Artist’s rendering of Queensbury Terrace condominiums
By Ian Harvey
Condominiums overlooking Lake Ontario and the Hunt Club go on sale this weekend with the opening of the sales office at the old site of Nick’s Auto at Queensbury Ave and Kingston Road.
Squeezed into the small site, the six-storey, 17 unit project is being developed by Gear Development Group which has already built three other homes on Queensbury, at 2, 6A and 6B.
Nick’s Auto, a long time fixture which specialized in Volkswagens for 30 years, has been remade and styled as a sales pavilion which opens Saturday with Ward 36 Councillor Gary Crawford in attendance.
Alan Gear says his own connection to the property goes back to the 1970s when it was E&W Motors.
“Eugene Frick and Wolfgang owned and ran it and Eugene’s son Karl when to work for him as an apprentice when he was 16,” he said. “Karl married my sister and Wolfgang was killed in a car accident in 1980. Nick was a tenant there and ran it.”
New homes at #’s 2, 6A and 6B Queensbury
Had to buy houses next door too
After a couple of attempts to sell the lot fell through Gear bought it two years ago and work with Scarborough planning to redevelop it.
“The first planner wanted to straighten out the lot line at the back which was on a strange angle,” he said. “So I had to buy the house behind it and it was a semi-detached so I had to buy both.”
Gear has put three contemporary homes on that lot but as it turned out, the next planner he dealt with wasn’t concerned about the lot line at 1340 Kingston Road.
“So I bought those houses for nothing,” he laughs. “But the city was great and very supportive.”
Queensbury Terrace will have views of the Hunt Club and Lake Ontario
Condos start at $449,000
There will be nine units overlooking the golf course and eight units on the north side starting at 700 sq ft and ranging to an 1,800 sq. ft. penthouse with a rooftop patio option. Prices start at $449,000 and the penthouse has not yet been priced.
“This site boasts clear views of The Toronto Hunt golf course clear to Lake Ontario,” said Andrew Kinnaird, sales representative of Royal LePage Estate Realty which is handling sales. “It is a boutique condo with only 17 units in total.”
He said one of the design details is a 45 degree slope of the façade to have minimal impact to the homes on Queensbury. The main floor will be commercial space and there will be underground parking accessed from Queensbury.
Queensbury Terrace sales office opens on Saturday
Showroom opening Saturday
He said the showroom, still under construction, will have samples of the interior finishes and upgrade options which include engineered hardwood floors, stone counter tops, imported ceramic tiles and other options.
“There’s also a staircase built inside the showroom for customers to get to the second floor and see the views,” he said.
Construction will be done by Wilkinson Construction, said Kinnaird, noting the company has managed the building of more than 30 high-rise projects of more than 3,800 suites.
Ward 36 Councillor Gary Crawford said he’s “very pleased with these plans and support any efforts to revitalize Kingston Road.”
“There have been a number of proposals for development in Birchliff and into Cliffside, and if approved, it will attract new residents to the area, increase economic productivity for local business and put Kingston Road on the map as a lively community in the city,” he said.
