Riverdale Homes and Riverdal Real Estate

If you own a home in Riverdale or Leslieville and you’re thinking of refinancing…or if, like the couple we recently met at Dish Studio, you’ve begun what can be a frustrating search for the perfect East Toronto home…you need to read about what BMO has just done.

In a rare move for a big bank, BMO has declared war on its competitors with a new 3.75% five-year fixed rate.  That’s the kind of special rate normally reserved only for a bank’s best customers – but this one applies to all who qualify.  It’s a whopping 1.64% off posted rates!  Needless to say, that translates into big mortgage savings.

With the special deal come some disadvantages:  lump-sum pre-payments are capped at  10% maximum per year (which is half of what BMO normally allows) and so are optional payment increases.  Also, the ‘Skip-a-Payment’ option is  not available.  Perhaps most significantly, there is a 25-year amortization limit, making this a ‘no-frills’ type of mortgage.

BMO’s move can be seen as an attack on other lenders AND on brokers.  Do you think the other Big 4 banks will match this rate to stay competitive, even though it will hurt their bottom line?  Let us know!

Well technically it’s come to all of Toronto…but it’s hard to find a neighbourhood more packed with foot traffic than the Danforth, Riverdale and Leslieville neighbourhoods.  All have great shopping districts and broad strolling avenues filled with pedestrians taking advantage of the good weather.  Here’s a snapshot of what came up in the news this week as great places to stop while meandering in east Toronto!

Shop

The Danforth Village Antique Market just east of Pape has amazing finds in the way of rare and vintage glassware, dishes, lamps, jewellery, pottery, art, brass, stamps, dolls, and watches.

Do-Bamboo at Danforth and Coxwell has some really great eco t-shirts made of bamboo – perfect for Earth Day which is coming soon!

Eat

We’ve mentioned it before, but Dough Bakeshop just west of Greektown is in the news again:  it has everything from basic breads to specialties like gluten-free, challah, sourdough, croissants, tarts, brownies, muffins, scones, and savoury treats.  You can even buy your own dough to try it at home!

Experience

The Toronto Public Library, the busiest urban library system in the world, has a host of FREE March Break events for kids.  If you happen to be near the Riverdale Branch at 370 Broadview, the Queen Saulter Branch at 765 Queen Street East or the Pape Danforth Branch at 701 Pape Avenue, you can check out a Magic Show;  the Gerrard Ashdale Branch at 1432 Gerrard Street East is presenting a Mime Show.  Click here for all the details on dates and times!

Coming soon…

Cafe Florentin, a European-style bakery and café in the Beaches, is opening a second location at 948 Queen Street East in Leslieville in May.

Who says living in Leslieville isn’t affordable?  Yes, property prices have crept up…but you don’t have to be rich to gain entry to Leslieville.  Featured for its value, our home of the week is a 3-storey townhome with three bedrooms and two baths, at 1209 Queen St. East.

The home is described as bright, tastefully updated and freshly painted.  Being right on Queen, there’s perfect access to the streetcar, trendy shops and restaurants, even the Beach.  Best of all, parking is included.

Pluses:  Low taxes and low maintenance fees.

Minuses:  Electric baseboard heating means winter bills can add up.

The home is being listed for sale by Dylan & Sean Provencher of RE/MAX Hallmark Realty, and they have a host of other homes in Leslieville for sale and for rent.

Not sure if Toronto’s Leslieville neighbourhood is right for you?  You can always rent first to get a feel for the close-knit community.  Rentals in Leslieville this week ranged in price from $1800 monthly for a 3-bedroom townhouse, $1250 per month for a two bedroom apartment in a house, and all the way down to $475 for a single room.

Do you think Leslieville is still affordable, or has gentrification caught up with Leslieville?  Please let us know!

Residents of Toronto’s Leslieville neighbourhood aren’t the only ones to express anger over the TTC’s expansion plans.  The Save Our Sheppard group in North Scarborough are also angry, saying a light rail transit line will create a traffic nightmare and proposing a much more expensive subway instead (which, if the Woodbine/Danforth area is any indication, will cause an even further decline of pedestrian traffic and kill even the most tenacious businesses).  But Leslieville isn’t opposed to light rail transit going through their neighbourhood – Leslievillers love to stroll and they are used to traffic.  What they’re angry about is the maintenance facility for the new fleet of streetcars, proposed to be built in their backyard.

