January 2011 Ontario Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

Toronto housing starts up for 2010




Toronto developer Michael Chung is confident there will be demand for new infill homes in the city for 2011. The problem, he says, is finding lots he can build on.




`It`s difficult finding properties that you can tear down and build new,` says Chung, the general manager of family owned builder Berkfife Ltd. `Prices are still expensive for properties, so we have to be very selective.`




According to a report by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation released Tuesday, low rise developers across the city are having the same problem.



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[Ally]

Wynne win situation




City councillors are backing a last-minute plan that will keep the Ticats in Hamilton, erase the stadium funding gap, and put an end to the divisive debate that has preoccupied the city for the past year.




Ticats caretaker Bob Young and Mayor Bob Bratina have struck a deal to renovate Ivor Wynne instead of building a brand new stadium for the 2015 Pan Am Games. The plan will go to a largely receptive council Wednesday for final approval.




It`s an unusual and unexpected turn in a debate that swallowed hours of staff time, cost the city millions of dollars and forced Hamilton`s often-toxic negotiations with the Cats into the national limelight.



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[Ally]

Toronto housing starts up for 2010






Toronto developer Michael Chung is confident there will be demand for new infill homes in the city for 2011. The problem, he says, is finding lots he can build on.




`It`s difficult finding properties that you can tear down and build new,` says Chung, the general manager of family owned builder Berkfife Ltd. `Prices are still expensive for properties, so we have to be very selective.`




According to a report by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation released Tuesday, low rise developers across the city are having the same problem.



Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Turning a rundown highrise into a community hub




William Ashley recalls the shootings, gang activity and violent crime that plagued residents of three privately owned highrises on San Romanoway, overlooking one of the city`s most notorious intersections.




He remembers the broken glass, the graffiti and the garbage that littered the walkways, hallways and stairwells of these buildings, at the corner of Jane St. and Finch Ave. W.




But those memories are fading because of the strides made by the San Romanoway Revitalization Association (SRRA), which formed in 1999, after owners met with community leaders to discuss ways to combat the escalation of crime and vandalism.



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[Ally]

Toronto's poor concentrated in aging highrises




They rise up among the postwar bungalows of Toronto's inner suburbs. Towering buildings that house hundreds of thousands of the city's poorest people.




These apartments are often the first home for those who came to this country looking for a better life. Once built to house modest-income and middle-class families, these aging highrises have increasingly fallen into disrepair and become rife with problems ` drug dealing, vandalism, bug infestations, overcrowding ` and increasing poverty.




That is the bleak reality for too many highrise dwellers in Toronto, according to Vertical Poverty, a landmark report released by the United Way Wednesday.




It is a troubling development in a city where almost half of residents are renters, says the report based on Census data from 1981 to 2006 and a survey of 2,803 highrise tenants conducted in the summer and fall of 2009.




Although the bulk of tenants surveyed live in private-sector towers, responses from about 600 non-profit tenants suggest living conditions are worse in those buildings.



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[Ally]

HST fuelling economic growth, Duncan says




Buoyed by the business-friendly harmonized sales tax, Ontario`s economy has grown for the fifth straight quarter.




Finance Minister Dwight Duncan said Tuesday it`s `a fragile recovery because employment is still lagging,` but things are looking up after the global recession ` thanks in part to the 13 per cent HST that took effect July 1.




According to newly released data, Ontario`s economy in the third quarter of 2010 grew at an annualized rate of 1 per cent and has grown 3.6 per cent since the recession ended in mid-2009.




But a positive sign, especially for the Liberals` fortunes in the Oct. 6 provincial election, was that business spending on machinery and equipment has increased by more than 10 per cent due to the tax reforms.



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[Ally]

Hamilton votes on a city report for renovating Ivor Wynne





The move to renovate Hamilton's Ivor Wynne stadium moved a little down field Wednesday night.




Hamilton councillors voted unanimously to have city staff look into the feasibility of the plan to rebuild the stadium which could also be used for the PanAm Games.




