Options for Homes, the city's developer of low-cost housing that offers buyers a second mortgage they can use toward their down payment to increase their likelihood of being accepted for a mortgage, has reached the halfway point in their Junction project.
On Keele just north of Dundas, the 643-unit, two-tower building, somewhat misleadingly called The Village by High Park, broke ground in August of 2008 and will probably be ready for residents beginning this summer, with final completion and occupancy early next year if the trades, many of which are currently renegotiating their contracts, don't strike. Construction costs are estimated at $170 per square foot. With a total of about 560,000 square feet, the project's construction budget is estimated to be about $95 million.
"We tend to go for land that is in up and coming neighbourhoods, neighbourhoods on the cusp, because it's less expensive, so we can keep our prices lower," says marketing co-ordinator Jessica Speziale. Options for Homes, which also has projects planned for Bathurst and Lawrence and in Barrie, were early develops in the Distillery District area, building their light brick towers in the late 90s, before the district was renovated and rebranded.
The Junction condos range in size from 455 square feet for a bachelor to 1190 square feet for a three bedroom, and in price from $143,000 to $324,000.
Though no commercial tenants have yet been signed, there will also be retail on the ground level along Keele.
Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Jessica Speziale
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