City Place

[jaradthescot]

I am interested in moving into City Place (I or II, located at 310 Dundas Street) this coming September. Does anyone have any knowledge about living there? How are the landlords/facilities. Any other issues (appliances, carpets, bugs, anything that I'm not thinking of). I assume it's a long shot since there are hundreds of apartment buildings in the city, and only about 5 regular posters, but I figure it's worth a go

[K85]

Know of someone who lives there, went there for a party as well. Nice place, didn't see any issues, and great view from the 17th floor where I was. I think if you google apartment reviews or something of the sort you may get more info.

[Blitz]

I live in City Place and have for a few years. Everything is always kept very clean and there is staff on-site 24 hours. Sometimes they're slow with taking care of maintenance work in individual units but there are almost 500 units in total here. The only negative would be last year when bums were taking refuge in the parking garage and were even getting into the buildings in some cases to take advantage of the a/c in summer or heat in winter. They hired a security company after that which seems to have taken care of it.

[haljackey]

I just helped someone move out of City Place today. Apparently the rent has gone way up and it just wasn't practical for him anymore.

I will miss his downtown pad, was a great place for parties. The place has a great location.

[Blitz]

My rent didn't go up at all for two years but then went up by 2.5% last year (that's the max under provincial law I think).

[jaradthescot]

Thank you for all your comments, they are very reassuring. I only saw one online review (and I never trust online reviews if there is only a couple of them, since they could be posted by the company it's reviewing).

[HillStreetBlues]

Originally Posted by Blitz

My rent didn't go up at all for two years but then went up by 2.5% last year (that's the max under provincial law I think).

That was indeed the rent increase guideline, but buildings built after 1991 are exempt from this, and so are free to increase their rent by whatever they choose. I'm always curious about the rent increases the big rental companies choose- I've heard of people getting whoppers but then others, like you, getting only occasionally the guideline increase or thereabouts.

[John.tsx91]

I have lived at city place II for 3 years now and there has been a dramatic trend downwards in this building. There has been several thefts and car break-ins from the "secure parking lot and bike cages" there has been a revolving door of supers who never get anything done (4 sets in the last 3 years) and the gym is in a horrible state of disrepair (as of April 21 2015 when I am writing this). Most of the machines are broken on a day to day basis. The hot tub has never worked since I moved here. And they CANCELLED THE CABLE IN THE GYM!!! (At the same time they put in new paintings so they could film an add. The advertisement was filmed while the weight machine and 2 out of 3 treadmills where broken for 3 months: I found that ironic for potential new tenants). This is particularly bad since the gym and pool are shared between both 26 floor buildings. The apartments are spacious but mine was not cleaned properly when I moved in and with the suppers coming and going it never got fixed. I have heard the same complaint from many. The security company is no longer with us. I may stay because i like the view from the 25th floor and i dislike moving but ask many hard questions before deciding. It all boils down to what you are expecting from a "luxury building" and one of the most expensive rents in the city.

[GreatTallNorth2]

That doesn't sound very nice! What is interesting is that Tricar just won the Tarion Award for best customer service in the category of Highrise Builder of the year in Ontario, and it's the second year in a row that they won. They beat out big developers in Toronto.

It does not seem like they are slowing down in building highrise towers in London either. They are building at 22 storey building on Ridout, have acquired land for a tower downtown and have other projects in the suburbs. I am not a fan of their cookie cutter style, but they have better design than some others in town (but that's not saying much).

[Rosso Corsa]

Toured there last fall, as well as Renaissance and harriston. They have larger floor plans than Renaissance and harriston and a better price point, but lower quality. Definitely not "luxury" as the ads may state. Good location, although the harriston and Renaissance are better - closer to RR, bud gardens, market, are in the law district, and near lots of great new pubs and restaurants, much better quality units and better tenants, cleaner, safer, you get the idea. if you're a car guy though, one positive of city plaza is parking... City plaza and Renaissance are easy to get extra spots, whereas harriston is strictly 1 spot per unit.

Overall I got the impression things weren't well managed at city plaza as building mgmt turned over several times in the short time I was looking there, and common areas seemed dingy and unkempt. Worth noting city plaza is Drewlo, NOT Tricar, which may explain what John was saying. Renaissance is Tricar and harriston is terracorp. In summary, ended up at Harriston, been there over a year, and never regretted it. Can't beat rooftop patio in the summer overlooking labatt park!

[GreatTallNorth2]

^Whoops! My bad, yes, it is Tricar that got the award, not Drewlo.

[Blitz]

One of the buildings has had a high turnover of supers but the other building has had the same super for over 5 years. They installed more security cameras in the garage after the break-ins but there's not much more they can do...there are bums and weirdos in this neighbourhood, it comes with the territory. I never use the gym but the other common areas are very well kept. It's not as luxurious as the Renaissance but it's definitely better than 90% of the apartment buildings in London.