The politicians will get a chance to see the city report on Jan. 24 and will then need to reach a decision within a week.




Council also voted to keep a smaller stadium at the West Harbour as their "Plan B" for the Games.




The vote came a day after Hamilton Mayor Bob Bratina and Tiger-Cats owner Bob Young agreed to give up the search for a site to build a new stadium and renovate Ivor Wynne instead.




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[Ally]

Paradise saved? GTA growth plans aim to rein in sprawl






Smart growth ` or outsmarted?




Ontario won international kudos four years ago for Places to Grow, a revolutionary scheme to curb urban sprawl. But it`s the nitty-gritty decisions made in places like Brampton and Markham, often reluctantly, that will show over the next 20 years whether the plan succeeded.




The two communities have taken very different paths toward meeting the goals set out in Places to Grow, a master strategy for managing population growth intelligently and preserving as much green space as possible.




Markham hired a high-profile visionary, California-based `new urbanist` Peter Calthorpe, to design communities with densities approaching that of downtown Toronto. It pioneered the idea of suburban intensification, redeveloping areas that have already been built on.




The town also engaged in audacious debates about whether it should urbanize thousands of hectares of prime agricultural land just because it could ` and chose not to.




Brampton, meanwhile, is plowing ahead with plans that will make it the hot spot for horizontal growth ` a.k.a. sprawl ` in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Its plans will end up paving over what remains of thousands of hectares of rural land within the city boundaries, just as neighbouring Mississauga did.



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[Ally]

A lot of cash produces a little power





OTTAWA ` Have you heard about the taxpayers` brilliant plan to screw the electricity consumers?




It`s a bit complicated, but here are the steps. First the taxpayers, represented by the Ontario government, create a plan to buy solar electricity at up to 10 times the normal price of power.




Then the taxpayers at the City of Ottawa move to cash in. They turn to the taxpayer-owned Hydro Ottawa to rent taxpayer-owned roofs to the taxpayer-owned power company, netting up to $250,000 a year in leasing fees, all paid by the electricity consumers.




That`s free money, and the best part is that the taxpayers don`t have to put up a cent. Sure, it will cost $32 million to put the solar panels in place, but that`s not taxpayers` money. That`s power consumers` money, paid to Hydro Ottawa.




The taxpayers are gouging the power consumers, and using their own money to do it.




That`s as brilliant as solar power on a sunny day.




The only flaw in the whole scheme is that the taxpayers and the power users are essentially the same people. Most people wouldn`t borrow money to enable themselves to pay more for something, but that`s exactly what the city`s plan entails.



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[Ally]

Prices still soaring in Toronto district newly fashionable




TORONTO ` Once a hodgepodge of textile factories and auto lots, the fashion district here has rapidly evolved into upscale restaurants and boutiques in refurbished warehouses and residential units in sleek glass structures.







The roughly 17-square-block area where most of the development is taking place is named for its link to the textile industry. Just west of Toronto`s downtown and theater district, the fashion district is bisected along King Street by the city`s most popular streetcar line. Development has been centered on the diminutive Victoria Memorial Park, which is surrounded by stylish midrise buildings and industrial brick structures given new life with trendy shops and restaurants.






Even in a Canadian real estate market that has been on a bull run for a decade, the district`s robust sales and rapidly rising prices stand out.




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[Ally]

Home resales strong despite January slide




January sales for existing homes in the Greater Toronto Area has stumbled out of the gate, at least compared to last year.




Sales were down by 11 per cent in the first two weeks of 2011 according to figures released by the Toronto Real Estate Board Wednesday.




The board reported 1,583 sales compared with 1,749 at the same time last year. This is the first indicator of the health of the market for 2011.




`While off the record pace experienced last January, sales remain high from a historical perspective and market conditions remain tight enough to support a sustainable rate of price growth,` said Toronto Real Estate Board president Bill Johnston.



