905 resident can’t change her unlucky address

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Despite an impassioned plea to Richmond Hill Town Council, Maryam Mojtahedzadeh cannot change her address from 13 Breda Crt. to another number — so she is now looking to move out.

She had applied for the change believing the address had brought her bad luck, including being rediagnosed with cancer and the death of a loved one.

“All this [is] happening, and I don’t know why, and I am thinking, maybe [it’s] number 13,” said Mojtahedzadeh. “I am scared something will happen again.”

After rejecting her initial application, at a June 3 council committee of the whole (COW) meeting, council directed staff to provide a report explaining the town’s policy on address changes to Mojtahedzadeh, who speaks English as a second language. Although the town does not assign new homes with a 13 address, older homes with the number remain.

Planning commissioner Ana Bassios said that suffixes are not normally permitted on separate lots on Richmond Hill streets, but owners can appeal.

In this case, the decision went to the neighbours.

“She had to obtain in writing the OK from 11 Breda Crt. that she use 11A, and that wasn’t obtained,” said Coun. Nick Papa, whose ward Mojtahedzadeh resides in.

The house is currently listed for sale, which may have caused the neighbours to be indifferent.

“The next door neighbours either didn’t care or didn’t see the value in confusing the numbering system when 13 Breda Court is up for sale,” said local and regional councillor Brenda Hogg.

Hogg was the lone dissenting voice in even directing staff to compile the report, saying that it would set a bad precedent.

“I don’t want the message out there that we’ll waffle on number changes,” said Hogg.

In addition to her address change being rejected, council also refused Mojtahedzadeh’s request that the $482 fee paid to file the rejected application be repaid.

“Everyone wants to help, but we have a policy to stick to,” said Coun. Castro Liu. “The fee is not refundable.”

Harmonizing Yonge Street

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Coun. John Filion is hoping the City of Toronto’s new review of its official plan for a large portion of Yonge Street in North York will help to create a better space for the increasingly dense neighbourhood.

“Developers are starting to put in more applications, so we need to develop policies to deal with them,” said Filion. “There’s also still the possibility of the Yonge subway being extended up to Highway 7.”

Filion hopes to avoid previous “mistakes” that were made along Yonge by restricting tall buildings to sites with subway stations, and he wants to eventually turn neighbourhoods surrounding Yonge in his ward into more self-contained neighbourhoods. “A place where kids can walk to school and there’s bike trails off the road,” he said.

“This [review] will determine the level of development that can be supported,” said city senior planner Rob Gibson.

Major mall expansion

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Construction has recently begun on Richmond Hill’s Hillcrest Mall in front of the Bay — and though the mall is mum on which stores are coming to town, representatives from high-end sports retailer Sporting Life have said that the store will be arriving at Hillcrest in 2016.

The retailer opened its first location in midtown Toronto in 1979 and has since grown to reach various locations around the province.

The announcement of its expansion into Richmond Hill was timed up with the announcement that it would be partnering with Alpine Ontario Alpin on a five-year sponsorship contract.

John Roe, Sporting Life director of marketing, said that the expansion will help the retailer reach skiers across the province. “We believe in getting behind our initiatives and doing them right, [such as] opening a new store,” said Roe.

Sporting Life reports that its new location will contain 32,000 square feet of retail space — which is supported by an application made last year by Hillcrest to the Town of Richmond Hill, which requested a site plan amendment to permit a 40,300-square-foot expansion. The plan, according to the application, is to consolidate the two Bay stores into one enlarged unit and reconfigure the south end of the mall.

Several representatives from owner Oxford Properties Group stated that they were unable to comment on any new tenants.

Hillcrest spokesperson Stairky Fok remained unsure about when Sporting Life would be arriving and was surprised to learn that Sporting Life had publically announced the location and opening date on their website.

“I don’t know why they put it on their website,” said Fok. “We don’t know any dates yet — if we did, we’d put it on our website.” Fok said that she doesn’t expect management to have details for several months. “Right now the Bay [south location] is open and everything is going on as usual.”

But Sporting Life remains adamant that they are coming. “I can say that this location is confirmed,” said marketing manager Angela Esguerra.

Leaside up for heritage designation

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One of the city’s most affluent and desirable neighbourhoods, Leaside, could have a new monicker as a heritage conservation district (HCD).

