Centennial College Proposes Condo Development
August 31, 2011
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Centennial College has recently put forth a proposal to build a low-rise condominium development to be built on a portion of the Guild Inn property in Scarborough. The idea is the condo would underwrite the cost of restoring the historic Bickford Residence in the area. The local landmark has been vandalized and flooded and contains hazardous levels of toxic mould, needing an overhaul and complete restoration.
Brad Chapman, Chief Financial Officer at Centennial College says, “We learned a hotel is not economically viable at the Guild Inn; the return on investment is too slim. Rather than abandon our plans, we turned to a business model that has been proven to work in the Toronto market: condominium development.”
The condo model has been successful in Toronto to spur public redevelopment, including the new North Toronto Collegiate, which used condo builder Menkes as well as the TIFF Bell Lightbox, who used Daniels Corp. Centennial President Ann Buller presented a modified proposal to Councillor Paul Ainslie and Mike Williams back in April.
“We believe there is interest in the community for a condominium development that is tastefully and creatively designed,” Chapman notes. “We’ve already heard from enthusiastic local residents who have told us they’re ready to buy into the project.”
A rendering of the proposed project
Centennial is looking to purchase the site outright on behalf of the builder rather than sub-lease the 6.3 acre property. The plan is for a low-rise condo building with roughly 100 residential units, all depending on the cost of the land. The project is anticipated to generate $5-6 million available immediately in order to get a head start on the Bickford Residence restoration.
The college has engaged Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects to analyze the impact of various residential building concepts and to produce preliminary drawings of the low-rise building.
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