SOTTO SOTTO HOW A SMALL RESTAURANT BECAME A 'SECOND HOME' FOR A-LISTERS On Christmas night, a still-unexplained fire destroyed the building at 116 Avenue Rd., home to Spuntini restaurant on the top floor an the aptly named Sotto Sotto (Italian for underneath) in the basement.  Many Yorkville residents were tipped off to the three-alarm disaster via the throngs of smoke and screaming sirens. Ninety firefighters worked to put out the blaze, which officials... [read more]

PRE-CONSTRUCTION CONDOS: SHOULD YOU USE A REALTOR? Should you use a realtor when buying a new pre-construction condo? The answer for this is a definite YES. Toronto Realtor Matt Smith, who specializes in helping buyers navigate through the complicated process of buying new condos, has shared with me the many pitfalls and disadvantages of buyers going at it alone when dealing with the builders' sales staff. Above all else, realize that the builder's sales team works for... [read more]

HOUSE OF THE MONTH A Renovated Yorkville Victorian Address: 71 Hazelton Avenue Neighbourhood: Yorkville List Price: $2,790,000 The Property: A renovated Yorkville Victorian with high ceilings, original fireplaces and marble accents on one of Toronto's most presitigious streets, Hazelton Avenue. The History: The property, built in 1895, was gutted by a previous owner in 2006. The owners had been renting out the house while they travelled abroad.... [read more]

NEW 59-STOREY TOWER PROPOSED FOR SCOLLARD ST. IN YORKVILLE A residential tower has been proposed by the Cityzen Development Group for the southwest corner of Yonge and Scollard Streets in Toronto's tony Bloor-Yorkville area. Designed by the highly regarded Bruce Kuwabara of KPMB Architects, the 59-storey structure with a marble and white concrete-clad exoskeleton is meant as an architectual gateway to the Yorkville area from the north. 1 Scollard is proposed as a slender tower of... [read more]

TORONTO HOMES NEAR THE SUBWAY ARE WORTH 14% MORE THAN THE CITY AVERAGE Location. Location. Location. "Steps to the subway" is a phrase so commonly uttered by Toronto home hunters and branded on real estate ads that it begs the question - what really warrants the term walking distance? Anything 5 minutes or less is a no brainer, but after posing the question to a handful of condo seekers, some doubts arose about anything over the 10-minute mark. "When it feels like -20... [read more]