Video Interview – TalkCondo Discuss Lighthouse East Tower with Dominic Tompa
- Roy Bhandari from TalkCondo interviews Dominic Tompa (Broker of Record of City Life Realty, a subsidiary of Daniels) ahead of the VIP Launch of Lighthouse Condos East Tower
- Tompa highlights how Daniels specialize in building communities and have been an important part of developing key neighbourhoods in Toronto, including the Entertainment District and Regent Park
- How Daniels are using their expertise to turn East Bayfront into one of the most sought after communities in Toronto
- Tompa highlights the importance of retail and commercial space in developing a new community and how a 100,000 sq.ft. George Brown campus in Daniels Waterfront will have a huge positive impact on the condos
- Discussion on the incredible views, amenities and suite designs that will be available at Lighthouse East
- Why new investors should consider Lighthouse East
- How to get first access to Lighthouse Condos East Tower with TalkCondo
Get VIP Access for Lighthouse East Tower
Transcript:
Roy Bhandari: Good morning everybody. Today we are at the incredible sales office for the brand new Daniels Waterfront – The Lighthouse Condominiums. Today we’re joined by Dominic Tompa, who is the Broker of Record of City Life Realty, which is a subsidiary of the Daniels Corporation.
Thank you, Dominic, for joining us today.
Dominic Tompa: Well, thank you. It’s a real pleasure to have you here today.
Roy Bhandari: We’re going to talk a lot about … Today about the Lighthouse Condominium, but [00:00:30] I want to start by talking about yourself. You been in the business a long time. We love learning from people who have been in the business a long time. Give us a quick overview of who Dominic Tompa is and how you started and how you got to where you are today?
Dominic Tompa: Certainly, so it has been a long journey. Started back in 1984, so it’s been over-
Roy Bhandari: Do the math.
Dominic Tompa: Just over 33 years, I believe in the industry. I started specializing in condominiums in the early 90s and started working with the Daniels Corporation [00:01:00] in early 2000 and was involved with some of their very unique programs, [inaudible 00:01:05] rental owned it at the Chelsea back at the NY Towers community.
Roy Bhandari: Yep.
Dominic Tompa: Where we revitalized the entire area of Bayview and Sheppard and grew it from there. Now, with City Life Realty it’s an in-house brokerage that takes care of all of the high rise communities for the Daniels Corporation.
Roy Bhandari: Excellent. Obviously, Daniels always … Whenever we talk about top builders [00:01:30] in the city, Daniels we’ll always mentioned in that group and for right reasons. What we personally love about the Daniels group is that whenever they go into a community or they build a condominium they realize it’s so much … About so much more than just building a condominium. We’ve got countless examples, but a couple that I want to hit on are, number one, Festival Tower in the entertainment district. We see Festival Tower as probably the catalyst for that entire neighbourhood, which today is probably one of the most [00:02:00] popular neighbourhoods in Toronto.
Even when we sell condominiums to this day [in that neighbourhood], we tell clients the proximity to Festival Tower and it’s because of how they brought the Festival in and the best restaurants in the area. It’s about much more than just the condominium there.
Obviously, Regent Park, the biggest revitalization in North America and the analogy we would like to say is you guys took a Ford Pinto and turned it into a Mercedes Benz. You didn’t do that by throwing a … Paint of coat on it, you changed the engine [00:02:30] and you did all the nuts and bolts.
Talk to us a little bit about Daniels and how that side of it, the community building side.
Dominic Tompa: Absolutely. Well, first of all you mentioned that we’re known as one of the top builders. One of the things we’re very proud of is the feedback we’ve gotten from people who’ve actually purchased from Daniels and Daniels was a 2016 High Rise Builder of the Year winner through Tarion. Why we’re so proud of that is because … I [00:03:00] mean, sometimes we refer to it as a People’s Choice Awards, because Tarion’s award is not an industry award, so much as it’s the feedback from people who are responding to their … To Tarion about the experience they’ve had with their developer. Everything from sales to construction to after move in service. It’s something we’re proud of because it’s a real focus for us. Right from the moment someone walks into one of our presentation centres until they move into [00:03:30] our community. We really focus on a high level of service and that’s really why over the 33 years that the Daniels Corporation has been in business we’ve really established such a high level of our reputation and customers who come back to us, community to community.
In terms of what we build, you’re absolutely right. We don’t look at just building a condominium, we try to build a community. I don’t think there is anyone in this industry who does master planning better [00:04:00] than the Daniels Corporation. We have the talent, the experience, and we look at a community …
We’ll look at a community that we think is under utilized and take that community and really study it to understand what the community needs to thrive and to grow. You mentioned Festival Tower and that’s a great example of how we went in there and really changed the face of the Entertainment District when we built Festival Tower and then the twin building this … The Cinema Tower right after [00:04:30] that.
