Month: September 2023
September 26, 2023 by Anthony Teles
CentreCourt‘s Pickering City Centre project is making waves in the Greater Toronto Area’s real estate landscape. With Tower 1 of this expansive 55-acre masterplan community now 95% sold out, the real estate community is awaiting the launch of Tower 2 this Friday.
Earlier this month, on September 13th, CentreCourt hosted a launch event on the grounds of the future masterplan. With over 2,000 attendees, this electric launch event was the biggest launch of 2023 and one of the largest launches in the company’s history.
Sales centre grand opening on September 13, image courtesy of CentreCourt
The event featured presentations from several key figures associated with the project. Gavin Cheung, President of CentreCourt, was joined by Jason Lam, Partner and Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, and Shalini Karthigesan, Senior Sales and Marketing Manager, in addition to Pickering’s Mayor Kevin Ashe, to discuss the exciting vision for the project.
Over 2,000 attendees at the launch event held September 13, image courtesy of CentreCourt
At $1,050/ ft², Pickering City Centre is one of the most affordable condominium projects in the GTA. The masterplan will incorporate the 700,000 ft² existing shopping centre and provide residents with direct access to GO Transit. Additionally, the first phase of the development promises a substantial 127,000 ft² of amenities.
Block 1, the development’s first phase is poised to feature four mixed-use residential towers, housing approximately 2,200 residential units in a design by Diamond Schmitt Architects. These towers will vary in height, ranging from 40 to 55 storeys, and will offer around 18,000 ft² of retail space at the ground level. Residents can look forward to a diverse range of amenities, including a 20,000 ft² fitness centre, co-working spaces, a unique Cleveland Clinic Virtual Clinic, a golf simulator, and a rooftop pool with outdoor lounge areas. The development also plans to incorporate lush interior courtyards, which will connect to a broader network of green spaces.
The rooftop pool and lounge area at Phase One of Pickering City Centre, designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects for CentreCourt, Cowie Capital Partners Inc, and Salthill Capital
The Pickering Town Centre shopping mall, an integral component of the masterplan, spans approximately 700,000 ft² of leasable area. It currently hosts major tenants such as The Bay, Cineplex, Farm Boy, H&M, and Saks Off Fifth. A commercial office tower on the site includes tenants like BMO Nesbitt Burns and MPAC. While Highway 401 is adjacent to the south, a pedestrian bridge provides a direct connection to the Pickering GO station, enhancing the site’s connectivity.
The residential development is located on what is currently unused surface parking space to the east of the mall, ensuring minimal disruption to the mall’s operations.
Looking southwest to Pickering City Centre, designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects for CentreCourt, Cowie Capital Partners Inc, and Salthill Capital
In collaboration with Cowie Capital Partners Inc and Salthill Capital as retail and office leads, CentreCourt’s vision encompasses more than ten mixed-use towers, aiming to house approximately 6,000 residential units. The overall masterplan is set to introduce a density of around 3,600,000 ft², encompassing residential, retail, and commercial spaces.
As the Pickering City Centre project continues to evolve, CentreCourt’s aim is to craft a cohesive, connected, and sustainable community for the residents of Pickering and the broader GTA.
For those interested in further details about this transformative project, more information is available on the official Pickering City Centre website.
In just one week, CentreCourt sold 95% of its pre-construction condo units during the first-phase launch of Pickering City Centre — a sprawling high-rise development planned for the site of the Pickering Town Centre mall.
September 23, 2023 7:00 am
When it comes to high-rise condo buildings popping up in Ontario, cities like Toronto, Mississauga, Hamilton, and Ottawa might come to mind as hotbeds of activity. Pickering, a city 40 km east of Toronto with a population of less than 100,000, typically doesn’t — but maybe it should.
The first phase of an extensive new master-planned community, dubbed Pickering City Centre, launched its sales on September 13, bringing 513 pre-construction condo units to the market. Within a week, 95% of them had sold.
Jacob Truglia, Partner and Vice President Business Lead for CentreCourt Developments, the developer behind the project, said signs of heightened interest for condos in the Pickering area started rolling in before the sales took off.
“We had a launch event last week and there were about 2,000 realtors in attendance, so we thought that was a great sign in terms of overall interest in the project,” Truglia told STOREYS. “But I will say, the outcome that we had here of being close to sold out in a week has surpassed our own expectations of this, so we’re very happy with how that came together.”
Planned for the 55-acre site of the Pickering Town Centre mall, the master-planned community, once complete, will have at least 10 high-rise towers reaching up to 55 storeys and housing more than 6,000 residential units, as well as retail, office, and commercial space. It will also feature parks, urban plazas, a new City Hall, and a direct connection to the Pickering GO station. As to be expected, it’s a multi-phase endeavour that will be rolled out over several years.
Although Pickering might not be the average person’s choice to make such a large development investment, Truglia says CentreCourt identified the city’s market as one that’s been “overlooked for years.” A combination of a growing population and a constrained supply has led to high demand.
“There hasn’t been a lot of activity in that market save for a few developers,” Truglia said.
But of course, the scale and offerings of Pickering City Centre are unlike anything the city has ever seen, and that doesn’t hurt either.
“We have Pickering Town Center, which is a staple in the community, so that’s 700,000 sq. ft of retail at your doorstep, and there’s a 130,000-sq.-ft office building, a direct connection to the Pickering GO, and we’re directly beside Highway 401, so if you look at the Pickering landscape, this is the best location and it’s really rare to have an opportunity to be at centre ice at the scale of a 55-acre master plan where you can really redefine it as a new downtown,” Truglia said.
He also points to the competitive price point of the condos, which have sold at $1,050 per sq. ft, as another big draw for buyers. A similar-sized condo in the area, Truglia says, would cost about $100 more per sq. ft.
CentreCourt’s success comes at an interesting time when many developers in the Greater Toronto Area have chosen to postpone, cancel, or sell development projects as they struggle with lower buyer demand amid higher interest rates and overall affordability concerns.
“It’s definitely a more challenging market right now than it has been,” Truglia said. “But I think what this shows is when you have the right ingredients, a good story, a belief and a vision, and are able to offer it all at an attractive price point, there are still buyers out there — they’re just looking and being selective with the opportunities that they ultimately choose to purchase.”
