Things are Looking Up!

This past Saturday saw the official groundbreaking of Backstage on The Esplanade in the heart of downtown Toronto and on-hand to witness the unveiling were a select group including many of our purchasers.

Partners and Purchasers pose for a photo on site.

The overcast day did nothing to spoil what is a great landmark for any project and The Living Room Condo Store, just a short walk away from the Backstage site, was HQ for the afternoon.

The Partners pose for a photo inside The Loving Room Condo Store

Alfredo Romano of Castlepoint Realty and Hunter Milborne of Milborne Real Estate spoke to attendees on the great success Backstage has had, the great state that the Toronto Condo Market is in and the very bright future that lies ahead for the city.

Breaking Ground!

A very special thanks to all of our purchasers who came down to help celebrate this occasion with us. Expect a lot of action on site over the next few months and as always, the Official Cityzen Developments Blog will have all of the latest information and updates so keep following!

A treat for our guests

Backstage on The Esplanade has a select number of units available. Contact The Living Room Condo Store on 416.777.2533 or visit our sales centre at 22 Scott Street to find out more.

As always, keep following us on Facebook and Twitter to be kept in the loop on all things Cityzen!

Virtual Broker winners pose with their prizes at our sales centre

The Virtual Broker program has officially drawn to a close and the last of the big winners came by our sales centre last weekend to collect their spoils.

There was a familial feel to our meet and greet this time around with winner Avery being the brother of previous winner Miriam.

“I’m the one who got Miriam into it! I asked her to help me out with it but when she found out more about it she wanted to do it herself”, he said.

Avery said that it took him only about a week or so to get up to 55 registrants, but the last 20 took a bit longer and he had to be persistent. When we asked what he was going to do with his $500 Eaton Centre voucher, he said that he was going to save it for a while and think about what to get.

His girlfriend and fellow winner Ronza had a different plan.

“I’m not too sure what I’m going to spend it on, but I know I’m going there today to get some food for sure! I’ve never had Mr. Greenjeans so I might try that out. I’m also going to get some presents”.

Ronza also got very excited when we told her that Baton Rouge was part of the Eaton centre!

Being the dutiful boyfriend that he is, Avery said he might use some of the money to buy Ronza a gift.

“I initially told Ronza that if she helped me out with registering I’d give her some of my winnings. Like with my sister, once she found out about it, she wanted to do it herself! I still might buy her something though!”.

Many thanks to Avery, Ronza, and all of our particpants for helping to make the Virtual Broker program a great success!

Backstage is opening to the public very soon, for more information click here.

Aerial View of the Backstage Site

Earlier this week, we caught up with some of the partners of Backstage on the Esplanade.

We got a valuable insight into the life of Backstage so far, details on its downtown Toronto location, what’s going on with the PATH connection, and more.

Here’s what they had to say about the proximity to the train tracks……

“The south side of Backstage on the Esplanade is alongside the railway corridor, but residents will find it quieter than living on most downtown streets.

In fact, residential units on this side of the building start on floor 7, 80 feet above the rail lines. Conclusive studies have shown that the amount of noise constant generated by the trains is less than the noise on an average main city street.

Backstage is also one short block away from Union Station where trains must enter by law at very low speeds, further diminishing the noise impact on residents.

Nevertheless, rigorous noise, vibration and air quality standards have been built into Backstage on the Esplanade.

Several features have been implemented to reduce noise in the building, including:

• Higher sound transmission class (STC) ratings are required for all glazing of windows that face the train tracks

• Our Designers have placed balconies turned on the southeast and southwest corners of the building to limit the impact even in outdoor living areas of Backstage”.

On the impact to the tracks themselves……..

“There have been questions about possible modifications to the tracks themselves.

There will be no change to the existing tracks to the South, but again all residential units on the south side are 80 ft. (the equivalent of 8 stories) above the tracks”.

Information on the site, design and the PATH connection……..

“We settled on the final site for Backstage after years of consultation with city officials and neighbours.

The location, layout and design of the point tower were all devised to accommodate the required setback from 25 The Esplanade.

The site has also been designed to allow for a PATH connection: To the west, from Backstage to Union, as well as to the east.

The Backstage Developers will be building the PATH connection along the entire stretch of its property and is working closely with the City to build the PATH across the bridge at Yonge St., ultimately connecting to the Go Terminal property and Union Station.

Neighbours, city planners and councillors are overwhelmingly in support of this new PATH extension. City councillor Pam McConnell has championed an extension and hopes to eventually see the PATH stretch from Union Station to the St. Lawrence Market.

Now is the time to make this happen!”

Many thanks to John O’Keefe and Alfredo Romano for taking the time to give us this valuable insight into Backstage.

We are happy to announce that the date for our Backstage Preview Event has been set.

