Jonah Letovsky

What Toronto, Vancouver, and other major cities need now is a large-scale building boom of affordable rental housing for low and middle-income earners. Neither the public nor the private sector is delivering that right now, and no existing non-profits have the capacity.

@HestiaTobacco having a hard time ordering from you guys outside of the US. Can you deliver to Canada or the UK?

@alexbozikovic omg

Ledbury Park, Toronto, designed by Shim-Sutcliffe Architects. 1997/2024 - after $2.368-million in renovations.

@donnelly_b @ArabiaBianca Nice choice.

❤️

Sen̓áḵw is one of the most impactful housing projects in Canada. It’s a partnership led by the Squamish First Nation, which is doing incredible work to develop their land for housing. The project includes more than 6,000 new homes in Vancouver!

@alexbozikovic So offensive to the site’s indigenous history

Initial vision for "McCleary District" in the Toronto port lands. More tower-and-podium, wide streets, designs by the usual suspects. waterfrontoronto.ca/sites/default/…

BREAKING... Vancouver City Council has unanimously approved the Indigenous-owned Jericho Lands project. 13,000 homes, 750,000 sf of office, hotel, retail, restaurant, and cultural uses, and more. Anchored by the future UBC #SkyTrain. #TOD #vanpoli #vanre dailyhive.com/vancouver/jeri…

In architecture, less is more. A concept proven time and time again by the very talented David Chipperfield 🤩

Exciting news: today we are announcing that Markee Developments and Collecdev are merging to expedite our mission to deliver high-quality housing at scale across the GTHA. I am thrilled and humbled to take on the role of CEO of this new entity, with over 7600 homes in the development pipeline...and more to come! For Markee, this moves us into the next stage of our company - construction! We will now drive forward our projects with the award-winning Collecdev teams. At Collecdev-Markee, we believe in the opportunity to transform access to exceptional housing in Toronto and Hamilton through the design of sustainable homes in transit-oriented communities. We will continue to prioritize access to affordable housing! Below left - Tyndale Green...shovels in the ground 2024! Below left - Nordic...next phase of occupancy 2024. Stay tuned....

@JShamess I don’t think this is ideal for any builder, even those with loads of cash on hand. They’re just doing it where they a) can, and b) are afraid that they won’t be able to resell defaulted units at a decent price today.

Developers are becoming banks. One of the largest developer builders is now holding over $100 million in mortgages for new home buyers and growing. Effectively on the closing of new homes the builder is holding the mortgage. So it’s kind of like a VTB (Vendor take back mortgage) Because of the mortgage stress rules and high rates, buyers still want to close and live in their homes but banks are unwilling to qualify the mortgages. Ironically, this may force developers into holding cash flowing assets which is an annuity for when better conditions in the market. The difficulty in this trend is that smaller builders will not be able to do the same process given the profits are needed to continue paying liabilities, employees and land debt.

Here comes the contemporary "Vancouver Special." 🏘 To support legislation for up to 6 units on single-family lots, BC government is creating standardized design templates for small homes on such lots. Up to 10 templates. #bcpoli #vanpoli #vanre dailyhive.com/vancouver/bc-g…

@AlexDRMather Automate enforcement and send drivers $150 tickets.

The problem is cars.

My hot take (as someone who has done quite a bit of both facade retention and in-situ retention): most buildings are not deserving of conservation, but those that are conserved should mostly be left as they are, with existing structure, without a new tower on top...

@TalktoARYZE Gotta get in on that

@jonahletovsky Yessir! Totally amazing group of people

The office space inside is so unique, never seen anything like it 🤩

@moseskagan Oh dear. This is very sad, but this is not on you. Depression is so subtle.

Want to add that I really fucked up here. We texted yesterday, he told me he was in a dark place and I offered help but didn't follow up aggressively. Going to carry that one for the rest of my life. If you're in a dark place PLS REACH OUT to people who love you or, if you don't have anyone, to me.

@moore_oliver Do people not need to sit in the winter?

Just got word that the furniture at Love Park is being put away for winter. They did a count and found none missing. Zero. So much for the internet experts who predicted they'd all get stolen

ICYMI, Toronto’s newest park opened yesterday with a feature still rare in Canada: moveable furniture. So what, you think? Well, untethered chairs are both a tool of autonomy and a symbol of trust in the civic commons. I wrote recently about the philosophy theglobeandmail.com/canada/article…

Calling for a “ceasefire” after a massive terrorist pogrom is not progressive and is an embarrassing suggestion from the leader of the NDP.

@shawnmicallef @SpacingStore A great resource, I cited it extensively for my masters thesis.

This afternoon, we made an announcement to our members about CSI’s strategic vision going forward. CSI has made the decision to consolidate our strength and our operations into one building, and we will be putting 720 Bathurst Street on the market. [1/3]

@TalktoARYZE Quite something. Couldn’t quite believe these were photos, not renders

Daaaaaayyyyuuuuummmm Mass timber facade goals!!!!