Shoddy construction threatens Toronto condo boom

Glass paneling has recently fallen from more than a dozen new buildings

Shangri-La Hotel from University Avenue and Adelaide Street in Toronto
Shangri-La Hotel from University Avenue and Adelaide Street in Toronto

Toronto is seeing an unprecedented development boom with more than 100,000 units under construction. But some worry that shoddy construction could turn the luxury condo towers of today into the slums of tomorrow.

Glass paneling has fallen from a dozen or more newly-built Toronto condos, including the luxury Shangri-La and Trump towers, according to the Financial Post. The new buildings are suffering from water leaks and poor insulation, experts say.

“Many buildings that went up during the beginning of this condo boom are already facing high repair costs and in many cases lawsuits, because they are built so shabbily,” Ted Kesik, a professor of building science at the University of Toronto, said. “The life cycle is clear. They are okay for the first five years, they gradually deteriorate by year 10 … and don’t even reach year 20 before significant remedial work needs to be done. In 50 years these buildings may well become an urban slum.”

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Nevertheless, condo prices in Toronto are up 25.7 percent and the city’s rental vacancy rate is just 1.8 percent. [Financial Post] Christopher Cameron