• Thread starter superdeduperawesome
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It's ugly. A friend of mine use to live across the street, and at night, it's crazy--witness to stabbings, arrests, drunken brawls. By day, homeless people harass you as you enter/leave the building. The only bonus is the neighbouring building has perhaps Toronto's nicest Timmie's. And a quick dash to the subway in the winter.

I walk by this building three or four times a week, and I have yet to be "harrassed" by a homeless person. As for "stabbings," this is hardly a nightly occurrence.

With two towers slated to go up on the other side of Nelson, and with the Shangri-la well under way, this area will be very different in five to seven years.
 
Here we go....

I always wondered just how common and about the scale that these reports say regarding the out of control behaviour of hordes of drunken people roaming the streets once the clubs close. I've been down there and truthfully I don't see this.
 
i've been trying to convince a friend of mine NOT to buy in Boutique especially because he would be an end-user...he wants to be close to financial district.

I told him:
- poor building quality IMO
- he'll be living with bunch of rowdy/noisy tenants
- long hallways = more units/floor = noisy ppl waiting for elevators
- corridor to club district from the subway station
- even South view will be obstructed (RBC Dexia and Ritz Carlton)

anything else i should let him know as a good friend?

i really thing the cons outweighs the pros...what do you guys think? any other recommendations for condos nearby (financial district)?

It's ugly. A friend of mine use to live across the street, and at night, it's crazy--witness to stabbings, arrests, drunken brawls. By day, homeless people harass you as you enter/leave the building. The only bonus is the neighbouring building has perhaps Toronto's nicest Timmie's. And a quick dash to the subway in the winter.


I almost laughed when I read these posts. I've been living in the building since the end of December and have yet to come across any of these things. Here's my take:

poor building quality IMO
As with any building, the standard, non-upgraded units do look cheap. However, most of these units were purchased by investors who did not really care to upgrade a unit they weren't going to be living in. The developer offered $5K - $8K towards upgrades (or 3K-5K cash back) as an incentive so many of the owner-occupied units are gorgeous as a majority of owners opted for the upgrade credit.

he'll be living with bunch of rowdy/noisy tenants
I have not come across any rowdy/noisy tenants yet. Actually, many of the residents in the building are young professionals (I've come across families and senior-aged adults as well) that are respectful of others in the building. I probably know my whole floor on a first name basis and occasionally go over to neighboring units for a glass of wine or so on the weekends. I find that most of the rentable units in the building are also priced high enough to keep 'questionable' people out.. unless they are willing to pay over $1300 for a 450 sq. ft bachelor unit. Anyway, where did you come to this conclusion? Are you also a resident in the building? Or are you just assuming that because it's in the entertainment district, that the partiers who come down on the weekends are the types that the building attracts?

long hallways = more units/floor = noisy ppl waiting for elevators
I'm near the elevator and I have yet to come across noisy people waiting for the elevator. Perhaps it's because I live on the podium level of the building and thus most people on my floor just take the stairs.

corridor to club district from the subway station
It's also a corridor to the financial district, queen street/king street, city hall and university avenue... so I don't quite understand what you're getting at? If by chance you're saying that there's foot traffic passing by the building during the weekend, you're wrong. People tend to walk down Queen or Richmond. Also, the area is actually pretty quiet on the weekends as the clubs are more west towards John and Peter... which means that the drunken brawls, shootings/stabbings have not been taking place near or around the building. Actually, the newest things to open in the area (directly next to Yuk Yuks) are a Daycare and a Shisha Lounge.

even South view will be obstructed (RBC Dexia and Ritz Carlton)
Many units have great views (speaking for phase 1). The south-facing units I've walked into still have views of the CN tower. Also, we're living right in the middle of the downtown core, which ultimately means that many owners chose the building for the location - not necessarily the views. I love being able to leave the building at 8:50 am and still make it in the office before 9... by walking.

Now, there are a few things that make living in the building/area unpleasant. My biggest peeves right now are:
- It's taking a ridiculously long time to get common areas (lobby, amenity spaces, hallways/elevators) finished. Either they're waiting for everyone to move in due to avoiding any potential damages, or they're just really, really slow.
- The lack of full-sized grocery stores in the area.
- No bicycle racks near the building or IN the building. You have to use your storage locker for that.
 
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This one's looking pretty good.[video=youtube;yXI89yG8ATw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXI89yG8ATw[/video]
 
From today:
821548515_NJR46-L.jpg
 
From St. Andrews Conference Centre

 
I never knew how massively tall boutique looks when viewed from above! ^^^ great new vantage point!

If Boutique looks huge from here...

then Shangri-la will be....
 
Developers' credo "Always build the worst location first."
 

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