February 12th will be the first chance for our registrants to be among the first to take a look around our state-of-the-art sales centre and pick suites before the general public.

Viewing is by appointment only so to be in with the chance to get the prime suites, call our Living Room Condo Store at 416.777.2533. Space is limited, so hurry to avoid disappointment.

With the official opening of Backstage at One The Esplanade coming soon, the Virtual Broker program is drawing to a close.

Virtual Brokers will have until February 10th to join the likes of Kazammo, NewBee, Yoyok, Ziggy, Ronzaaa and many more as major prize winners – so act fast, get referrals and win before time is up!

And remember, if someone on your refferal list is interested in purchasing, refer them to us and you can claim your $2,500 even after the contest closes.

For more information and to keep in the loop please click here.

Congratulations go to Zeeshan Malik (pictured above in Backstage’s sales centre) who is the latest big winner in our Virtual Broker program.

Zeeshan reached the magic mark of 75 registrants which means that he gets the full prize package of movie passes for two, a $50 iTunes gift voucher, a $500 voucher for the Eaton Centre and a brand new iPad.

Now, if one of Zeeshan’s referrals buys a unit in Backstage, Zeeshan gets $2,500 in cash on top of the prizes he’s already received.

Not a bad way to start the new year!

Stay tuned to our blog to find out all the latest news on Backstage and all of our other projects.

A busy week is finally behind us but that doesn’t mean that we can sit on our laurels.

To celebrate the completion of our brand new sales centre for Backstage on The Esplanade, our newest condo in the heart of downtown Toronto, we had several events throughout the week.

Today we wrapped a great week up with an event for members of the media to come by and check out what the project (and sales centre) is all about.

The social media wall showcases the latest happening on Backstage’s Facebook and Twitter feed as well as The Living Room Condo Store’s Foursquare activity

The interactive touchscreens showcase all of what Backstage has to offer

Backstage Sales Manager Scott Davie was on hand to act as MC for the afternoon and attendees got to hear from Cityzen Principal Sam Crignano and Alessandro Munge of Munge Leung about what makes Backstage special.

Scott addresses the crowd

Sam talks about how it was a team effort to get to where we are today

Alessandro discusses what sets Backstage apart

Guests were treated to some amazing food by Chef Toben Kochman of Toben Food by Design who also got an opportunity to address the guests and share his philosophy behind great food.

Some of the amazing creations that Chef Toben wowed the guests with

Sam getting some tips!

Blackjet’s Patrick going up for a second helping

We are now gearing up for our launch to the public and will have updates over the coming weeks, so watch this space!

Many thanks to Chef Toben and his team, and to all the members of the media who attended today’s event.

For all the latest on Backstage and our other projects, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

It’s been a long time coming, but the Backstage sales centre is ready to roll!

Located at the corner of Scott St. and The Esplanade right in the heart of the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, this state-of-the-art sales office boasts over a dozen interactive touchscreen monitors that showcase everything the building has to offer, and more!

All this week we’ve been hosting special events to celebrate the launch of the sales centre and drum up some buzz about the project. We are still in the early stages of our launch, and will be announcing dates of when we’ll be open to the public very shortly.

Dressed in white from top to bottom, the sales centre incorporates the latest technology to allow visitors to interact while they are here.

A virtual rendering of Backstage is located in a triangular block in the middle of the sales floor. Just swipe your fingers across one of the three screens to get a 360 degree view of the building.

‘Get social’ with our Social Media wall – see what’s going on on our Facebook and Twitter feeds, and sign in to Foursquare to check in.

If you’re interested in finding out more about Backstage at One The Esplanade you can register online or call us at 416.777.2533. Check back soon for details on when we’ll be open to the public.

Backstage at One The Esplanade has won a Silver award at the 2011 Nationals Awards for Best Integrated Marketing Campaign for our Name Our Condo initiative.

We here at Cityzen Developments, Castlepoint Realty and Fernbrook Homes are privileged to be amongst a plethora of Toronto real estate companies that have been honoured this year.

There is a distinct Canadian feel to the event being held in January, which is organised by the American National Association of Home Builders – goes to show that Toronto is definitely where it’s at when it comes to condos!

If you’ve been driving down Yonge to the highway recently you’ll have noticed a big red banner across the train tracks at Yonge and The Esplanade – ditto goes for anyone who’s been walking around the financial district and St. Lawrence Market area.

Our hoarding to announce the arrival of the latest Cityzen, Fernbrook Homes and Castlepoint project, Backstage at One The Esplanade went up last weekend after we had a very tough decision to make – do we go with a red background…… or a pink background?!

The reds won the vote and so up it went! Hopefully if anything, it will add a bit of colour to your drive in the upcoming dark and drab winter months!

Registration for Backstage is open now – click here to sign up. And keep those Virtual Broker referrals coming too!