Migrating Landscapes Ontario regional winners announced

Paul Golini and Joe Vaccaro were on hand last night at Brookfield Place where the Ontario regional winners for Migrating Landscapes were announced. Also in attendance were Sam Crignano of Cityzen Group and about 300 VIP guests.

Congratulations to the four regional winners who will be moving on to the national competition at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. The competition runs from March 15 to April 29. They were selected from a total of 26. 

The winner in Winnipeg will, of course, move on to the Venice Architecture Biennale from August 29 to November 25, 2012. Check out the winning pieces from Ontario below.

Congratulations to Ontario winners Andrew Batay-Csorba & Jodi Batay Csorba, Andrea Lacalamita & Gillian Tyrrell, Erica Pecoskie & George Simionopoulos and Kfir Gluzberg & Liana Bresler. A special shout out also goes to people's choice winners Emre Yurga & Christina Kalt.

A special thanks goes out to Peter and Paul's, Malivoire Wine and Burning Kiln Winery, who kept the crowd satiated throughout the evening. Check out more photos from the exhibit here.

GTA low-rise market gains ground

The low-rise sector outsold its high-rise counterpart for first time in 12 months this January.

According to RealNet Canada Inc., our official source of new home market intelligence, there were
1,794 new homes and condominium units sold in the GTA in January. Low-rise sales amounted to 1,128
sales – a nearly identical figure to that of January 2011 – while capturing 63 per cent of the market
share.

The high-rise sector took an expected dip in January as builders sell off existing inventory before
launching new projects in the spring.

“This time of year is typically used for developers to sell existing units while agencies put together
new marketing campaigns and construct sales offices,” BILD Chair Paul Golini Jr. explained. “While the
40 per cent decline in the high-rise sector might seem like a lot, it follows a record-breaking year in
condominium sales, so it’s not a fair comparison.”

The continuing trend of activity in the 905 Regions carried into 2012, particularly in York, where high-rise and low-rise sales both increased by a combined total of 12.5 per cent.

The low-rise price index in the GTA rose seven per cent over January 2011 to $551,372 while the high-
rise price index went virtually unchanged at $445,854.

Check out the official press release including stats from across the GTA here.

Q&A with Paul Golini & Joe Vaccaro on location at Migrating Landscapes

Migrating Landscapes kicked off its Toronto exhibition at Brookfield Place yesterday. BILD is a big supporter of the project along with our friends at Cityzen Group. In the below video BILD chair Paul Golini and acting president Joe Vaccarro offer their perspectives on what the exhibition means to them and the industry as a whole. Enjoy!     

The exhibit runs until February 24. We strongly suggest you take the time to visit. If you do, send a tweet to @bildgta to let us know what you thought!

Thank you for attending the Chair's Dinner!

Thanks to everyone who attended the Chair's Dinner on Tuesday night. It's always great to see more than 500 BILD members in one place. We heard from acting president Joe Vaccaro, as well as Gary Aukstakalnis who introduced BILD's 49 new members.

The highlight of the evening (besides enjoying an amazing meal with our fellow BILDers, of course) was Paul Golini Jr.'s address. In his speech, entitled Rising to the Challenge, he spoke to some of the ways BILD has made a difference in 2011 and what will be coming our way this year.

A few of our members received awards for going above & beyond in making a difference in our industry. Head of the Robins, Appleby & Taub’s real estate department Leor Margulies was honoured with the Chair's Award of Merit for, among other things, starting the Condominium Council to discuss issues specific to the high-rise sector.   

Mark Jepp of Paradise Homes was honoured with a Member of the Year award for his efforts in the areas of volunteerism and leadership, most notably in our industry's implementation of the endangered species act. We're also glad to bestow the title of top member recruiter to Jim Andrews of Fieldgate Homes for the second year running.  

You can watch Paul Golini deliver his address in two parts, here and here. 

How new green technologies will go from promising to proven

The need to live our lives more sustainably is now on pretty much everyone's radar. In the building and land development industry, we are in an especially strong position to make an impact (or reduce our impact, as the case may be) because we work at the fundamental levels of community-building.

One of the biggest obstacles in the way of building greener homes is that we've been building homes using the same dependable methods for a long time.

The other problem is that home buyers are happy to invest in green technologies in theory, but in practice they spend their hard-earned money on other features of the home. Human nature leads us to favour instant gratification and the benefits of green technologies, as opposed to an asthmatic upgrade, tend to be seen a few years down the line. Paul Golini's column in the Toronto Star on Friday addressed precisely these concerns. 

BILD is stepping in with province-wide testing of new green technologies to make sure consumers and builders see the value in them. We're working with Local Energy Efficiency Partnerships (LEEP) and Technology Adoption Pilot (TAP) programs to review green products, listen to manufacturers’ pitches, discuss the costs and benefits of each, and then ultimately select a range of technologies to be demonstrated in Discovery Homes communities under the TAP phase of the project, which is where we are now.

We have a whole crew of builders (and a renovator!) partnering on this project:

• Arista Homes
• Cadorin Homes
• Primont Homes
• Starlane Homes
• Empire Communities
• RenoMark renovator A Lifetime Contractor

We'll be testing a range of  new technologies including integrated mechanicals, zoned heating, solar-ready and drain water heat recovery. In this way we'll get a much clearer idea of which new green technologies are worth implementing for the most efficient results. Over time, these new technologies will become entrenched in the industry and adopted by more and more builders, leading to increasingly green communities.

We'll be sure keep you posted on this project as we go along.

Migrating Landscapes brings the stories of migration to life

If you're unfamiliar with Migrating Landscapes, fear not. We'll tell you everything you need to know, including how you can show your support.

