Toronto’s condo-builders: development approaches and spatial preferences

ABSTRACT

The City of Toronto has undergone a number of dramatic transformations in the last several decades morphing from an industrial-driven metropolis into a thriving real estate and consumer amenities market. Over these decades, the development of condominiums has significantly transformed Toronto’s cityscape surpassing by far other types of real estate development. Based chiefly on a series of interviews with property developers and local politicians, this article explores development from the perspective of condo developers. The article identifies the key condo developers and categorizes them according to their development approaches and spatial preferences. Findings reiterate the need to consider property developers as highly diverse and flexible place entrepreneurs. Differences play out not merely in preferred development location and size, but also in target population, tenure mix, corporate structure, and the extent to which capitalism and economic gain are mixed with more idealistic motivations such as social benefits.

KEYWORDS:

• Property developers
• condominiums
• urbanism
• Toronto

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Rachel Friedman and Elka Gotfryd for their research assistance, and to the journal’s reviewers and editor for helpful suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Interview with the President of Tridel, Leo DelZotto, Tridel Corporation, February 2009.

2. Interview with Monarch’s President, Brian Johnston, Monarch, June 2010.

3. Interview with the Director of Great Gulf Homes, Harry Rosenbaum, June 2010.

4. Interview with President of Plazacorp, Anthony Heller, March 2009.

5. Interview with President of Tridel, Leo DelZotto, Tridel Corporation, June 2010.

6. Interview with a top-developer (identify anonymized), March 2010.

7. Interview with Gabriel Leung, Director of Development, Concord Adex, June, 2010.

8. Interview with Chris Sherriff-Scott, Senior Vice President MintoUrban, Minto, June 2010.

9. Interview with Alan Greenberg, the President of MintoUrban, Minto, June 2010.

10. Interview with Monarch’s President, Brian Johnston, Monarch, June 2010.

11. Interview with President Murray Goldman of the Goldman Group, July 2010.

12. Interview with President Murray Goldman of the Goldman Group, July 2010.

13. Interview with Daniels’ President Mitchell Cohen, The Daniels Corporation, June 2010.

14. Interview with Daniels’ President, Mitchell Cohen, The Daniels Corporation, June 2010.

15. Interview with Daniels’ Vice President, Martin Blake, The Daniels Corporation, June 2010.

16. Interview with Daniels’ Vice President, Martin Blake, The Daniels Corporation, August 2011.

Additional information

Funding

The author is grateful for funding support for the research from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Halbert Centre for Canadian Studies.