that realistically could have been issued in an afternoon. That is frustrating. Meter down. We have also spent more than half a decade working on some planning approvals. That’s even more frustrating. Meter down.

  The way I have learned to respond to this dynamic is to try and move as fast as possible. Never assume you have enough time, because things will generally always take longer than you expect. You need to be constantly moving and pushing. So you need to be impatient in the short-term. I also find it helpful to break big projects down into smaller projects so that you have wins to celebrate along the way and you can feel some accomplishment. Having hobbies that don’t take decades to come to fruition may further help.

  But alongside being impatient in the short-term, you also have to be patient in the long-term. Our team started working on One Delisle in 2015. We are now in 2021 and preparing to start construction. That’s a marathon, not a sprint. So what you need to do is find the right balance between short-term impatience and long-term patience. This, I guess, is part of the manic nature of this business.

  Meter up.

  2021.10.05

• The Petra Cortright NFT Collection at One Delisle

  My two week photo blogging experiment has come to an end. We are now back in Toronto. France was incredible, and I thoroughly enjoyed practicing my French and messing up which nouns are masculine and feminine. Expect some follow-up posts in the coming week(s). I was jotting down notes throughout the trip.

  I must say that the experience of getting back to Canada was far easier than I was expecting. Besides having to run around to a few different places for our PCR tests (sante.fr gave us some addresses that wouldn’t take us), it was relatively painless.

  I am now swimming through my inbox (butterfly stroke kind of thing). There’s a lot to catch up on and a lot that I want to write about. But here’s something pretty special. Today I am excited to share that Slate Asset Management just announced an NFT digital art collection by Los Angeles-based artist Petra Cortright.

  The collection consists of 8 works of digital art that are exclusive to each of the 8 penthouse residences at One Delisle (1/1). We believe that this is one of if not the first example of this — NFTs being commissioned by a developer for future condominium residents.

  Since the beginning, we have wanted to make One Delisle a “project of firsts.” We wanted to create something remarkable and usually that means you have to do something for the first time. We are fortunate to have been able to partner with Studio Gang for both the architecture of the building and its interiors.

  The Petra Cortright NFT Collection is the next step in this commitment to new ideas. And on October 6th the team will be revealing both the One Delisle Penthouse Collection and hosting a one-time gallery viewing of the eight digital art pieces. If you would like to attend here in Toronto, please send an email to info@onedelisle.com.

  For more information about what all of this means (including a bit about NFTs), here’s the full press release from earlier today.

  

  2021.09.29