Let’s all sigh about Urbancorp...
For years we all knew of Urbancorp's reputation. Their delivery of new condo units to the market has been sub par for a while. Some of the alarming factors that clients and colleagues have seen:
1. Urbancorp transferred Kings Club from a Condo development to a rental development:
One of my clients asked me to help her with a purchase there. She was crushed to hear about the change but she was refunded her deposit. It was unexpected but there were signs. Kings Club is a far way from completion. Who knows what will happen next there.
2. Delays on Delays with Queen and Lisgar projects.
A close colleague and friend sold many units at Epic on Triangle Park (48 Abell Street). He's gone so far as to write the mayor and councillor Adam Vaughan about this Epically poor situation. Clients have been tied in limbo not knowing about final registration for a long time. Urbancorp seems to be pushing registration back more then double or triple the length of other developers.
3. Westide Gallery Lofts poor construction
A client of mine who relocated to Vancouver bought one of theses lofts pre-construction. She had done this before her and I were connected. Exposed concrete and ducts is supposed to give new construction lofts artistic flare. Unfortunately in this case these lofts received an unfinished feeling. This condo has had its growing pains. Does anyone remember those horrid pastel hallways? Slowly getting its act together, this one seems to have found its pace. My client has been renting her unit out for the past few years. She's had the good, the bad and the ugly... but that's a story for another time.
4. Trouble on the East End
Urbancorp's move into Leslieville has had mixed reviews. A great agent in the area asked me about her assignment listing. I asked her when it may register. She said probably end of 2015. Guess what? Yep you guessed it... still not registered. This is a trend with this developer.
So now what does it mean that they've filed for Bankruptcy protection? The good news is that the receivership will be handled by large financial institutions. They don't want the bad press or the bad financial problems of half built inventory to sell off. They are going to help in the construction completion of these properties and other parts of the Urbancorp portfolio.
Canadian lending practices are favourably conservative and help to manage volatility in a crazy Toronto and GTA market. In this case, the extreme poor construction practices will get levelled in the long run. In the words of one Ken McLachlan "Relax it will be ok."
But that being said, there is a lot of due diligence when buying pre-construction. Here's two quick tips:
1. Do as much independent research as possible.
2. Consult someone who understands Tarion, Assignments, Levies, Deposits, Floorplans, Exposures and very importantly the lay of the land for builders.
As always... we are happy to help.
See our blog on Assignments for more content.
RS. #theconnexusadvantage #downtownTOliving