Duncan McAllister – Metro

This week’s blustery winter weather has people thinking it sure would be great to step out of their condo sans boots, hats and coats. Imagine taking the elevator and being directly connected to Toronto’s subterranean network of climate-controlled, pedestrian walkways and transit platforms. Condos connected to the PATH system are highly desirable and appeal to people who work in the downtown core.

Brian Persaud, author of Investing in Condos, talks about the importance of the PATH to the appreciation of downtown condos. “A direct connection to the PATH system is a great selling feature. Both buyers and investors see the cachet of giving residents the ability to move to and from work without ever having to face the elements.”

Comment: Of course. Direct access to stores, TTC, office buildings – that is a tremendous benefit to anyone.

Persaud points to projects like Maple Leaf Square, with its two towers directly connected to the Air Canada Centre and the PATH via Union Station. “There’s some interesting ones like Eight Hillcrest, where it’s connected right to North York Centre station. You can go in your shirt and end up at Union Station.” he says.

Roland Rom Colthoff is the principal of RAW Design and lead architect for Totem condos, a new mid-rise development on Dundonald Street. The building is situated next to the Wellesley subway platform, and developer Worsley Urban Partners took advantage of the TTC’s plans to add a second exit.

“We’re actually introducing the TTC directly into our building and making that entrance part of our structure. The entrance will be entirely public; the TTC is going to come up inside the envelope of the heritage structure,” explains Colthoff. “That’s a real incentive for the city and the TTC. They will save a number of millions of dollars because they don’t have to build their own access, they can use ours.”

Other examples of connected condos

Other examples of connected condos include the two landmark towers of Bazis’ E Condos, at the corner of Yonge and Eglinton, that will feature direct access to the subway and the Yonge Eglinton Centre. The 78-storey Aura at College Park is directly connected, through it’s retail podium, to a myriad of underground shops and services, and through College Park to the TTC College subway station.

And Menkes’ new Harbour Plaza condos in the South Core district, although still under construction, has already opened their well-lit, glass-enclosed pedestrian bridge running underneath the Gardiner Expressway that will connect residents to Union Station and the PATH.

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Contact Laurin Jeffrey for more information – 416-388-1960

Laurin Jeffrey is a Toronto real estate agent with Century 21 Regal Realty.
He did not write these articles, he just reproduces them here for people who
are interested in Toronto real estate. He does not work for any builders.
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