The project is the brainchild of three Winnipeg-based architects, who also happen to be first-generation immigrants to Canada. They wanted to explore how the meaning of house and home changes amidst unfamiliar landscapes and architecture. 

Migrating Landscapes will feature 25 young architects, all aged 45 and under, who will build and display models of original residential designs that reflect their diverse stories of migration and immigration. The entries will be on display February 6-24 at Toronto’s Brookfield Place and admission will be free. Each entry will be judged by a jury and a select group will be chosen to compete at the national level. The competition culminates in Venice where a team will be representing Canada at the Venice Biennale in Architecture – aka the Olympics of Architecture. 

But where do we fit into all this? Well, we're working with BILD member Cityzen Group as a strategic partner for the competition. "There is an art to city building," Paul Golini wrote in his column in the Toronto Star on Friday. "And this exhibit speaks to the creative side of the business, where design and architecture capture the imagination and emotion of future residents."

You may have noticed our Twitter avatar sporting a Migrating Landscapes twibbon. If you're on Twitter, click on the hyperlink to get your own and show your support for this innovative project. For all the latest updates on Migrating Landscapes, make sure to follow our Twitter account and, of course, this blog. Or better yet, take a trip down to the exhibit February 6-24 and see everything for yourself. The price is right!   

2011 'best year yet' for condo sales

We've discussed the phenomenon that is the GTA condo market quite a bit here on the blog, and naturally it was front and centre at October's High-Rise Forum. Now, as 2011 comes to a close, this article in the National Post reflects on some of the key factors that made 2011 the "best year yet" in a condo boom that refuses to slow down.

The first is the monumental role played by the 905 region. With low-rise housing getting more expensive, people are turning to condos. Plus, with high-end amenities and state-of-the-art features, this hardly feels like a sacrifice. There were 15,056 low-rise sales and 23,747 high-rise throughout the GTA from January to October. "The numbers speak for themselves," BILD Acting President Joe Vaccaro told the Post.

Another factor is the trend towards smaller suites, creating affordability for first-time buyers. Lastly, of course, is the role of the investor. In some buildings, a vast majority of units have been sold to investors. This, according to Joe Vaccaro, "reflects Toronto’s place in the global economy."

So with the stage set, what's in store for 2012? While Vaccaro doesn’t foresee another record year, RealNet’s latest figures, unveiled by BILD here, have shown that the high-rise market is still on the way up. 

At BILD, we're certainly looking forward to seeing how this will all unfold in the year ahead. What are you predicting for the markets in 2012? Let us know on Twitter and be sure to use the hashtag #Market2012!       

It's breakfast time @ BILD!

It's that time of year again; holiday activities abound and the BILD annual breakfast is no exception. This year, a distinguished panel was on hand to discuss social media and new technology.

With all this talk of social media changing the world, it's no wonder that it's changing our industry as well. For one thing, consumers expect more from companies. They expect to have access to more information with less effort. It's also more important than ever for corporations to be transparent.

Many companies around the world are adapting and so is BILD. As technology evolves, we can't hope to control it, but we can guide its use. However one chooses to interpret the rise of new technology and social media, we can certainly agree that these developments can't be ignored. Without a doubt, it will be really interesting to see where social media goes and takes us.

We'd like to extend a special thanks to this morning's panelists: Peter Cortellucci, The Cortel Group; Riz Dhanji, Canderel Residential Inc.; Robert Galletta, Blackjet Inc.; Paul Johnston; Jonathan Mueller, Mady Developments; Leona Savoie, Hullmark Developments.

In the end, fascinating ideas were exchanged, audience questions were answered, and of course, there was breakfast. Overall, the event was a fantastic end to a great year, proving once again that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

Tridel selected in first partnership with Build Toronto

Long-standing and award-winning BILD member Tridel was announced as the first partner company to work with Build Toronto, the city’s development agency. The duo officially announced the first of six private-public partnerships created to unlock the value of Toronto real estate on November 22.

You may have read about this in the Metro the other week where BILD acting president Joe Vaccaro congratulated Tridel and the city on the deal and encouraged Build Toronto to continue working with BILD members on future projects. 

The partnership will convert a paid parking lot at 10 York Street into a 75-storey condo worth about $295 million. The project is expected to create new jobs, pump tax revenue into the city and inject funds into the community with revenues predicted at approximately $40 million. 

Congratulations to Tridel on this landmark project. It will be interesting to see how public-private partnerships like this one will affect the city in coming years.   

CLIPPINGS: OHBA builds in the Dominican Republic, Toronto condo sales remain steady and Vancouver home prices finally drop (a little)

If you follow the BILD blog at all, you know about the work we do with Habitat for Humanity. Of course, we're not the only ones in the real estate industry giving back. Recently, members of the Ontario Home Builders Association spent a week in the Dominican Republic on a humanitarian build that left six deserving families with solid, safe, clean new homes. 

OHBA President Doug Tarry summarized the program nicely: "Our Humanitarian Build is an extension of the wonderful philanthropic work that our members are involved with each and every day in their own communities across the province." 

Back at home, condo sales are still going strong. Metro ran an article by Paul Golini stating that this October was the second best on record, with 2,928 new condominium suites sold in Toronto. But what's new in 2011? It's the surge in the 905 condo market. 1,020 units were sold in October in York Region, a whopping 142% increase over 2010.

Lastly, the Financial Post looks at housing prices in Vancouver and reports that the benchmark price for a Vancouver home has dropped 1.4% since its peak in June. But at $622,087, the benchmark price is still up 7.2% from a year ago. That said, new listings are on the increase with 3,222 new properties on the market in November and sales are fairly typical for this time of year.