At an open house last Thursday night, some residents were outraged over the proposal to build the facility near Lakeshore and Leslie, claiming they felt tricked by the TTC’s lack of publicizing their dramatic plans.  In June of last year, the TTC said the Leslieville location was just one of 6 sites being considered (another on Coxwell Avenue may draw the same kind of controversy).  The TTC says it needs to build a maintenance facility for its 200 new light rail vehicles, as well as building streetcar tracks down Leslie Street. But people who live in the area say the noise from all those streetcars going down Leslie street each day will be unbearable.

The irony is that the site of the proposed Leslieville facility is the same spot that Leslieville residents fought so hard to prevent from being turned into a box store development. They won, but a few months later the TTC proposed building the maintenance yard nearby.

The TTC says the new facility will employ 540 people and create an economic base for local businesses.  Do you agree, or would you rather have seen Wal-Mart come in to the area?

Every week there are so many blog posts and news articles about restaurants – restaurants starting up, going under, or offering amazing food.  Here’s what happened on the food scene this week in Riverdale, Leslieville on the Danforth.  Maybe it will inspire new destinations for foodies in Toronto’s east end!

Far East:  Guru Coffee at 2741 Danforth Avenue is the city’s newest fair trade and organic coffee shop, proving that you don’t have to stay west of Main Street to find anything good.

Grease:  B&B Fish and Chips at 1116 Queen St. East just made Blog T.O.’s list of best fries in the city.  The Leslieville favourite has been in operation since at least 1942 and offers extra thick cut fries, lovingly hand stirred in oil and presented in lined newspaper, a perfect accompaniment to the huge pieces of fish.

Novelty:   The Ceili Cottage at 1301 Queen St. East is getting into the Olympic spirit by flooding their front patio and turning it into a miniature ice rink for neighbourhood kids to use in the afternoon.  The patch of ice has been dubbed the Dinky Rink, and they’ve borrowed curling rocks from the Royal Canadian Curling Club for fun nightly matches and marshmallow roasts. Assuming temperatures stay below freezing, the rink is expected to be open until March 10, when it will be cleared away for St. Patrick’s week festivities at the Irish Canadian pub.

Gourmand:  Table 17 at 782 Queen St. East recently added to its hype after being reviewed by Dr. Josh Josephson, a world-renowned gourmand.  Dr. Josephson raved about the appetizer crostini: savoury Tamworth pig lardo and rosemary, and white bean puree topped with crispy pancetta and braised escarole.  He went on to rave about the rich and savoury, mildly salty culatello, plated with a crispy “torta frita” and a nippy pear mostarda.  He also loved the “Dolce forte” wild boar croquette, and the venison osso bucco.

Conversation:  All are welcome to attend the monthly Danforth Greens Pub Night (last Tuesday of every month; this month’s is tomorrow) at Gabby’s in the Library Room, 790 Danforth Ave.  It’s a good chance to have casual chat with real up-close politicians and see their Green vision for our City.

What’s your favourite haunt on the Danforth, Queen East or elsewhere in Riverdale/Leslieville?  Let us know!

Are you stuck for something to do on Family Day?  Or just looking for great east end eateries along the Danforth, in Riverdale or Leslieville?  Check out some hot places that made the news this week.

Winterfolk is still happening for one more day – today!  Check out these venues on Danforth Ave. just east of Broadview, where you can eat, drink, and be entertained…the entertainment is FREE!

The Black Swan 154 Danforth Avenue (2 stages)
Dora Keogh 141 Danforth Avenue
The Willow Restaurant 193 Danforth Avenue (2 stages)
Mambo Restaurant 120 Danforth Avenue

Allen’s Pub at 143 Danforth presents their annual Steak Festival, featuring the finest beef painstakingly sourced the most renowned farms and ranches in Canada, the United States and new this year, Australia, all aged and cut on premises to a perfect flavour-tenderness ratio. (Continues to February 23rd.)

Doing some shopping at Gerrard Square?  It’s not as grungy as it used to be.  In fact, Crepe it Up is now on the premises, offering savoury crepes as well as sweet dessert crepes.  The prices are very reasonable at $3-$5 for a dessert crepe with fresh fruit and delicious ice cream.

There’s a new French espresso bar in Leslieville at Queen & Ashdale, the “Voulez Vous Café,” which just opened on Saturday.  The cafe boasts a traditional “Quebec French” look-and-feel, a casual, bagel-based menu, and exhibits of local art and products.

