Toronto realtors are revealing their least favourite condo buildings in a now viral video, and Torontonians are quickly joining the discussion.
The TikTok video, posted by Toronto based realtor Anya Ettinger, is part of a three-part series featuring other realtors. Previous videos showed her asking fellow realtors what their favourite neighbourhoods and condos are.
The third video of her series shows her asking fellow realtors a question that’s likely on the minds of most people in the city that are on the hunt for a condo, “what is your least favourite condo in the city?”
Throughout the video, realtors give their personal opinions and takes, with answers ranging from condos in Toronto’s CityPlace neighbourhood to ICE condos, and even general areas like the downtown core.
CityPlace, a downtown master-planned community developed by Concord with 30 residential towers overlooking the Gardiner Expressway, was seemingly a popular response among the realtors.
“Not for me, don’t love it, for accessibility too, just for traffic, yeah not my thing,” one realtor said.
It’s a response that Ettinger said she wasn’t expecting very much of, but tells Now Toronto that although the responses weren’t rooted in the quality, the overall experience of living in the area or visiting can be a hassle.
“The parking is very limited, so it can be really difficult. You’re circling to find parking all the time, so it’s always a bit of a pain,” she said.
Despite that Ettinger maintains that the area is “totally fine,” and so does resident Kristela Santos who has lived in the area for three years, but admits that she “sees both sides.”
“It’s a stunning neighbourhood with some great spots between The Well, Stackt, etc.,” she told Now Toronto. “But the gridlock between traffic and construction, the poor building material quality and management, the noise…definitely adds to the reputation,” she said.
Santos added that while it has its issues, they’re not unique to CityPlace.
In the video, that’s now surpassed more than 100,000 views as of publication, Torontonians quickly added their opinions to the discussion.
“Downtown core is absolutely correct,” one person said.
“Liberty village,” another person said.
“Condos at Yonge and Eglinton are the worst,” another person added.
Many TikTok users defended CityPlace and detailed their experience living there.
“I lived at CityPlace and loved it. Such a good location, steps to Blue Jays game, King Street, Union, St. Lawrence Market, amenities are good too!,” one TikTok user said.
“I lived in CityPlace for a bit and I loved it! Right by The Well, short walk to Union, and views of the Rogers Centre and CN Tower,” another user said.
Ettinger says she appreciates the discussion that the video has sparked in a city where condos are constantly going up.
“If I’m representing a buyer it’s really important for me to know the ins and outs of each condo building,” she said. “And there’s only so much that we can know from just showings.”
Although the hunt for a good condo building won’t always be easy, Ettinger says there are suggestions that buyers may want to check off their list.
“You would want to do all the due diligence and make sure that their finances are in order, they’re not in debt… Then there’s also things like pet restrictions, a dog lover might not want to buy in a building that only allows one dog up to 20 pounds,” she said.