The Leaside Property Owners’ Association has presented an application to have the portion between Bayview Avenue to Laird Drive and Eglinton Avenue East to the Don Valley designated as an HCD, which North York Community Council has endorsed for further consideration.

“There will still be some debate about what is and what is not included in those boundaries, but that is the proposal,” explained Coun. John Parker, who is helping champion the cause. Although there are other communities with similar heritage designations, Parker said Leaside would represent the largest region to be given the demarcation. He explained that, if approved in the fall, the HCD will ensure future developments within Leaside must conform to the overall character of the neighbourhood.

Prince Andrew opens local school campus

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Students and staff at Bayview Glen School are getting quite familiar with the Duke of York.

No, not the Prince Arthur Avenue one, but rather the real-life, larger-than-life, flesh-and-blood Prince Andrew.

His Royal Highness paid his third visit to the Duncan Mill Road private school in June and his first in about 10 years.

Upon entering the school’s theatre for a special ceremony to commemorate the opening of the brand new Moatfield campus June 5, he admitted things looked a little different, including the smiling student faces, and he noted the major changes to the school since his last visit.

That last visit, 10 years ago, was to help dedicate the opening of the very theatre the June 5 ceremony was taking place in.

School director of admissions Judy Maxwell explained the prince’s strong connection to the school is through his role as patron for the few worldwide schools that are part of Round Square.

The organization is an international association of schools that help link the schools to the world at large.

Round Square schools work on a set of principles known as IDEALS (internationalism, democracy, environment, adventure, leadership and service).

Prince Andrew urged the students to take advantage of their new campus facilities that include 12 homeroom classrooms, three specialty instruction rooms, a new library, dining hall, exercise rooms and a gym.

He said school is more than book-led education but also an opportunity to foster friendships and social responsibility.

The project was an approximate $18 million investment overseen by MC Architects, encompassing a new prep school and the best in the latest educational technology to create a school that is certainly out of the ordinary.

“Take the opportunity you have now to expand your horizons; take advantage of your youth,” the duke said. “Life out there is much, much more competitive than we ever thought it would be.

“So don't be ordinary … ordinary won’t change the world,” he said.

School board to appeal park decision

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After the Toronto District School Board’s (TDSB) request to sever and redevelop the lot at the Bannockburn School near Avenue Road and Brooke Avenue was rejected by the City of Toronto’s Committee of Adjustment, local parents were relieved to know their neighbourhood green space was saved. However, the board appealed the decision at the eleventh hour, which has residents and local politicians alike buckling up for another fight.

The community first learned of the TDSB’s idea of severing the land in late 2013. The proposed plan was to retain one site and continue leasing the land to the Bannockburn School, a private Montessori School, and have the second site, which had been deemed surplus, redeveloped.

The community has expressed frustration regarding the appeal, having fought so hard to save the green space in the first place.

“We have three public entities — the board, the city and the province — all agreeing that this space should remain as parkland,” said area parent Trish McMahon. “Yet the same institutions appear incapable of working together to find a creative solution.”

Coun. Karen Stintz, who has been part of the push to save the green space from the process’s early stages, says the community will fire back with the same tenacity as before.

“This is an issue that touches communities right across the city,” said Stintz. “We all need to buckle up and save the space.”

But, she said, it is frustrating to have to go through the process again. “It is a tremendous misuse of resources,” said Stintz. “Everyone will be ‘lawyering up,’ spending money on consultants … instead, the board and the city should be working in partnership to figure out a better solution.”

For many, the most upsetting part of the process was the board’s choice to make the decision without consulting the community in advance.

“The law is very clear that they’re supposed to have a public consultation process,” said member of provincial parliament Mike Colle.

“They just can not do this type of serious sell-off and severance of open space without consulting the community and the public that is the main shareholder,” he said.

Mills vying to replace Karen Stintz

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Although a little tardy to the party, Yonge-Eglinton area’s Terry Mills is the latest candidate to enter the municipal election race for Ward 16.

Incumbent Karen Stintz is taking a shot at the mayoral chair in the October municipal election, and Mills joins a list of five other candidates vying for the open council chair. Mills made his first foray into municipal politics in the 2010 election and came out second to Stintz.

