Condo developments are starting to make the most of rooftops and podiums
Open-air spaces offer everything from pools and hot tubs to restaurants and bars

Excerpt from an article by Tracy Hanes – The Toronto Star

For condo buyers, living in a highrise suite doesn’t have to mean sacrificing the backyard lifestyle.

Several projects under construction or new to the market – iLoft, 550 Wellington, VU, Luna, Casa, the Forest Hill, Murano and the Yacht Club in Whitby, to name a few – are among those incorporating outdoor amenities.

“The big concern of a lot of people is ‘I don’t have a backyard if I buy a condo,'” says Jeanhy Shim, editor of Urbanation, the quarterly publication tracking the Toronto condo market. “This addresses that concern and is considered an extension of the amenities. It’s something you didn’t see five years ago, but it’s what consumers like and want.”

Freed took his inspiration for newly launched 550 Wellington W., which will have 327 luxury condos attached to a hotel, from a couple of sources: his own penthouse now being built at 66 Portland, where he had a pool and cabana designed for the roof, and the “great rooftop pool and bar” he visited at New York’s Gansevort Hotel.One of the key features of 550 Wellington’s rooftop will be its infinity pool, an approximately 20-by-50-foot rectangle, where “water rolls off the edge of the pool and is seamless with the sky,” says Freed.

The rooftop will also include a 5,000-square-foot deck for lounging or sunning, a 3,000-square-foot restaurant and “lots of cabanas for dining,” where condo residents can have dinners catered by the rooftop restaurant’s chef.

At Camrost-Felcorp’s iLoft at Mystic Pointe in Etobicoke, the recreation centre sits on top of the condo’s podium above the third-floor parking garage (the tower soars up another 22 storeys), where the exercise room, yoga and aerobics studios look out onto a landscaped deck, barbecue area, outdoor pool and whirlpool, running track and sun decks.

Luna at CityPlace is catering to this demand. “When we started looking at the type of amenities we’d offer, we looked at hotel resorts around the world,” says Alan Vihant, vice-president of development for Concord Adex, which is launching Luna, the largest master-planned community in the GTA.

At another Daniels project under construction in Mississauga, One Park Tower, a club area on top of the 38-storey building includes a lounge, Internet cafe and billiards area surrounded by outdoor terraces.”It’s really a wonderful selling feature, as everybody, whether they have a 500-square-foot unit or a 1,500-square-foot one, can enjoy the space in the sky,” he says. “It’s democratizing the view.”

Here are some other projects offering outdoor amenities:

* Pinnacle Centre has a golf centre, tennis courts, running track and terrace on its podium, integrated with its indoor fitness and leisure amenities.

* VU, a master-planned community launched by Aspen Ridge Homes downtown, will make use of an eighth-floor podium to include two outdoor party rooms, barbecues and a lawn bowling or bocce court.

* Casa, on Charles St. by Cresford Developments, will use the entire fifth-floor podium as amenity space, with swimming pool, hot tub, landscaped terrace, double-sided fireplace, dining pavilion and alfresco bar. The fitness centre will overlook this space.

* The Forest Hill by the Goldman Group will have a 3,000-square-foot, Miami-style patio with outdoor furniture, landscaping and indoor-outdoor whirlpool adjoining the condo’s fitness and recreation centre.

* The two phases of Murano, at Bay and Wellesley Sts., will share a second-floor podium recreation area that features an indoor pool with retractable roof, overlooking an outdoor terrace. The third-floor podium will include a running track and landscaped lounging areas.

Read the full article

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Contact Laurin Jeffrey for more information