There are very few new builds situated near four-way AAA transit intersections in the GTA, let alone in the City of Toronto, but House of Assembly by developer Marlin Spring promises to be one of the few condominium launches that can offer investors such coveted inventory.
Arguably more than any other, the greatest fundamental from which condo investors benefit is AAA transit—in the case of House of Assembly on Sterling Rd. in the Junction Triangle, it’s near Dundas Station and the Bloor GO, which doubles as a Union-Pearson-Express (UPX) stop—and with the ability to move as far north as Toronto Pearson International Airport or south to Union Station, west to Etobicoke or east to the Bloor-University line and beyond—units will appreciate at a much higher rate than most of the city’s other condo developments.
always increases rentability and price appreciation,” said real estate broker and co-founder of Connect.ca Realty Ryan Coyle. “Transit adds an incredible volume of tenants because it attracts more people who want to live somewhere central without having to rely on their cars, not to mention pay for parking, and they can bypass all the GTA’s traffic and reach any point in the city quickly.”
Moreover, House of Assembly is a master-planned development—tentative occupancy for the 17-storey, 254-unit first phase is January 2024—and that alone will accelerate its annual appreciation by as much as 20% compared to stand-alone developments. Yet, unlike typical master-planned communities that comprise thousands of units and, therefore, worsen elevator wait times and quality of life, House of Assembly should top out at around 650 units across three buildings, the second and third of which will be 10- and 14-16-storeys, respectively.
Additionally, according to Erin Millar, vice president of sales and marketing at Marlin Spring, there’s a scarcity of preconstruction and resale inventory in the neighbourhood, which, in addition to being desirable among renters and end users alike, is largely composed of larger single-family homes.
“In a 500-metre radius, even a 1 km radius, of House of Assembly, there’s negligible inventory available,” she said. “From a supply vs. demand perspective, there are only a handful of units available. If you compare the neighbourhood to other parts of the GTA, like Port Credit or the downtown core, where there are vastly more available units, it’s the only game in town. If you’re trying to get into the neighbourhood with a preconstruction unit, there are no other viable options and yet demand for the area is through the roof.”
In addition to having a 100 walk score—itself a rarity so far out of the core—and a parkette across the street, House of Assembly is already attracting attention from investors and end users, the latter of whom relish the prospect of growing families in such a placid part of the city. According to Millar, that’s one reason the units were designed to be functional as possible, and spaciously—because even for those who don’t own, tenant demand will rival downtown’s condos, especially with the in the next three years. Sixty-percent of the newcomers will belong to the economic class and that increases the likelihood that they will arrive with families in tow.
“The supply of units hasn’t been refilled because COVID-19 delayed launches last year, and with the amount of newcomers Canada is expecting in the next few years, House of Assembly will be one of the few completions in the city coinciding with their arrival.”
Neil Sharma is the Editor-In-Chief of Canadian Real Estate Wealth and Real Estate Professional. As a journalist, he has covered Canada’s housing market for the Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, National Post, and other publications, specializing in everything from market trends to mortgage and investment advice. He can be reached at neil@crewmedia.ca.
