Today I attended the pre-construction launch of The United Building, a new condo going up at University & Dundas. During the presentation one slide really caught my attention (see above) and I immediately dismissed it as B.S., but as I started to think about it, it scarily started to make sense. That was the slide claiming that by 2025 the average condo rental price near University & Dundas will be $7.28/sqft. Here is why…
As new buildings are launched, the floor plans keep getting smaller and smaller. In this particular building studios are just 300sqft, 1 beds are 457-461sqft and 2 beds top out at just 735sqft. This is a building trying to be all things luxury, but these square footage’s scream more “jail cell” to me, but maybe that is the way condos in Toronto are headed.
Because the units are so small, the $/sqft can actually jump a bit higher if the square footage is used super-efficiently, and even in today’s market you would struggle to find a 300sqft studio for much under $1800/mth which would already put it at a mind blowing $6/sqft. So as I thought about this some more, maybe these numbers aren’t too far off and if so, downtown renters can expect it to be much more costly to live downtown in the future. Sure, on the larger numbers it gets a bit trickier because that means that 735sqft 2 bed unit is going to need to rent for $5350/mth, which I frankly don’t see, but for the small 1 beds and studios these numbers could actually work.
Don’t get me wrong, the area can command some of the highest rents in the city, but I am not sure it will be that high for a $700sqft unit unless you are renting it out furnished.
What do you think, is $7.28/sqft insane for 2025, or do you think these projections are actually realistic? Are these Toronto condo developers making outrageous claims or could this become our reality?
If you think this is going to be the new reality and are interested in learning more about The United Building, simply send me an email to graham@torontocondos.org.