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[Ally]

Another transit fantasy - this one is electric




These are strange days indeed in the fantasy world known at Transit Land. First, a new mayor refuses to go ahead with a light-rail network that has been planned, approved, announced and funded, with contracts signed and construction under way. Now, the regional transit agency, Metrolinx, recommends going ahead with a project ` electrification of GO Transit lines ` that would take two decades to plan, approve and build and that lacks any government funding whatsoever.








How did we come to this? Until now, transit officials have balked at the tremendous expense of converting the GO Transit network of diesel-fuelled commuter trains to an electric service. But when GO announced a big expansion of its service along the west-side Georgetown corridor, resident groups along the line complained noisily about the dreadful effects of diesel fumes from so many chugging trains. Metrolinx said it would reconsider electrification.




After spending $4-million studying the idea, Metrolinx now says it favours spending up to $1.8-billion to make the busy Lakeshore and Georgetown corridors electric, but not ` repeat, not ` for environmental reasons. Metrolinx concludes that, because GO is already shifting to cleaner Tier 4 diesel locomotives, going electric would yield little significant reduction in greenhouse gases. And given that Tier 4 diesel is already well within international pollution limits, electrification would produce only a `marginal` effect on local air quality.



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[Ally]

McGuinty won't ban smoking in apartments




The Ontario government used Weedless Wednesday to encourage more people to butt out, but Premier Dalton McGuinty said he won't ban smoking in apartment buildings.




`I think when you get into people's homes, you're crossing a line,` said Mr. McGuinty.




`It's pretty intrusive for us to go in there and start to determine what activities are appropriate and what are inappropriate.`





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[Ally]

Electrify GO Transit's busiest corridors, Metrolinx report urges






Queen`s Park should spend up to $1.8-billion over 20 years to electrify GO Transit`s busiest corridors and the express train to Pearson airport, Metrolinx recommends in a new report that`s likely to have election-year consequences for the Liberals.




The province`s regional transportation authority says the new air-rail link (ARL) should be the first line upgraded from diesel to electric locomotives, at a cost of $457-million.



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[Ally]

Urban sprawl rules choking Toronto development: Building Industry





Provincial guidelines intended to contain urban sprawl in the Greater Toronto Area are choking development, according to the building industry, pushing the value of single-family homes above $500,000 in 2010 as developers struggled to find land they are allowed to build upon.




Data from RealNet Canada released on Thursday show that 36,803 new housing units were sold in the GTA in 2010. And although the condo and resale markets were strong, it was the second worst year in a decade for the sale of new houses.








`You can`t sell what you don`t have,` said RealNet president George Carras. `Sales have been flattened by a lack of supply.`


The government brought in legislation in 2005 that restricts development in a so-called greenbelt around the city and tightened the way developers could plan their projects. Forty per cent of all development is supposed to be infill by 2015, and the supply of new land is limited until 2031.



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[Ally]

Why a no-pet rental clause is unenforcable in Ontario






You`ve rented your home out, and there`s a `no pets` clause in the lease. Tenants sign, and move in, and soon two big dogs are living there too. Can you do anything about it?




In Ontario, unless this is a condominium whose declaration prohibits pets, there is little the landlord can do to remove the dogs.




The Ontario Residential Tenancies Act says that any provision in a lease preventing pets is void. In order to remove the pet, the landlord will have to prove that this pet is actually causing damage to the premises, interfering with the enjoyment of the landlord or the other tenants, is dangerous or perhaps causing an allergic reaction to the other tenants or the landlord.




Even if the landlord and tenant agreed in the lease not to have pets, it makes no difference. The reason is that section 4 of the act says that you cannot contract out of the provisions of the act. This applies to any lease in Ontario, whether you are in a high-rise apartment building, a basement apartment or any other residential rental unit. The only exception is if you are renting in a condominium building where the condo`s declaration prohibits pets. Only then will tenants have to follow this restriction.



