We know you’re busy, and sometimes all you want is quick update on the happenings in the Bloor – Yorkville area! Now you can keep uptodate and see what we see by following @BloorCondos on twitter. 

Not on Twitter? No problem! Click the “Twitter button” on the side of the page to see our “tweets” right from the Bloor Condos Blog.  If you are on twitter, don’t forget to add us and do say hi!

Shortly after the launch of BloorCondos.com, Matthew Slutsky Founder and President of BuzzBuzzHome.com, wrote a great article on his blog that captured the essence and goal of the BloorCondos.com:

Tuesday, September 22, 2009
A new type of real-estate website: BloorCondo.com

BuzzBuzzHome
September 22, 2009

BloorCondo.comis more than just another “real estate sales site”; Re/Max Realtors Garth Juriansz and Mark Savel aim to make this a lifestyle Blog covering the latest developments in the Yonge and Bloor area (click here for location).

Of course, with the fall of Bazis International’s condo “One Bloor“, and the launch of Great Gulf’s condominium “Number One Bloor“, this is one hot neighbourhood for conversation.

Juriansz and Savel aim to provide lifestyle updates and news stories on the area.

Realtor sites are generally dull and boring, simply recycling land-developer’s marketing materials to draw traffic, and connect with a couple lost potential purchasers. Savel, and a handful of other agents, are working to create depth to their blogs including interesting stories, and first hand news of what is happening in the real estate market. Such agents have embraced the powers of the internet, as opposed to simply jumping on the bandwagon.

BloorCondo.com takes this approach one step further, and is different than any Realtor website I have seen. It is a passive pitch, which does not outwardly aim to sell anything. The goal of the site is to provide information and news to anyone interested in the area, and if by chance one of these people are considering purchasing a new home, I am sure Savel and Juriansz will be the trusted Realtors.

Here’s an article by Megan O’Toole interviewing Garth Juriansz on the latest developments from the 1 Bloor site: 
National Post – September 16, 2009 – Article by: Megan O’Toole – New plan for Yonge & Bloor: Shorter tower, no hotel

The new condo tower set to rise at the famed One Bloor site will be shorter than the previous developer planned, but observers predict the demand will be high as buyers flock to secure a piece of one of Toronto’s hottest addresses.

Developer Great Gulf Group, which acquired the property at the corner of Yonge and Bloor streets after Bazis International failed to get its much-hyped 80-storey condo tower off the ground, officially closed the deal today.

Details of the building’s final design and pricing are still being hammered out, company president Jerry Patava said, but he confirmed the high-rise tower will be a mix of luxury condos and high-end retail space.

“It won’t be quite as tall as what was previously suggested for that site,” Mr. Patava said. “It will be a design that people will find very attractive and appealing… We want to have something that will be appropriate to that location and that’s really our goal, to create something that will fit in at Yonge and Bloor.”

The development will not have a hotel component, something Bazis had planned on including, and condos will be priced “to market,” Mr. Patava said, noting more details will be released in the fall as plans begin to crystallize.

Units in the original One Bloor building were going for between $400,000 and millions of dollars.

The Bazis project created mass hysteria in 2007 as people camped out for days outside the sales office, and even as prices soared, almost all of the units were sold. But after the failure of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers, which was helping finance the project, Bazis, facing increasing pressures, sold the property to Great Gulf.

The bulldozed lot remains empty to this day, and Bazis buyers have started getting their deposits back — some for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Mitchell Cohen, whose Toronto-based real-estate company Urbanfund Corp. teamed up with its largest shareholder to acquire a one-third stake in the Great Gulf project, called it an “iconic corner” and expressed optimism at the site’s prospects.

“It is probably the best crossroads in Canada,” he said.

Garth Juriansz of Re/Max Realtron Realty said he sold more than 20 units at the original Bazis tower, even purchasing one himself. More than half of his clients have indicated they want to try again at the new building, he said, though the sales office will not be opening for awhile yet.

