A community of developers, architects and real estate agents is fostering the emergence of a uniquely Toronto based aesthetic

Paul Johnston, a real estate agent who specializes in high-design, contemporary architecture, also sees the emergence of a unique-to-Toronto style. And he’s excited about it. “Five to seven years ago I was pleading with developers for decidedly modern townhomes,” he says. “There was an apprehension, but now the market has responded.”

Mr. Johnston suggests that the turning point was 2006, with the opening of Jack Diamond’s Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts (another building with tough site conditions and a limited budget). “It was an energizing moment,” explains Mr. Johnston, “to have such a highly visible building, that was undeniably modern, in the bold, black brick.”

Maybe the Centre helped pave the way for the townhouses that Mr. Johnston is currently selling, such as the clean-lined, sharp looking Core at Bayview and Eglinton. It recently went on sale with prices starting from $1,150,000 for 2,000 square feet (so far one unit out of seven has sold).

“It has a certain angularity in the windows, which I think is rather iconic,” Mr. Johnston says of the project. Moreover, he thinks “it’s hopeful that we’re creating buildings that reflect the sensibilities of the time we live in now” – buildings that look nothing like a Victorian row house or something out of the Georgian era.

by Matthew Hague, The Globe and Mail

See the full article at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/home-and-garden/real-estate/the-moderns-design-savvy-group-boosts-toronto-architecture/article20889380/