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[Ally]

TTC awards contracts for Spadina subway extension




Two Spanish firms have won a contract for work tunneling and building the Hwy. 407 station on the Spadina subway extension.




The Toronto Transit Commission says Obrascon Huarte Lain and FCC Construccion put in the lowest bid and were awarded the $404.4-million contract, just one part of a larger $2.6-billion project.




The work involves twin, 4.5 km tunnels and the construction of the entire Hwy. 407 station, including a 600-car parking lot and bus depot.




As well, the two companies will do work on the Steeles West launch shaft permanent works, site work around the York University station and the Finch West station traffic management plan staging.



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[Ally]

Yorkdale mall set to add 40 more stores




One of Toronto`s biggest shopping malls is about to get bigger.




Yorkdale Shopping Centre announced Tuesday it will spend $220 million building an addition to house 40 new stores.




The news comes a day after one of Canada`s leading developers said it would bring U.S.-style outlet malls to Canada for the first time.




RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust said it is partnering with Tanger Factory Outlet Centers in a $1 billion deal to build 10 to 15 such malls across Canada.




Both announcements reflect the growing demand from retailers outside Canada for space in what has been a tight market.



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[Ally]

City of mass construction: Toronto's unstoppable condos show no signs of slowing down





Brad Lamb believes Toronto`s downtown condominium market is out of this world.




`There`s no other place on the planet where all this [activity] is happening,` says the president of Brad J. Lamb Realty, who specializes in downtown condo sales. `We have a large immigration of people coming to Toronto every year. We have a diverse economy that can support a reasonably affluent lifestyle. And we have a very stable Canadian economy. Everyone is recognizing how great Canada is, and Toronto is the centre of Canada.`




Mr. Lamb`s enthusiasm is echoed by those who analyze the downtown condo market and those who build it up. According to Urbanation, numbers cruncher to the development industry, 16,000 new condo units are expected to come to the Toronto CMA area this year (5,500 will be in the downtown core), down slightly from last year but still a healthy level. RealNet Canada reports that in the first 11 months of 2010, 36% of new condo units sold in the Greater Toronto Area were situated in the downtown core between Bloor Street and the waterfront. Twenty-two per cent of GTA`s new condo sales took place in what RealNet calls Downtown West, between University Avenue and Dufferin Street, which RealNet president George Carras says totalled more than all of Calgary`s new condo sales in the same time period. With interest rates low and close to 100,000 new immigrants arriving on Toronto`s doorstep every year, 2011 is expected to continue drawing in the masses.




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[Ally]

Simcoe: The Year Ahead



SIMCOE COUNTY - Battle-weary from the recent stretch of economic woes that had local businesses scrambling to change or die, a look back says it wasn`t all bad, according to entrepreneur Gini Stringer, whose year-long term as president of Orillia and District Chamber of Commerce ended Dec. 31. But it isn`t all over either.



`I wanted to come into 2010 with a very positive outlook, poising ourselves for recovery,` says Springer, who reports record attendance numbers at chamber events and a significant boost in memberships during her leadership tenure.



`We saw some store closures in downtown Orillia, but some openings, too. We`ve had a lot of positive things happen in 2010.` She points to the expansion of Home Hardware and Orillia Bakery, for example; the construction of a new Sunrise Toyota dealership and Orillia Common Roof, and the opening of the sports complex and Lakehead University`s new campus.



`I think we`re sitting on the cusp of something wonderful,` Stringer added. `There is great opportunity.`



She`s not alone in that opinion. According to the national Real Estate Investment Network (REIN) that lumps together Orillia and Barrie under the regional moniker Simcoe Shores, the two cities ranked eighth among surveys investors on the 2010 top 10 Canadian cities in which to invest report. REIN president Don Campbell called them, `a hot bed for growth,` referring to the expansions of Georgian College and Lakehead University, the addition of GO trains, a respectable 4.7 per cent vacancy rate and the youngest residents on average.



Read the full article here.