“I really enjoyed my last run, getting out to meet people and really getting out to the neighbourhood,” he said, following filing his papers on June 17. “And
I very much believe that politics is a bottom-up system, with the community directing council.”

Mills said he will run on four main points, including traffic movement and mass transportation; better engaging the community in development processes and assisting developers to create responsible community growth; the environment and protecting public realm; and, finally, better managing city expenses to have Toronto “live within its means.”

Yonge & Eg project not popular

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A controversial series of condominium proposals for Holly Street and Soudan Avenue will have a difficult time gaining Toronto City Council approval unless major changes are made.

In what Coun. Josh Matlow calls, “simply the worst infill development I have seen in four years,” Compten Management Inc. is proposing to place five-storey condo additions on top of two 14-storey apartment buildings at 33 Holly St. and 44 Dunfield Ave.

The condo proposal includes amenities, such as a pool, that the apartment residents would not have access to, and it’s this mix-and-match concept, along with the intensification of the neighbourhood, that has Matlow and local residents’ associations opposing the plans.

“To put these condo units on top of the apartments is an absurd concept, and not allowing the apartment tenants access [to amenities] is just ethically wrong in my mind,” he said. “Tenants are as important as any homeowner, and I feel this proposal is highly disrespectful to the renters who would have to put up with this construction for two years and reap no benefits when it’s done.”

Meanwhile, at 86 and 88 Soudan Ave., just south of the Holly Street project and the Yonge-Eglinton intersection, Compten is proposing to build both a 24- and 32-storey condo tower, and Matlow said he will oppose the plan due to the proposed scale and height of the two towers. With single-family dwellings just across the street from the proposed towers, Matlow said there would be serious shadow-casting issues and it is too abrupt a height transition from the dwellings to the towers.

Matlow said City of Toronto, City Planning staff is preparing reports on the proposal, but he added that staff is waiting for an alternative proposal that may be more suitable.

“They [the developer] have to bring us another plan, and we’ll take an honest look at any alterations they propose,” he added.
Representatives from the developer did not return requests for comment by press time.

$18.5 mil North York auction

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After waiting more than a year for his $11 million condo to sell, entrepreneur Andrei Melkoumov decided to take a different approach.

He went to auction.

Melkoumov put the condo, along with a unique and wildly expensive North York home, up for sale in a one-time auction on June 26 in Toronto.

Concierge Auctions hosted the sale and are a New York-based company with a presence in several other countries, including the Bahamas and Fiji. They claim to specialize in the sale of high-end and unique properties.

The condo is 3,422 square feet, has two bedrooms and is located on the 44th floor of the Four Seasons Private Residences in Yorkville. It comes equipped with a south-facing view and bulletproof elevator doors.

The house, last listed at $18.5 million, is a 13,610-square-foot, custom-built home in the Bayview Avenue and York Mills Road area and overlooks Rosedale Golf Club. The home has a 22-ton steel and marble central staircase.

High-end real estate auctioning could be the newest trend in Toronto real estate and is appealing in a market that seems to be becoming increasingly saturated.

“We have grown every year, and a number of things has enabled that to happen,” said Laura Brady, president of Concierge Auctions. “One thing has been that the public has seen what we’ve done with other properties, and buyers like the straightforward and easy transaction.”

The bidding occurs in real time, and the auction ends when the bidding ends. Each property has a representative that is available to show the properties ahead of time, but the sale is as is, and there are no contingencies afterwards.

“Sellers are able to accomplish their goals in a timely fashion. Andrei knows he will be able to see that value found on auction day and then will be able to move on with his life,” said Brady.

$1.1 mil Rosedale trail halted

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Rehabilitation of Rosedale’s Chorley Park has been put on hold, and although that may come with a cost, Coun. Kristyn Wong-Tam said finding consensus and compromise will be the reward.

Rehabilitation of the park’s main trail and tree planting were to begin later this summer with some $1.1 million in the budget for the work. Wong-Tam said for many years the trail system on a ravine edge had been eroding and was becoming unsafe for use.

Combined with a large crop of invasive plant species taking over the native fauna and last year’s damaging ice storm, some 130 trees were removed this spring and were to be replaced with more than 300 native trees and shrubs.

However, following a special public meeting earlier in June to address opposition to rehabilitating the trail, Wong-Tam has put a halt to the project and will create a special working task force to help determine the new scope of the work there.

