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.

Subscribe

Tag: toronto islands

  • The Copenhagen kolonihave

    Well this is an interesting concept. One part allotment garden and one part summer home. Copenhagen’s kolonihave is a community of small homes and gardens within biking distance of Copenhagen’s city center. A place to get away and maybe plant some fresh mint for mojitos. It shares some similarities with the Toronto Islands (land trust) in that the owners own their home, but lease the land. Except in the case of Toronto you’re not allowed to use your island residence as a summer home. If you want to live on the islands, you need to tough out the winters and make it your principal residence. Regardless of the ownership structure, there is something clearly endearing about these small homes and gardens. And I bet that there would be a lot of demand for something like this if it could be done at any sort of scale.

  • Photography heli tour

    Tonight I went a photography heli tour with @normandthegang. 

    I took almost 500 photos, including a bunch of aerials of our development sites. And we got lucky with a pretty spectacular pink sunset. 

    Here is a photo that I took of the CN Tower with my Fuji X Series (35mm prime lens):

    Lake Ontario actually looked like that. This is not post-production chicanery. Follow me on Instagram to see the rest of the photo series.

    Thanks again for the invite Norm. That was a lot of fun. 

  • Motion Exposure

    Photographer Stephen Orlando is obsessed with capturing “motion through time and space.” What he does is use long single exposures and LED lights (attached to people and objects) in order to reveal paths of movement. The results are stunning.

    He has done this with various sports, including cross-country skiing, soccer, hockey, karate, and kayaking. His work is art + technology + sport. Check out his gallery here.

    Recently Stephen collaborated with Olympic kayaker Adam Van Koeverden and shot photos of him cruising along Lake Ontario with the Toronto skyline in the background. See above photo. The LED lights were attached to his paddle. The rest of those photos can be found here.

    What I like about these photos is that they’re created by visualizing – in a more permanent way – movement that is already latent within these sports. These are geometries that currently exist, we just can’t see them without Stephen’s help.

  • A day on Ward’s Island

    I have a friend in town visiting me from New York this weekend. And since today was such a beautiful day in Toronto, we decided to spend the afternoon on the Toronto Islands–Ward’s Island to be exact. The islands are such an incredible amenity in the city. I try and go as often as I can during the summer. It’s my Central Park.

    But in addition to parks and beaches, many people also live on the islands. There are 262 residential properties across the archipelago. Below is what a residential street looks like. There are no cars allowed. It’s a gorgeous place.

    But if you want a house on the Toronto Islands you have to get on a waiting list. There only 500 spots and it’ll probably take you about 30 years before you get to a meaningful position on that list. But even then, you’re only buying the house. The land itself is on lease.

    But if we didn’t regulate, the islands would be a very different place. 262 homes is not a lot of housing. In fact, it’s less than most of the new condo buildings going up downtown. So it’ll probably always be a heavily regulated market.