Ali Akman of SAMM Developments discusses The Kennedys Condos
By Lucas on Aug 12, 2016
Newinhomes.com recently had the opportunity to visit The Kennedys Condos presentation centre to meet with Ali Akman, President of SAMM Developments, to discuss the plans for the area and to learn more about the company's history.
The Kennedys is a three-phase development. Phase 1 consists of two towers while Phases 2 and 3 have one tower each (for a total of four towers). According to Akman, the majority of registrants at The Kennedys so far are young professionals, aged 25 to 35, mostly singles, newlyweds, and a few families with one child. There are even a few students. Akman also pointed out that the registrants have been very diverse ethnically.
“Toronto is the hottest market in Canada and there are quite a lot of immigrants coming in every year,” Akman said. “They all need housing and I see the housing market in Toronto continuing to go up because the demand is there.”
Akman started Akman Holdings in 1981, focusing on a variety of industries, including construction, hospitality, automotive, insurance, and even film production. There are currently 17 companies under the Akman banner. With a dual citizenship for Turkey and Canada, the majority of Akman’s activity is in these two areas, but they’re also active around the world in places like Argentina, Iran, and China.
They own five hotels in Turkey and three in Toronto (the Sheraton Waterloo, Travelodge Oshawa, and Delta Marriott, which will neighbour The Kennedys once the four towers are standing tall). Akman even owns the construction company, Tarn, that will build The Kennedys.
“This is going to be our first residential development project in Canada, so we chose all of the top class consultants - number one consultants - available in Canada,” Akman said. “Our architect is Page + Steele/IBI Group, our interior designer is Tomas Pearce, our sales consultants are from Milborne Real Estate, and our construction consultants are SKYGRID.”
The Kennedys are located at Kennedy and Highway 401, so there’s pretty easy access to downtown Toronto, which might explain why so many young working professionals have purchased. To get to the Financial District, all residents need to do is hop on the 401 to the Don Valley Parkway (DVP) and take it into the city. Even on days when there is heavy traffic on the DVP, it only takes about 30 minutes (we know because we hit the most traffic on the way back to our office at 1 Yonge Street).
“The location is at the border of Scarborough and Toronto, so transportation wise, the area is well reachable and the public transportation is very good. There’s the bus, metro, GO Train, and there’s also quite a lot of things to see in the area, like the Zoo, the shopping mall, the parks, Ontario Science Centre, and much more,” Akman said.
Learn more about The Kennedys Condos
SAMM Developments is seeing an amazing initial response to The Kennedys, so we were excited to hear that they are already scouting out other locations in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) for a “signature” development. Akman hinted at some very ambitious plans for their next project, so you’ll have to stay tuned for more details.
Phase 1 of The Kennedys is expected to break ground next year, and two of the condo buildings will be coming to market this fall. Prices at The Kennedys Condos are starting in the $200,000s and range up to the high $300,000s. For more information, register now!
