Cabbagetown

Cabbagetown The most dynamic neighborhood in Toronto! HISTORY:

The area today known as Cabbagetown was first known as the village of Don Vale, just outside of Toronto.

It grew up in the 1840s around the Winchester Street Bridge, which before the construction of the Prince Edward Viaduct was the main northern bridge over the Don River.[1] This was near the site where Castle Frank Brook flowed in the Don River. By the bridge the Don Vale Tavern and Fox's Inn were established to cater to travellers.[2] In 1850 the Toronto Necropolis was established in the area as t

he city's main cemetery. In the late 19th century the area was absorbed into the city as it became home to the working class Irish inhabitants who were employed in the industries along the lakeshore to the south in Corktown. Brick Victorian style houses were built throughout the area. The name Cabbagetown came from stories of new Irish immigrants digging up their front lawns and planting cabbage, as had been done during the years of the Irish Potato Famine. In this era the Cabbagetown name most often applied to the area south of Gerrard Street, with the part to the north still being called Don Vale. It was a working class neighbourhood, but reached its peak of prosperity just before the First World War, which is when many of the brick homes in the area date from. After the war the area became increasingly impoverished. It became known as one of Toronto's largest slums and much of the original Cabbagetown was razed in the late 1940s to make room for the Regent Park housing project. The remaining section to the north, then still known as Don Vale, was also slated for to be cleared and replaced by housing projects. In 1964 a Toronto Star writer wrote that "Cabbagetown has become a downhill ride and if you're on way up, you don't dare stay there for long unless you live in Regent Park."[3]
The construction of new housing projects was halted in the 1970s that saw the rise of the reform movement that opposed such sweeping plans. In Don Mount this effort was led by Karl Jaffary, who was elected to city council in the 1969 municipal election along with a group of like minded councillors who soon ended the urban renewal plans. John Sewell led the effort to preserve Trefann Court, that covered the southern section of the original Cabbagetown. Source
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabbagetown_(Toronto)

05/29/2026

Carney confirmed it this week — Ontario development charges cut up to 50% for three years, with $4.4B each from federal and provincial governments backstopping the revenue gap for municipalities. That's potentially $200,000 off project costs per unit. The GST/HST removal on new residential construction is already in effect. For rental investors, the question isn't whether this policy helps — it does. The question is whether it's enough to restart a development pipeline that's been frozen by soft demand, high construction costs, and zero new condo launches in Q1. Carney himself named the risk: pause supply long enough, and the next demand cycle will be brutal on affordability. B.C. is watching. So should you.

05/29/2026

Durham Region just approved a plan to add 72,000 people to northeast Pickering — 16,000 acres of farmland, 25-year horizon, 5-2 council vote. For rental investors watching secondary market corridors, this is a long-range demand signal worth tracking. But the bear case is real: Seaton, the last Pickering greenfield project, is still 60-70% unbuilt. No fiscal impact study was completed before approval. And the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation has not signed an MOU — a legal and political risk that doesn't go away quietly. Long-horizon land plays in Durham just got more interesting. They also got more complicated.

05/27/2026

KCW posted 855 housing starts in April — up 235% year-over-year. Multi-unit alone jumped 260%. To be straight about it: a number this large almost always reflects a small number of large projects landing in the same month, not a broad market surge. But zoom out — KCW is up 92% year-to-date. That's not statistical noise. Tech corridor, university anchors, relative GTA affordability, and a rental market that was still posting positive rent growth while most of Ontario went negative. Institutional capital has been watching this market for two years. These starts suggest some of it is finally moving.

05/27/2026

Hamilton posted just 27 housing starts in April. Down 86% year-over-year. One month of volatile data in a market that moves project by project — but the direction matters. Hamilton was Ontario's strongest rent growth market heading into 2026. When starts dry up this sharply, supply tightens, and that eventually shows up in rents. If you're underwriting Hamilton acquisitions right now, the supply side is quietly working in your favour.

05/26/2026

Starting June 15, every Toronto apartment building gets a public maintenance rating — green, yellow, or red — posted at the front door.

Green: 85%+ on city maintenance standards. Yellow: 70–84%. Red: below 70% — and two months in red triggers city audits.

The part landlords need to understand: you're now required to disclose your rating to prospective tenants before a lease is signed. A red building isn't just a compliance problem. It's a leasing problem. That hits vacancy, achievable rents, and valuation.