Table 17 at 782 Queen St. East is one of the many bistros that have sprung up in Leslieville.  The European style food is refined but the atmosphere is relaxed, with a seasonal menu and focus on local ingredients.  Enjoy such delicacies as risotto balls, steak frites, beef short ribs and light desserts.  If you go on a Sunday or Monday, try a three-course prix fixe with no corkage fee, for only $32.

What’s your absolute favourite restaurant in the downtown east area? Let us know!

On Wednesday February 17 from 7 – 8:30 pm, Ward 30 Councillor Paula Fletcher and the City’s Parks, Forestry and Recreation department will be hosting a public information meeting to update and discuss the Master Plan for area parks like Jimmie Simpson Park.  The meeting will be held at the Ralph Thornton Centre, 765 Queen St E, 2nd floor.

The local parks that are included under the “Master Plan” are:  Bruce Mackey park at Degrassi and Queen, Jimmie Simpson Park at Queen and Booth, and the McCleary Playground located at Queen and McGee.  The idea is to receive comment and input from the public as to the recreational needs these parks provide and to discuss next steps for the future of these parks.

It’s important that the city hears the concerns and desires of affected citizens for these parks.  So if you use any of these parks for your children, pets, or personal pleasure, please try to attend and tell your neighbours and friends – so the City will understand that these parks are a key component of our neighbourhood!

Will you be attending the public meeting this Wednesday?  Please let us know!

According to a twitter by Brad Lamb, he has been “meeting with development team to discuss options for a new development on Broadview north of Queen Street East.”  Could he be referring to the old Leslieville Lofts space, on the west side of Broadview? The project never took off for a number of reasons:

• Local residents were angry that the building was being marketed as Leslieville when it was clearly in South Riverdale (not sure why the inaccurate name would be such a controversial point).
• Another key issue was zoning: On Broadview north of Queen, there is a four story zoning limit on height, while the Leslieville Lofts was slated as a 9 storey building.
• Finally, financing during the recession was a problem.  The project stalled in the fall of 2008.

Even if Leslieville Lofts doesn’t come together anytime soon, there are plenty of options if you love loft living and the hip, trendy Leslieville neighbourhood.  Atria Development Corporation has done an amazing job converting an old garment factory into soft lofts in the award winning Garment Factory Lofts. Unfortunately, the Garment Factory is now sold out (you’ll have to wait for owners to sell their individual units), but Atria also has a bunch of hard-lofts available for sale in the iZone Live/Work Lofts – a building that was originally a knitting mill.

What’s unique about the iZone Lofts is that Atria is willing to work with purchasers to build-out the loft-spaces, giving them the feel of a new luxury unit.

Today’s question is:  Would you be happy if the Leslieville Lofts project were to be resurrected or do you think it doesn’t fit in with the neighbourhood?  Let us know!

As if sellers can smell spring in the air – despite frosty temperatures and the results of Groundhog Day predicting 6 more weeks of winter – a proliferation of properties has recently gone on the market in the hot East York neighbourhoods of Riverdale and Leslieville.  If you’re in the market for a new place, here’s what we found just in the past week:

Leslieville

Leslieville live/work Loft in the Wrigley building – 811 square feet for sale for $399,900 includes parking and storage unit.  Available immediately.  Click here for details.

Three bedroom Leslieville semi – 1100 square feet for rent at $2000/month includes parking and utilities.  Available March 1.  Click here for details.

Riverdale

Four bedroom, four bath luxury home near Withrow Park for sale at $1,199, 000 includes 4 car parking.  Click here for details.

Three bedroom, 2 bath home near Withrow Park for rent at $2,200/month includes laundry and professionally finished basement. Available April 1.  Click here for details.

Two story, three bedroom apartment across from Withrow Park for rent at $2100/month includes laundry and single car garage.  Click here for details.

One bedroom + den south of Withrow Park for rent at $1150/month includes utilities and off-street parking.  Available March 1.  Click here for details.

Coach house studio apartment at Broadview & Withrow for rent at $850/month includes private entrance and balcony.  Possession date TBA.  Click here for details.

Are you in the market for a new place to live in Riverdale or Leslieville – or do you have a place to sell or rent in one of these high-demand East Toronto neighbourhoods?  Let us know!