Despite the issues surrounding the Bazis project, Mr. Juriansz says he still expects the new condo tower to be massively popular, though perhaps not to the same fever pitch.

“I don’t think it will create less interest, but I don’t think you’re going to have the hype,” Mr. Juriansz said, noting Bazis developer Michael Gold was a “visionary” whose unique design created a “stampede” among buyers.

“My clients went crazy when they saw that design,” Mr. Juriansz said. “That was all part of the hype of Michael Gold. He created something spectacular that people just did not want to miss. They wanted to be part of it.”

Here’s an article by Kris Scheuer interviewing Garth Juriansz on the latest developments from the 1 Bloor site: September 14, 2009 – Article by: Kris Scheuer – Refunds for 1 Bloor St. buyers

Silvio Arone wanted to move from Woodbridge to downtown Toronto at 1 Bloor St. East.

He paid a deposit of about $100,000 for his piece of the pie in the sky that was to be an 80-storey tower at Yonge and Bloor Sts.

The proposed 500-unit project, by Bazis International, is now defunct and law firm Robins Appleby and Taub is in the process of refunding depositors money.

“I made my way to the law office to hand in my form to recover my deposit a few hours ago,” Arone said Sept. 3. “I’ll get my cheque a week or so later.”

He works as a project manager for a builder, so he never panicked over his money.

“I wasn’t concerned,” Arone said. “I trust the Condo Act.”

The Act states a lawyer for the property owner must hold deposits, plus interest, in a trust account just in case a project doesn’t get built.

For Arone it was more a question of having his money tied up.

“Our initial deposit was made in November, 2007 almost two years ago,” he said. “I was in limbo.”

Now he’s looking to move into a condo that’s already built. He’s currently considering Islington and Bloor or midtown.

Corrado Di Rosa also purchased a unit at 1 Bloor St. and is disappointed the project died.

“I loved the location and the project seemed second to none with a condo, hotel and high end retail,” Di Rosa said. “I was fortunate I was able to get in before it was announced to the public. Two weeks later the (price) went up considerably.”

Buyers and people paid to wait on behalf of purchasers stood in line for up to a week, which upped interest and selling prices.

Di Rosa hasn’t given up on the site now that it will be sold to an affiliate of Great Gulf Homes. That real estate deal is set to close around Sept. 16. The new developer has yet to disclose what it plans to build.

“Hopefully Great Gulf … will give us the opportunity to purchase before the general public,” said Di Rosa. “I’m looking to move into 1 Bloor if I can get the best possible price.”

Mike Rosenthall is also considering using his refund for 1 Bloor St. and reinvesting at the same site.

“I want to know the details and pricing,” he said of any new project.

Rosenthall has purchased a number of properties including a Yorkville condo from Great Gulf, so he’s pleased they are taking over this site.

“It’s great. They have a great track record,” said Rosenthall.

Whatever is built there, it won’t be the same dream people bought into two years ago, said Garth Juriansz and agent with Re/Max Realtron Realty.

“People lined up here for a dream to own the prime piece of real estate in Canada at 1 Bloor,” said Juriansz, who purchased a unit and sold 20.

“Myself and my clients, we bought facing south. We wanted to see the CN Tower,” Juriansz said. “My clients are very disappointed because they won’t be part of this spectacular building.”

The ball is now in Great Gulf’s court.

“They need something really great here. If they do, they may get lineups again,” said Juriansz.

Councillor Kyle Rae was a big supporter of the high rise in his ward and is looking for something similar in future plans.  

“I’m hoping there will be a strong commercial component with a strong residential component above,” Rae said. “That’s what it’s zoned for.

“I expect the application will come in with less height and density.”

Here’s an article by Kate Hammer interviewing Garth Juriansz on the latest developments from the 1 Bloor site:
September 10, 2009 – Article by: Kate Hammer – 1 Bloor East buyers to regain deposits