Let's say you sat down for dinner one night with friends and one of them who knew something about real estate mused about getting into condo development. "I'd like to build a condo. What do you think it would take?" UrbanToronto readers would have an idea of some of the complexities, but would you be wondering about the whole process yourself? Even for people who are experienced house builders, getting into the condo market is a daunting challenge. With land becoming more scarce for detached dwellings, many house builders are asking themselves the same thing, "what does it take?"

A few weeks ago 800 people gathered in Vaughan for a Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) and Ontario Home Builders' Association (OHBA)-hosted seminar to answer just that question. Titled Condo: Start to Finish, attendees were provided with an introduction to all aspects of the condo development process. 

Crowd gathered at BILD and OHBA seminar Condo: Start to Finish, image courtesy of Edward Skira

BILD and OHBA last hosted a similar seminar in 2005, and since that time the industry has gone through a massive change. Nine years ago the breakdown of low-rise versus high-rise development in the GTA was 70% low-rise and 30% high-rise, now it’s the reverse due to Ontario's greenbelt protection legislation and the Places to Grow Act which calls for the intensification of our cities. House builders are having to think about larger, much more complex buildings if they are to stay and grow in the development industry.

Nine panelists tackled the entire process, breaking it down from conception to a completed, delivered building, and a legacy for the developer. The panel members were Carlos Antunes, Architect at Kirkor Architects & Planners; Leona Savoie, Planning and Approvals at Hullmark Developments Ltd.; Tasso Eracles, Property Management at Firstservice Residential; Anthony Romanelli, Lawyer at Brattys LLP; Sasa Krcmar, Surveyor at Krcmar Surveyors Ltd.; Peter Leong, Engineer at WSP; Niall Finnegan, Cost Consultant from Finnegan Marshall Inc.; Tammy A. Evans, Lawyer at Blaney McMurtry LLP; and Harry Herskowitz, Lawyer at DelZotto, Zorzi LLP.

Panel of industry leaders, image courtesy of Edward Skira

The process was broken down into seven stages. In order, they are;

  1. Project Design & Pre-development
  2. Marketing & Sales
  3. Urban Construction
  4. Planning & Legal Compliance
  5. Condo Pre-registration & Occupancy
  6. Condo Registration
  7. Condo Post-Registration

Underlined more than anything at the event was that for the successful development of a condominium, a company must have a team of people who know their role inside and out, and who can anticipate all the potential hurdles that may present themselves in the process. Having team members who understand everything from planning regulations, to design, to legal contracts, to costs control, to being marketing savvy is essential.

Like in any area of endeavour, experience makes all the difference, but you have to start somewhere, and for 800 more interested individuals, Condo: Start to Finish provided a foundation upon which to build.