Lofts
Lofts originated in New York during 1970s and early 1980s. At that time New York had many unused industrial and office buildings, which were transformed into condominium apartments. That trend migrated to Toronto in the early 1980s, when the first Toronto loft conversion took place at 41 Shanly Street.
There are two categories of loft apartments. Authentic loft conversions, or hard lofts, are created from existing industrial or commercial buildings. Such units are considered renovations, and are not covered by Tarion warranty. Their attractiveness is due to, in part, old features that these buildings retained: incredibly high ceilings, wide staircases, multi-paned metal framed windows, huge wood beams, concrete or old wood floors, to name but a few.
There is, though, just a limited number of these old buildings available in Toronto, and some of the locations are not really very attractive, or not handy to the public transit system. For an almost complete list of Toronto loft buildings please check TORONTO LOFTS.
Because of the popularity of lot apartments, as the older buildings have become harder to find, some brand new lofts are being built in Toronto since 1995. There is a distinct difference between the old and the new. New loft buildings have more modern facilities, insulation in the walls, double-glazed windows, but usually lack the great ceiling heights of the old buildings and their old rugged charm.
Lofts attract the urban home buyers, and, as their prices tend to be more expensive than the traditional condominium units, majority of loft buyers are professionals, with good income.
From the outside, many loft conversions look reassuringly solid. A good loft conversion is one where the developer acted with minimal intervention, revealing the building, rather than transforming it, to allow the owner to create their own environment.
The shape of an apartment in a big factory building may be unconventional. Buildings that were not designed for habitation present a challenge to bring into satisfying proportions. Most of the time, however, we find that tall doors, large windows and high ceilings increase our feeling of space, even when the actual footage is restricted.
If you are on a lookout for a loft space to call your own, you can request information to be e-mailed to you as soon as one that meets your criteria becomes available. Please fill in Loft search form and we will set-up an MLS search for you.
New listing in Robert Watson Lofts:
...more informationLoft sales in Toronto
Loft sales in Toronto constitute a small percentage of the total condominium sales. There are few industrial buildings available for conversion, and the price per square foot is higher by, on average, 12% for lofts. In 2004 TREB recorded 775 loft sales. That number was much higher in 2005, at 824, but was down to 768 in 2006. In 2007 TREB recorded 846 loft sales in Toronto.
2008 was slower in loft sales, the total number was 773. 9% fewer units sold than in 2007. The only MLS districts with more sales recorded in 2008 were W01 with 67 sales vs. 44 in 2007, E01 with 86 sales vs. 67 in 2007, and E02 with 14 lofts sold vs. 5 in 2007. C10 reported the same number of loft units sold - 33 - both in 2007 and 2008.
If we compare loft sales in the month of January, having the most recent numbers for 2009 already available, the following are loft sales recorded in the last three years:
- In January 2007 49 lofts were sold in Toronto, with average price $335,502, after, on average, 34 days on market,
- In January 2008 56 lofts were sold in Toronto, at an average price of $373,894, and after 24 days on market,
- In January 2009 27 lofts were sold in Toronto, at an average price of $353,481, after 41 days on market.
Some of the last month's poor performance could be attributed to an unusually snowy and cold winter we are having. It will be interesting to see how are the sales once the weather improves.
Specific Projects Sales
In the last few years a number of new loft projects were started, and some of the conversions were finished and registered in 2007 and 2008, which resulted in a flurry of sales, particularly in C01, W01 and E01. The following are some examples of the activity.
Broadview Lofts in E01 were registered in 2007, and 29 lofts changed hands in the building that year, followed by 25 in 2008. In 2009 23 units were sold in the building. They were selling, on average, at 97.6% of asking, with only one sale over asking (102%). In 2007 the average price per square foot was $396, and in 2008 that went up to $409.5. In 2009 the average price per square foot was $422.0.
Garment Factory Lofts, also in E01, were registered in 2008, and 33 units were sold that year. They were selling, on average, at 98.8% of asking, and for $457.5 per square foot.
Quad Lofts in C01 were registered in late 2006. Three units were sold that year, followed by 30 in 2007, and 29 in 2008. In 2008 Quad lofts were selling at 99.2% of asking (on average), and at an average of $454.8 per square foot, without parking. Majority of Quad units don't have parking, and the going price for parking there, when available, is approximately $23,000.
Robert Watson Lofts were registered in late 2007. 31 units were sold in the building, four of them still in 2007, the remaining 27 in 2008. The average sale to list price ratio in 2008 was 100.9%, and the units were selling at about $423 per square foot in the converted factory building and $335 per square foot in the newly constructed part (both without parking, which was priced at $29,000).
Sales in Madison Avenue Lofts
June 26, 2010: Thirty two loft units have been sold so far in the building. One of these was sold early in 2009, before the condo was registered. A two bedroom, two bath loft on the fourth floor was listed originally with an asking price of $469,000, reduced to $419,000, and sold for $400,000.
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For more detailed statistical information on loft sales in Toronto, please e-mail us.
