StoryLine By CondoNow
Sam Mizrahi Interview Part 2 of 3
“Are the floor plans in The One Condos still as customizable as they were when we discussed last time?”
100%. One of the big interesting features of this building is your ability to customize. Luxury to me is measured in units of one. That to me is luxury. Regardless of the scale. It doesn’t matter if I’m building a 12 storey like 181 Davenport or 9 like 133 or 128 Hazelton, or we’re building the super tall super structure of what 1 Bloor will be, it’s still going to be a super high end luxury building because we’re measuring it in units of one where you as a home owner will come and be able to custom design your units to exactly the wishes that you want. You want to move things around no problem. There’s no limits of what you can do because of the structural engineering that we’ve done in this building.
“Even the Plumbing?”
Even the plumbing.
“That’s where in a lot of buildings the customization stops.”
Correct and we’ve proven that. If you look at 133 or 128 Hazelton. Every purchaser that went in there, there’s not 2 units that are the same, and the home owners had absolute discretion on where they wanted their kitchens, where they wanted their bathrooms and there’s no limits to it because we’ve done that already in 2 buildings that are done so we know what we’re doing we know how to engineer it.
“Does that bring huge construction headaches?”
You know everyone says that and maybe the answer is yes but the reality is I don’t know any better because I came from custom home building where it was normal to me. So maybe I got acclimatized to it, so for me its just my normal where as for everybody else, it might be such a headache or a nightmare but for us we didn’t know any better. We were never formula builders. So we never looked at it any other way. The way I look at it, no is not an option. Let’s get it done. If we can’t figure out how to engineer something like this we shouldn’t be in the business of doing it.
“Where will the units fall in terms of price point? Is it similar to what we discussed last time?”
The market is very different. I think you’re going to see price point starting at $1200 a square foot & up from there depending on the height & view.
“Are these going to be smart units?”
Absolutely. These are going to be state of the art smart homes. All the lasts features and technology in them. The apps will work into your IOS system and into your phone.
“So we know this building is different from typical condos, what special features does it have?”
There are so many features in this building that set them apart but a couple of them I can comment on is besides the quality of the build, construction, finishing details that we’re putting in, this is our flagship in terms of finishing details, the luxury, and the quality of the suites. But if we go into the functionality the building has, the amenity space is going to have a rooftop for the penthouse and the sub penthouse. There’re going to have sky gardens, these are going to be backyards in the sky at basically 1005 feet. With swimming pools, private pools, private outdoor fireplaces, winter gardens that are very unique that have never been done before. On the 10th floor there’s a pool deck overlooking Yonge & Bloor which is going to be open 365 days of the year so it’s heated, full snowmelt, open swimming pool with full amenities areas that you can use in January. The pool will be at 100 degrees. It’s creating an environment that’s never been seen before in Toronto in terms of living.
We’re going to have a connection to the underground path with subway access. You can literally go from Toronto Pearson airport to this building without ever being outside, using the new LRT & everything else going in, so that’s very unique.
Full valet for cars, 24 hour concierge, and security. The building is going to have 2 full floors of amenities. From screening rooms to full functioning kitchens and entertainment spaces basically to a state of the art gym, spinning studios, Pilates, high definition golf to billiard to ping pong to sports area for anything you want to do. We sort of took a magic wand and asked for a wish list from purchasers of what they’d want to see in the building and we incorporated it.
The One Condos also gives the ability to go underground and walk into Holt Renfrew or Hudson Bay or anything else. We’re building a sleeve that will connect to future developments in the south. These are all things that the building’s not only built for today but built for the next 100 years of how we see the city growing and the inter connectivity between the underground path and the buildings and transportation and so forth.
And on top of that, one of the other unique features is the retail that’s connected with the residential here in the building. This is going to completely reshape and transform high street retail on Bloor St W. We have a global flagship anchor tenant coming in that’s building a flagship unlike anything that has ever been seen in Canada or North America. There’s very limited number of super flagships that’s being built globally and we are one of the very few.
“You can’t tell us the tenants!”
The anchor tenants are going to do the announcements themselves! We’re probably 90 – 120 days away. I think the city and the country is going to be very proud of what’s going to be put there. We’ve spent a lot of time specifically engineering for our anchors. We’ve actually reversed engineered the building for that in order to have uncontaminated retail space.
“What’s the parking like? How does it work?”
The whole building is valet and we’re doing that for a number of reasons primarily security for the building. We want to control all vehicles any deliveries and cars. As a result we have to inspect and we park it, there’s no one who can self-park. Parking maintenance is built into the maintenance fees if you require a parking spot.
“Considering your interested buyers, it’s likely that these owners may have multiple vehicles.”
There’s a large number that will have cars and a large number who won’t have cars, who are going to be taking the TTC connection because of the fact that we’re connected. Anybody that wants a parking spot will have the availability and of course they’ll have full access. We’re putting stackers in so that each parking spot becomes two. That’s another reason why you can’t self-park.
“Will there be restaurants and nightlife right in the building?”
Yes. Absolutely. We have an incredible hospitality entertainment anchor that’s going to be going in and the nightlife will be again that of an international world class high street of tenant. It’s going to be a mix of restaurants. 6 different ones along with a lobby bar and lounge area. There will be outdoor space as well for entertainment and dining with a rooftop terrace and a patio that’ll be about 41 meters up overlooking the city.
It’s going to be something that Toronto has not seen yet.
“You’ve been building in Yorkville for a long time, how have you seen Yorkville progress in the last 10 years and how do you think The One is going to affect it?”
The neighbourhood has matured and really become more and more what I would call an international neighbourhood in terms of its presence over what I’ve seen in the last ten years. And I think The One is going to be a further catalyst and inspire others to do more of this type of development in the city where we’re looking at it not from a locality or perspective of the neighbourhood but looking at it from a much bigger lens of an international view. And with Toronto becoming really a mosaic of different cultures and the diversity that Toronto has become, we’re like the United Nations in terms of diversity now, and with that comes a lot of culture, a lot of history, a lot of sophistication from many different world class city’s that are now coming into Toronto specifically as we see 100,000 migrants in the GTA every year.
I think what The One Condos is going to do is it’ll inspire, it’ll be the catalyst for many more of these types of formats of retail and residential and how the symbiotic between residential and the retail come together with the pedestrian experience at grade level. Combine that with what Yorkville is about, it’s really just starting to tie it all together. We’re creating a destination similar to what we’ve seen in many other buildings around the world like Rockefeller Centre, Empire State Building, Hearst Tower, The Gherkin in London & many others. And I think Toronto is now at a point where we’re going to start to see this type of architecture and buildings that have form & function.
The One Condos – Sam Mizrahi Reveals What Makes this Toronto Condo One of a Kind
The One Condos – Sam Mizrahi Shares Everything He’s Envisioned