“There is a desire to keep talking,” she said.

“I am hoping that by halting the project we can come together for a community-crafted solution.”

Christopher Lowry, board member with the Moore Park Residents’ Association that covers the St. Clair Avenue-Mt. Pleasant Road area, said the key for his organization is that access to the trail is maintained for all users, including those in wheelchairs, the elderly or even parents with strollers. In response to some area residents’ concerns, he said an originally proposed three-metre width would be best trimmed to about two and a half metres and built of a permeable material other than the proposed asphalt as a compromise.

“The ecological restoration is exciting, but we’d rather take the time to work on a better plan,” he said.

“I think the outcome will be a win-win in the long run, so long as access is maintained for everyone.”

Wong-Tam said, due to the delays, the $1.1 million earmarked will now likely go to other high-priority city park projects for 2014, and a new tender will have to be solicited once plans are set for 2015.

“We may have to find new [financial] resources to complete this project for 2015. The city will lose money on this project, but it’s a complex issue and will take time,” she said.

Eglinton properties a hot commodity

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Although the seemingly endless construction is a massive burden to commercial enterprises along the Eglinton Way, it is also spurring on a hot sales market for the stretch.

Several buildings along the construction-laden street have recently been sold, including the former Oink Oink toy store at 356 Eglinton Ave. W., Yitz’s Deli at 346 and a vacant building next door to the deli. Meanwhile, realtors are handling increased calls requesting information about potential commercial sales there.

“Eglinton has always been a major arterial route, but with all the development [LRT expansion], it’ll be even more so,” said Harvey Kalles Real Estate agent Herman Wood, who specializes in commercial sales. “A lot of people are realizing that [development] will bring a lot more traffic and property values will go up.

“Properties along Eglinton are selling right away,” he added. “People recognize there’s some short-term pain with the construction, but in the long run, Eglinton is the place to invest right now. The top three things in real estate are location, location, location, and Eglinton will be the location.”

“In the long run, Eglinton is the place to invest.”

He said the purchases aren’t necessarily being done by a single developer, but rather by investors who are buying before values escalate. As an example of the investment potential there, Wood said commercial property rentals have typically run in the $35 per square foot range on Eglinton, but he anticipates after construction is complete owners will be able to charge more in the $50 to $60 per square foot range.

“There is definitely a lot of opportunities to be had on Eglinton for the future, and there’s definitely been a big increase in requests for property information,” said broker Darren Slavens of Slavens and Associates Real Estate. “There is a concern among the retailers [about rental cost increases]. There will be an impact, the short term will be difficult, but in the long term it will be a fantastic place to do business.”

Changes expected for Bayview townhouses

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Now a thorny rose of another name, the former Alexandria townhouse project on Bayview Avenue that went bankrupt last year has new life as the Homes of Bridle Path.

The controversial townhouse project on the east side of The Bridle Path at Bayview and Post Road has been taken over by Urbancorp and both City of Toronto staff and Toronto City Council expect to see new development plans cross their desks within the next few months. The project was initiated by Hush Homes, but with starting prices in the $2.4 million range, the project bellied up due to a lack of sales. Prior to its bankruptcy, the 20-townhouse project became the bane of the community because of its proposed density and because they felt it did not match the character of the neighbourhood dominated by single-family dwellings.

Appeals were fought to reduce the density at the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), but the Alexandria townhouse project was given approval to move ahead as proposed. It was to have already been completed and occupied in early 2014, but according to Urbancorp’s website, occupancy is now expected in 2017.

Original plans by Hush had the 20 townhouses all at three storeys and between 3,700 and 3,900 square feet, with each served by a two-car, underground garage. The new developer is advertising the starting price point at around the $1 million mark for three storeys, three bedrooms and square footage ranging from about 2,000 up to about 2,300. That has some anticipating there may be changes coming to the development plans there.

“[Added density] would not be a welcomed change by the community.”

“They [Urbancorp] have not filed any new applications, but our understanding is they plan to at some point this summer,” said Ward 25 councillor Jaye Robinson. "They absolutely have to file a new application unless they plan to do exactly what was approved by the OMB. With the new price point one has to think the plans will change and there are serious concerns about the potential of adding more density.

“I can tell you that [added density] would not be a welcomed change by the community,” she added.

Requests for comment by the developer were not returned by press time.