If you're underwriting a Toronto acquisition, the RentSafeTO score belongs in your due diligence checklist alongside the rent roll and LTB history.

73 bylaw officers funded in the 2026 budget. This program has resources behind it.

05/23/2026

Jesta Group — a Montreal family office with four decades across New York, London, Paris and Miami — just made their first Toronto move. $30M bulk condo acquisition, targeting 1,000 units over 12 months, up to $500M total.

The data behind the bet: 4,295 completed unsold condos in Q1 2026. Double last year. Five times 2024 levels. Zero new GTHA project launches this quarter — first time in decades.

Strategy: buy at discount, rent to service debt, exit when supply normalizes in 3-5 years. The HST rebate adds a 13% cost advantage with a 12-month window.

The risk they name themselves: prolonged immigration suppression delays absorption and pushes the recovery thesis past the exit horizon.

Institutional money reads supply gaps before retail does. Worth watching how this plays out.

05/23/2026

A 72-unit Parkdale building just sold for $15.5M — $215K per door — while tenants were actively withholding rent over an above-guideline increase application.

The new buyer inherited the dispute. The AGI application, the LTB eviction proceedings, the tenant organizing — all of it transfers with the deed.

For Ontario multifamily buyers, this is a due diligence reminder. Active LTB applications, pending AGI filings, and tenant disputes need to be surfaced before closing — not discovered after.

One more flag worth noting: the mortgage on this deal was $15.8M on a $15.5M purchase. That's financing above the purchase price. The article doesn't explain it — but it's worth asking the question.

AGIs are a legitimate tool. Poorly timed, poorly communicated, and applied to a building with deferred maintenance — they become an operational and legal liability.

05/22/2026

April CPI: 2.8% headline. Below the 3.1% forecast. Strip out gasoline and inflation actually decelerated to 2.0%.

RBC Economics and CIBC Economics both published today. Both reach the same conclusion: core inflation is not the problem. CIBC’s four-measure core average dipped below 2% year over year — first time since March 2021.

Bank of Canada overnight rate: 2.25%. Both firms see it holding there through the end of 2026.

One flag for summer: air fares and transportation costs will push core readings higher seasonally. That’s a timing effect, not a trend. Don’t misread it as inflation reigniting.

For multifamily investors: the financing cost floor is set. Underwrite to today’s rate environment. The rate relief thesis has a timeline — and this data doesn’t accelerate it.

05/22/2026

The condo market is at a 35-year sales low. Meanwhile DBS Developments' luxury purpose-built rental in Forest Hill is more than 90% stabilized.

The gap between distressed and performing product in Toronto's multifamily market has never been wider. Location, finish quality, and operator sophistication are separating winners from everything else.

A few signals worth watching from this week's RENX GTHA panel coverage:

DBS 2Fifteen — luxury PBR working in Forest Hill at 90%+ occupancy. The product differentiation thesis is proving out.

Rosehaven's Rebecca Residences in Hamilton — $1,000/month deposit structure over 48 months. Creative financing to restart pre-sales when traditional deposit models aren't working.

Greybrook citing Toronto's UHNWI growth as the demand driver behind a $30M+ sub-penthouse sale at One Thirty Eight Yorkville. Compelling thesis — but it's coming from a developer with direct financial interest. Weight accordingly.

The foreign buyer ban continues to show up as a concrete drag on upper-end sales. Jan 1, 2027 expiry worth watching.

05/21/2026

GTA condo starts down 88% from 2022 to 2025. A project launching today doesn't deliver until 2032.

The oversupply is real and it's hitting rents right now. But the supply crunch of the early 2030s is already being built into the pipeline — or more accurately, not built.

When completions fall from 30,000 to potentially below 3,000 annually, existing multifamily and purpose-built rental look very different to investors.

The question isn't whether the crunch is coming. It's whether you're positioned before the market prices it in.

Part II of this RENX series drops May 20 — watching closely.

05/20/2026

Ontario broke ground today on the Bradford Bypass — and if you’re watching secondary market multifamily in York Region and Simcoe County, this matters.

35-minute reduction in commute times. Interchanges at Highway 400 and 404. York Region projected at 1.8 million people by 2041.

Infrastructure moves demand before the market prices it in. The question is whether land in that corridor already reflects the upside — or whether the repricing is still ahead.

Worth watching closely over the next 24 months.

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