Buyers keep eyes on the future
Younger generation is purchasing retirement condos as investments or as homes for their parents
Jack Pong is a developer with decades of experience. Still, he found himself surprised by the people who bought condos at his Harmony Village Sheppardcomplex.
“Younger people bought units as investments: either to rent (out), or for their own parents,” said Pong, CEO of City Core Developments.
“I didn’t think they would be the ones we’d be selling the condominiums to, though we had a good idea of the rental potential side of it.
“Part of the project is an independentliving building and the other part is an assisted-living building, so we didn’t think we’d be selling to such a broad spectrum of buyers.”
As it turns out, however, he said younger buyers are just as interested, either for their own use or as an investment at the project.
It has just broken ground on Sheppard Ave. E. at Warden Ave.
“They see it as a rare opportunity to buy into for down the road and, meanwhile, to earn good revenue,” he said. “That’s a market I didn’t see, but I am seeing more of those buyers now.”
Harmony Village Sheppard is slated to include 291 units and rise 30 storeys, at 3260 Sheppard Ave.
On the proposed LRT route, the development will include a 35,000-square-foot space for amenities with plans for 100 programs, some from nearby St. Paul L’Amoreaux Services aimed at senior residents.
The demographic touches upon just about every lifestyle, culture and interest, from swimming and aquatics to yoga studios, a gym, wine cellar and demonstration kitchen as well as a banquet room for 100 people, restaurants and cafés, and 24-hour concierge service.
Suites start at $181,500 for one-bedroom units, and increase in size to include onebedroom-plus-den to two-bedroom and two-bedroom-plus-den apartments, as well as townhouses. Units start at 388 square feet and range to 1,800 square feet
“They see it as a rare opportunity to buy into for down the road.” JACK PONG CEO OF CITY CORE DEVELOPMENTS
for townhouses. Harmony Sheppard also includes Pong ’s signature commitment to energy efficiency, with geothermal heating and cooling, and an overall LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold standard design.
Investor William Gu is a buyer at Harmony Village Sheppard and says when he crunched the numbers and did the research on the city’s master plan for the area, he saw an opportunity.
“Downtown, you could pay $3,000 a month for a small studio,” he said. “Here, you’re paying $1,500 a month to buy and, if you rent (it out), you have it paid for in 20 to 25 years. That’s a good opportunity.”
He said he checked several seniors’ residences as part of his research and found waiting lists were common.
“I’m also part of an investment group, which has bought 20 units in this building,” he said, noting that the target demographic includes buyers who are financially stable and are less likely to pack up in search of a better job or a bigger home. For investors, that’s a comfort.
“I might even need it for myself or even my own parents at some point, so that’s a comfort too.”
But, admits Pong, people in the preretirement and retiree demographic are more difficult buyers.
“You have people who have lived in their homes 20 or 30 years; it’s not easy for them to leave,” he said.
“So we had to do a lot of work for them to make them comfortable. We lowered the light switches, raised the outlets and made access easier for them down the road as they move to walkers and wheelchairs.”
Key to the concept at Harmony Sheppard is ensuring a smooth transition from independent living and the process of downsizing — itself an emotional disruption.
“You have people who have lived in their homes 20 or 30 years; it’s not easy for them to leave.” JACK PONG CEO OF CITY CORE DEVELOPMENTS
Pong is committed to understanding the challenges those buyers face in not just making the decision to buy and move, but in physically packing up a lifetime and deciding what to keep and what to move ahead with.
“There are many reasons they may sell their homes to move,” he said. “They don’t need all that space, the maintenance and the garden is too much for them.
“But it’s a process,” added Pong, “and an emotional one.”
With that in mind, a great deal of focus went into designing the building’s amenities spaces and programs to be relevant to the incoming population, he said. The overall goal is to create an integrated community above and beyond what a downtown or midtown condo project might look like.