Tridel: A history of success

By Karen Bliss

In a sprawling low-rise building on a north Toronto main street is the headquarters for Tridel Corporation, the city’s biggest, oldest and most prolific condominium developers.  Constantly shaping the skyline, the company currently boasts 22 projects comprising 7.5 million square feet. 

“At any given time, we seem to have about 5500 suites in production, either getting ready for the marketplace or in the marketplace orjust cleaning up,” says Jim Ritchie, Senior Vice-President, Sales & Marketing, sitting in the Tridel boardroom.

According to RealNet Canada, the country’s leading real estate information services company, 148, 279 condos were sold in the GTA from 2000 to 2009, an average of 15,000 units every year, more than any other city in North America.  

Tridel, which built its first house in 1938 and condominium in 1969, has sold more than 70,000 residential homes in its 72-year history, including some townhouses. “But most of what we focus on today is high density,” says Ritchie. One hundred and fifty Tridel condominiums decorate the Greater Toronto Area, including Scarborough, Mississauga, Etobicoke, North York, Richmond Hill and Markham.

After focusing on subdivisions and small apartment buildings in the 50s, Tridel —named after founder Jack Del Zotto’s three sons who followed him into the business — erected its first high rise apartment building in 1961.  Built in Etobicoke, it boasted a pool and decorative fountains.  When the 1967 Condominium Act of Ontario came into effect, legalizing ownership of individual suites, Tridel built its first condominium in Oakville and continued to incorporate attractive amenities.

Tridel’s motto, “built for life,” goes hand in hand with principals of innovation and leadership; integrity, respect, quality and teamwork, as well as high standards for every aspect of the project from zoning to design, marketing to construction, customer care to property management.  

 

“We have a pretty powerful brand in this industry. So there’s an expectation of purchasing a Tridel home,” says Ritchie. “We’re not just building a building; it is somebody’s home. There’s a lot of things that come together; it’s not just the physical element.  It’s how the building is managed; how it’s cared for; how you interact with various aspects of that building and the city itself.”

The fundamental difference the past decade is in order to keep them affordable in this economy, suites have gotten smaller. Ritchie remembers a time when Tridel sold 1100 square foot one-bedrooms “and that was considered a little small,” he muses. Today, there are 825 square foot three bedrooms, albeit that’s a small fraction “and not where the main market is.

“Most of the market is a one bedroom and den or a smallish two, and the sweet spot in terms of price tends to be between $250,000 and $500,000. That covers a lot of landscape. But it also allows you market niches below that, though we don’t play in that field too much, and certainly above that, which we do like to do. So that’s the very high-end and empty-nester.  

“That’s the cool thing about the condo market,” says Ritchie,  “is that the common denominators are that there aren’t a lot of kids involved, but it touches every background and age group, but the common thing is the compact design overall and living in an urban environment.”

In the boardroom surrounding Ritchie are renderings of just two of the company’s newest projects — 300 Front Street and One Old Mill, both very different from the other and appealing to different kinds of buyers.  It’s still about location, location, location, he says.

The 49 storey Front St. property, just under construction, is a great example of a downtown urban environment, just steps away from the CN Tower, Rogers Centre, Union Station, in the heart of the entertainment district. There is also a rooftop pool, cabana, party room, lounge and fitness centre.

The 12-storey Old Mill, on the market in November, is in the desirable Bloor West Village, 20 minutes drive from the downtown core, where its Tudor-style homes sell for upwards of $850,000 and the established neighbourhood is quaint, picturesque and just a short walk to a strip of boutiques, cafes and markets. 

Go to www.tridel.com for information on all their current properties.

“Buildings take on a completely different relationship in the marketplace simply because of where they are,” says Ritchie.  “And, of course, the composition of the building, the type of homes and finishes. You have many choices. The common denominator with many of our sites is [public] transit. It’s a big deal today. It’s one of the things we advocate as a green builder. So we try to find sites that are in close proximity to transit.”

 

Since 2005, all Tridel properties have pursued Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification, otherwise known as LEED, by the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC).  Its first was The Element at Front and Blue Jays Way, followed by Verve at Wellesley and Jarvis and the company was awarded the City of Toronto Green Award for Energy Conservation in 2006.

“We started down the green road early in 2000 [decade],” recounts Ritchie.  “I was concerned about the escalating costs of maintenance fees, which is an important part of a buying decision. You have to factor that into your cost of ownership and a big part of the maintenance fee are utilities. In fact, at one time it represented over 40 percent of your monthly maintenence fee. 

“So our journey began with, ‘Okay, we have to redesign these buildings so that they’re more efficient in terms of the use of utilities.’  And then one thing led to another and we found that by getting much better with the design of the building envelop, by putting in better mechanical systems, by changing how the building actually breathes, not only would you accomplish savings in terms of utilities, but you create additional health benefits and you can make some impact on the environment by changing these building practices.”

Ten years ago, green was not uppermost on buyers’ want lists, but through marketing Tridel’s sales team has discovered it has created a demand. Cost is usually the greatest concern besides location, and the realtor can easily show how a green building property helps keep fees down.  Others are concerned about health.

“A green building properly executed is better because we reduce the amount of off-gassing inside a suite,” explains Ritchie. “We change the way the suite actually breathes, the way you get fresh air into the suite and how you exhaust it. We have filtration systems on water, hard surface flooring, in terms of dust etcetera so there is a compelling story about health benefits in a green building. 

“Some people come in, albeit a smaller percentage; they just want to do the right thing and they feel the environment they live in should be better.’”

Those are the people that don’t take the parking spot, and as Ritchie points out, “everything in our business is based on the garage — how much parking there is.” That simple fact determines what comes out of the ground because there are certain limitations. The further you get to downtown marketplace, the less parking needed (about 60 percent of the suites, he estimates).  When you get further out to the suburbs that number increases and in high-end affluent buildings sometimes two or three spots are required per occupant.  “Again, it’s matching the needs of the buyer,” Ritchie says.

He says the majority of condo buyers are single; one third of them female (average age 42), as well as couples without children. With that demographic in mind, Tridel tailors its amenities into two categories:  health and wellness, such as a state-of-the-art facility for cardio and weight training; perhaps yoga, a sauna and swimming; and social meaning a party room with state-of-the-art audiovisual system.

“Whether you’re interacting with other people in your own community or you just need a place to have a party or to do something outside your suite, even though the suites have gotten smaller, we haven’t given up on those amenity spaces,” Ritchie says.  “So you look at that as an extension of your home. Maybe you live in a 675 square foot one bedroom and den, but you’ve got 10,000 square feet downstairs of space to socialize.”

Another key change today, which has had a major impact on the condo market, particularly outside the city,  is immigration. Ritchie says Southern Ontario gets between 80,000 to 100,000 new immigrants annually, more than any other urban centre in North America.

“They’re not all buying condos — I wish they were — but it puts pressure on rentals; people move in with families; new homes are sold, resale houses are sold; and high rises are more prolific here.

“I’ve been all over this earth looking at condos and I’ve yet to find one that has an industry that does what we do in terms of the quality the execution, the finish and the value.  I’m not saying that a $250,000 condominium to some folks wouldn’t be expensive, but what you’re getting for that money in this urban environment and compared to any major urban centre in the world is tremendous value.”