Regent Park, you mentioned it’s the largest redevelopment of the city core. It’s a 69-acre piece of land that’s in the downtown east, which was really so underdeveloped and we’ve gone in there and we’ve completely remade that community. So, we took a community where there was no retail, no commercial, very little in amenities and completely changed what was there. We changed everything from the way the streets ran, to putting in shopping, putting [00:05:00] in a grocery store, putting in a bank, putting in restaurants, a new park. That’s a type of redevelopment where we’re really become famous for and we’re doing the same here down in the Waterfront, which is part of the overall … The Waterfront Community here with the East Bayfront re-develops 55-acres of the Waterfront that’s being redeveloped all the way from Jarvis across Parliament.
That includes everything from residential to retail to office space to recreation. [00:05:30] One kilometer non-stop boardwalk along the Waterfront. This is a community that’s going through a tremendous amount of revitalization and then within this community Daniels Waterfront City of the Arts is kind of leading the way in this … A mixed use community. Here at Daniels Waterfront City of the Arts … They’ll be 1.32 millions square feet of residential, of retail, of office, of learning space. You can [00:06:00] live, work, play, and learn in this community.
Roy Bhandari: I think there’s a lot to unpack there and … I want to talk about East Bayfront, because, again, it’s an area that we feel very passionate about and it’s one of our favorite projects in Toronto right now. It’s Waterfront done right in downtown Toronto, which is … I think very important. It’s a huge part of land that meticulously planned. You’ve got public spaces. You mentioned the boardwalk, parks. There’s a huge emphasis [00:06:30] on retail at the ground level, so it becomes a very very walkable area. Again, you’ve got some of the best developers building out. You’ve got the commercial. You’ve got obviously [Cora’s 00:06:39] Headquarters coming in, the Daniels part of the Lighthouse project. There’s two commercial buildings. So, there’s going to be jobs. There’s going to be obviously residential and retail, as well. For us, it’s one of the best neighbourhoods that is being built. There’s got a lot of backing behind it.
Obviously, we want to focus here on Lighthouse. [00:07:00] Similar to Festival, what we’re seeing here is that … And correct me if I’m wrong, but it feels very much that this is going to be the Festival Tower of this neighbourhood where it’s the catalyst of everything happening and moving forward we’re going to say, “Proximity to Lighthouse,” or, “Proximity to their yard.”
Talk to us a little bit about what I feel is very very important here and that’s the yard and that’s the ground level retail that connects all four buildings.
Dominic Tompa: Right. First of all, [00:07:30] when you’re just talking about a proximity to us. We really are from just a geographic location within this revitalization. We’re really the gateway to this whole East Bayfront development. Because we’re right at the bottom of Jarvis, we’re very close to Union Station. All of the key parts of the downtown core are walking distance, but it is also kind of opens up with the rest of the expansion that’s going on through the East Bayfront.
People will kind of … This will be the marker [00:08:00] of the entry way to the East Bayfront. In terms of some of the key elements of what makes this special. You mentioned the yard. The other really important element to tie in the lakefront is the extension of Sugar Beach-
Roy Bhandari: We didn’t even mention Sugar Beach. Sugar Beach was another amazing [crosstalk 00:08:18].
Dominic Tompa: Everyone knows Sugar Beach and the iconic pink umbrellas that are on … Are along the waterfront. We’re extending Sugar Beach to Sugar Beach North. We’re using the same architect squad, Cormier and Associates, [00:08:30] so we have the same feel and design and we’re extending it north, so that’ll be another kind of meeting, gathering, entertainment space along the Westside of our development.
The art itself is a pedestrian walkway that connects Jarvis to Richardson streets. It’s between the office and retail space and the residential space. It’s a beautiful pedestrian walkway, which will be lying with retail with little shops and restaurants, so that if you’re living in the condominiums [00:09:00] you’ll just come down to the art and you’ll be able to go out for dinner, do some shopping. The whole concept behind this, of course, is that you don’t have to leave your community to whether it’s to work or whether it’s to … For entertainment. We’ve found with our office condominiums and many of people who have bought into the office condominiums have also bought suites in our residential at the Lighthouse for that very reason.
Roy Bhandari: Excellent. Let’s just up one level, from the ground level to the amenities. [00:09:30] Sorry, the office space I want to focus on, because obviously there was a big announcement recently that George Brown will be taking space at the bottom of Lighthouse Tower. Everybody’s very excited about that. I think it’s a huge plus for the building, but maybe you want to expand on that a little bit.
Dominic Tompa: We’re so excited to have them coming in. George Brown is going to be taking over 100,000 square feet and 133 QQE, which is the … The two office towers. They’ll be taking the entire second [00:10:00] and third floor and putting in their school of design. They’ll have approximately 1800 students in that space, about 300 faculty members.
We also have in our office space OCAD University is taking space in their colleges in Tario.
