New tower will bring condo craziness to new heights
By CHRIS DOUCETTE, SUN MEDIA
Hot on the heels of this week's One Bloor St. W. condominium stampede, plans for the largest condo tower in Canada will be unveiled today at College Park.
Canderel Stoneridge Equity Group, the developer behind the massive undertaking, will release details of Aura, a 75-storey building to be erected on the northwest corner of Yonge and Gerrard Sts.
Designed by Graziani & Corazza Architects, the tower will rise 243 metres above the TTC's College subway station and will include four levels of retail space.
While it will not be quite as tall as the planned 280-metre-high Trump International Hotel & Tower scheduled for completion in 2010 just a few blocks to the south, the developer claims it will be the city's tallest purely residential condo development.
And at more than 1.3 million-square-feet, 1.1 million of which will be devoted to residential space, the developer says Aura will be significantly larger than any other condo in the country, including the development at One Bloor St. W. that created a frenzy when the sales office opened earlier this week.
Investors and homebuyers began lining up a week early for a piece of that property.
Experts say Toronto has become condo crazy in recent years as the price of lowrise homes in the city has skyrocketed, putting such purchases out of reach for many buyers.
In order to keep up with demand, numerous other large condo developments are being built. In the next four years alone, the number of buildings over 200 metres in height will more than double from the seven currently dotting Toronto's skyline to 17.
The completion date for Aura wasn't immediately available but prospective buyers will be able to pre-register online as of today.