^Exactly! SimplyDan... drop your camera in your bag and snap a pic or two for us when you get to work!
From today's Globe and Mail:
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Teflon T.O. skirts worst - for now
JOHN BARBER
March 3, 2009
The Canadian economy shrank by 3.4 per cent in the last three months of 2008, as you probably know by now. But did you know that last December produced record revenues for the Toronto Parking Authority? Or that ridership on the Toronto Transit Commission continues to climb, and is now at least 3 per cent higher than it was in January, 2008?
And what are we to make of the fact that cranes still stubbornly swing above so many building sites downtown? The national economy was collapsing like a media stock in January when the developers of the 66-storey Shangri-La condominium bought an ad (thanks, guys) to proclaim their acquisition of a $408-million loan to build the thing, which they are now doing.
Even if he wanted to help Toronto, which is doubtful, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty could never hope to create such a potent and focused stimulus as that. But the Shangri-La is only one of several large developments actively under construction in downtown Toronto. Just as surprisingly, applications to build more continue to flood into city hall.
Some projects have been quietly shelved or delayed, but only one of them - a specialized office building that is part of the MaRS research centre - has stopped in mid-construction. So far, there is no 21st-century equivalent of the notorious Adelaide Street "stump" that stood for more than a decade as testament to the speculative excess of the 1980s. Instead, a renewed Bay-Adelaide Centre is now preparing to welcome its first tenants.
The last big real-estate bust arrived in one fell swoop. Long-established industry giants disappeared in a matter of months. This one is slinking into town on tippy-toes.
"I believe that Toronto is in the best shape of any city in North America," said developer Stephen Diamond, who has been involved in both the Shangri-La and the 55-storey Four Seasons project in Yorkville, which also began construction in the face of the worst national economy in 40 years. "Buyers are closing, projects are going ahead and there are still people buying units."
"We're certainly suffering," he added, "but it's like there's this bubble over the city." Housing prices have dropped, but not nearly as much as they have in Vancouver or even Calgary.
Few observers, including Mr. Diamond, expect the bubble to last. But for the time being, at least, it certainly sets the city apart.
Many point to the site of One Bloor East - the super-tall apartment building that incited a buying frenzy when it was proposed at the height of the boom - as a crucial test. The project stalled when its major lender, Lehman Brothers of New York, went bust last fall. But developer Bazis International is still active at city hall, having agreed last week to pay more than $1-million to acquire a laneway adjacent to its site.
The company's consistent refusal to respond to media inquiries about the project's status invites suspicion. But as of now, the project's a go. So are two similar projects on Bloor Street West, currently under construction. Last week, Bazis submitted an application to build another one on property it owns across from the Royal Ontario Museum.
Nobody expects Toronto's resiliency to survive the macroeconomic shocks that are sure to arrive as a result of the global financial crisis. In the meantime, though, private investors continue to pump billions of dollars into the local economy.
jbarber@globeandmail.com