Artscape is putting their head office into this space, as well. You can see there’s a lot of the educational component to the office community. We have so much confidence [00:10:30] in this community that Daniels is moving our head office too on 3QQE, so we love this community and we’re going to part of it for a very long time.
Roy Bhandari: Excellent, I think that’s amazing. Let’s jump to the tower, the residential. Obviously, the West Tower, huge success launched and is virtually sold out to this point.
Dominic Tompa: It is actually sold out.
Roy Bhandari: It is a hundred percent sold out?
Dominic Tompa: I believe we have one suite remaining.
Roy Bhandari: Okay, virtually sold then. That’s excellent. So, one suite remaining. The next [00:11:00] launch will be the East Tower.
Dominic Tompa: Yes. East Tower is launching very shortly. It’s a 36-story tower, approximately just over 400 suites. Everything ranging from studios to two-plus decks.
Roy Bhandari: Excellent. One of the things that people get very excited about, especially at the Waterfront is the views. I think what’s great about this vantage point is that not only looking south towards the water you’re going to get stunning views, but pretty much every which way that you go. You look northwest and you’re going to get the financial district, the skyline, [00:11:30] which is my personal favourite view. I’m very much a high rise guy. I look east and you’re going to overlook the entire East Bayfront redevelopment. No matter which way you look you’re going to get amazing views.
Dominic Tompa: You’re absolutely right. You’ve brought up a really great point, because like yourself I’m actually partial to the city views, although the lake views are spectacular. No doubt about it, but I love the look of the city at night time with all of the lights and the views north and west across to the city are spectacular. Of course, you’ll have wonderful lake views [00:12:00] across the lake, but that’s … There isn’t a bad view here.
Roy Bhandari: Hundred percent, I agree. Amenities, talk to me briefly about the amenities in Lighthouse.
Dominic Tompa: Again, when we do amenities we really try to focus on creating amenities that will get used a lot. They’ll have the typical 24-hour concierge, which you … Most buyers would expect in a building of this quality. You’ll have two guest suites. You’re going to be sharing [00:12:30] the outdoor amenities on the third floor with Lighthouse Tower West. So, you’re going to have access to a tennis court, basketball court, hibachi. We’re putting an Xtreme Fitness gym in here, so get rid of the gym membership, because this gym will be it. Even if you’re serious into fitness. This gym will be what you’re looking for. A wonderful party room, a nice outdoor amenities with barbecues with lots of garden plots for those who have a green thumb and live in a condominium, [00:13:00] which is [crosstalk 00:13:00].
Roy Bhandari: We’re seeing an increase in demand for that.
Dominic Tompa: We are. Daniels really was a pioneer in this in urban agriculture and … A number of years ago we started to try to introduce urban agriculture in all our condominiums and we just saw this bloom over the years and the [inaudible 00:13:19] bloom. We really saw just how much interest there was in being able to go out there and grow your own vegetables and how it brought [00:13:30] the community together was really nice. That will be in this building, as well.
Roy Bhandari: Excellent. One of the questions we always like to ask. We have a lot of first time investors, people looking to get their feet wet. What advice would you have for that buyer who’s looking at all the projects, but if they … Why would they look at this project over anything else?
Dominic Tompa: Well, for an investor I think there’s two factors you’re looking at is, what is the long-term appreciation opportunity here? Then, [00:14:00] what is your rental opportunity? When you think about the fact that we’re creating this master plan community that is going to create a lot of jobs. So many people living here. The George Brown College with 1800 students who are going to be … Need to be down here. The rental opportunity is incredible and then when you look at the long-term viability of appreciation while you’re buying relatively at the ground floor of this whole East Bayfront revitalization about over the next [00:14:30] 10 years you’re going to see the entire East Bayfront change. Buying at the ground floor when a community is undergoing this level of change is always a very smart investment.
Roy Bhandari: Absolutely. We agree. Is there anything I didn’t ask that you wished I asked?
Dominic Tompa: Well, we’re going on sale very shortly, so anyone who is interested now is going to be the time. Just judging by what the West Tower was like was huge and we sold most of the building right on [00:15:00] opening day, so the key is really is to be out there and be prepared right at the start when we launch.
Roy Bhandari: How do they do that? Who do they contact?
Dominic Tompa: They contact yourself.
Roy Bhandari: Thank you, Dominic.
Dominic Tompa: Daniels and … We’ve had a very long relationship with you. We have a lot of confidence in the way you do business and with your honesty and integrity you’ve always served your clients very well, which is [crosstalk 00:15:24] we appreciate. They’d be very well served by coming through you and [00:15:30] coming down to the Daniels Waterfront.
Roy Bhandari: Thank you very much, Dominic. Thank you for your time this morning.
Dominic Tompa: You’re very welcome.
Roy Bhandari: Thank you.
