Product:STAR Date:11-15-2003Desk: NIH-0001-CMYK/11-11-03/21:55:21

Condo LivingP1 SATURDAY ON COMPOSITECMYK!SA1 151103ON P 001Q!

P SECTION SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2003 H thestar.com

Etobicoke builder goes out on a limb. P4 / Double-decker design maximizes space. P8

It would be expecting too muchto think that Toronto’s newmayor, David Miller, could sin-gle-handedly improve architec-ture in the city — condo or oth-erwise — but who knows?

If the recent municipal elec-tion proved anything, it is thatTorontonians are fed up withthe status quo. Though PremierDalton McGuinty has failed todeliver on his Oak Ridges Mo-raine promise, he also won on a

similar commitment to change.In many communities, includ-

ing Toronto, that means chang-ing the way development hap-pens. Indeed, the Toronto elec-tion was fought and won onMiller’s pledge to kill the Toron-to island airport bridge.

That single feature, modest inits own right, emerged as thesymbol of a city out of control,handed over by its electedguardians to corporate interests.

Of course, Torontonians havealways been leery of develop-ment, especially of the high-risecategory. Just ask Anne John-ston, who was unceremoniouslydumped Monday night after 31years as a North Toronto coun-cillor. The reason? Her supportfor the proposed Minto towers.

Ironically, this is one of fewresidential schemes that actu-ally makes sense for the city. De-spite the enormous height of the

two towers, 51 and 38 storeys,they are thoroughly urban intheir form and detail. And de-spite what ratepayers think,they’re in the right location, thesoutheast corner of Yonge andEglinton, across the road fromthe Eglinton subway station.

Beyond that, however, theelection was all about empower-ing the city and taking it backfrom the backroom boys whowere perceived to have taken

over. Under Mel Lastman’s sor-ry regime, developers were wel-come, regardless. Rememberthe first design for the Ritz Carl-ton at Adelaide and Bay? It waslaughed out of town because ofits truly awful architecture, butthat didn’t stop Mel, whose en-thusiasm was proportional tothe involvement, howeversketchy, of Donald Trump.

Christopher Hume‰ Please see Hume, P6

Council now has mandate to take back controlVoters want a voicein how city develops

DONNA LAPORTESTAFF WRITER

If Rob Lowe had turned downhis former role on The WestWing, producers could havesigned a 29-year-old whiz kidfrom Etobicoke who would havefit the character to a T.

Mark Bozzo could be Sam Sea-born’s doppelganger, at least instyle. Tall and handsome, withcurly black hair and brown eyes,he answers the phone like a manwith no time to waste and

speaks with rapid-fire delivery,as if he can’t get the words outfast enough.

Like his TV counterpart, he’salso earnest, ambitious and ateam player — even if he is theboss.

Bozzo owns QueenscorpGroup, a Toronto developmentcompany. He admits he’s “thesole owner, but not the sole do-er.”

“I like to get people involved inthe whole equation,” from theconceptual stage to the finishedproduct, he says.

He credits his small staff of 13for his success. Nobody uses ti-tles, including him. His businesscard unassumingly states hisname, the company name andcontact details.

By staying small, he can keepthe company manageable andrelate to buyers personally. “Our

business is not as lucrative (as itmight be) but I can sleep know-ing purchasers are happy.”

One way to ease buyers’ mindsis to let them know exactly whatthey’re getting.

“There’s an industry responsi-bility, an ethical responsibility,to simplify our documents,”Bozzo says.

He knows that today’s buyersare sophisticated. They re-search the Condo Act and knowwhat legal and financial termsmean. Some customers even re-view the offer themselves firstbefore seeing a lawyer. Beingclear now saves problems later,he says.

Interior designer Joyce Csu-bak works closely with him asthey sketch their ideas out onpaper. He files the sketches,marvelling later at how closelythe drawings match the final

product.“It’s amazing how this black-

line, rough-sketch mess on pap-er is actually this beautifulbuilding.”

Csubak, originally from Flori-da, has a real estate backgroundand is also a mom who knowsthe challenges facing today’sfamilies. She and Bozzo con-stantly refine floor plans basedon customer feedback.

“It’s important to build spacefor people to live in,” even if itmeans operating on smallerprofit margins, says Bozzo. “Theproportions of rooms, the pro-portions of ceiling heights — allthose things are like very fine in-gredients to a good meal.”

He says he works with archi-tects to ensure their designs arerealistic.

COLIN MCCONNELL/TORONTO STAR

At the age of 22, Mark Bozzo walked into a Bank of Montreal boardroom and asked for $5 million. He did get the financing from anotherbank, and his company has since finished a range of projects, including the Royalton townhouses in Etobicoke near Lake Shore Blvd.

Building his businessCondo People

Young developerworks well withthe communitySmaller companylets him maintaina personal touch

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LINDA BARNARDTORONTO STAR

Think of it as a blind date withyour new house.

The pre-delivery inspection(PDI) is, after all, your first face-to-face meeting after longmonths of flirting across a con-struction fence, a rendezvousthat couples high expectationswith fears that some things justmight not measure up.

Will it be love at first sight — orwill the floors sag and taps leak?

I signed on the dotted line lastJanuary for my condo town-house at The Residences of NewToronto at Lake Shore Blvd. W.and Ninth St.

I had originally chosen anoth-er home in the Daniels devel-opment in 2002, but hadswitched to the more urban-looking brownstone elevationsfacing on to Lake Shore.

That pushed my occupancydate ahead, but I didn’t mind.

Saturdays often found me atthe site, watching my new homerise from the frozen mud. Ichose my upgrades, colours andfinishes in March.

In June, I received notice of myoccupancy date — Sept. 25. I’mno expert, but I could tell as Au-gust dawned that there was noway the house would be ready. Ihad no desire to move into aconstruction zone and offeredto extend things by a month toOct. 23.

The builder agreed it would bea good idea.

Now it was mid-October andtime for my PDI. Would the co-balt, slate-like tiles I’d chosenmonths ago for the master bath-room create the dramatic art de-co refuge I’d envisioned on pap-er, or would it look like themen’s room at a clown college?

Assistant site superintendentPaul Cowell and new home ser-vice technician Joe Bruno, whocarried a full tool kit and camealong to fix anything that couldbe remedied on the spot, met meat my door and took me throughmy new home.

During a PDI (which took justover two hours to complete inmy 1,600-square-foot home)the buyer examines the place indetail, making sure doors closeflush and straight, the heatingsystem works, the floors are un-blemished and the upgradesthat were ordered and paid for— like those blue floor tiles —have been installed.

The Buying Process

First date withmy real estateCondo inspectionfinds few faultsDon’t be seduced,PDI is serious stuff

COLIN MCCONNELL/TORONTO STAR

Linda Barnard discusses her new condo townhouse with DanielsCorp. assistant site supervisor Paul Cowell, left, and her friendNeil Hetherington, right, during her pre-delivery inspection.

‰ Please see Inspection, P10

‰ Please see Bozzo, P9

Product:STAR Date:11-15-2003Desk: NIH-0009-CMYK/12-11-03/00:00:15

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Along with wearing a salesand marketing hat, Csubakhelps Bozzo check on theirtrades every few days so theycan address any problemsimmediately.

Bozzo also takes care to un-derstand the community. Heunderstands the concerns ofpeople who fear redevelop-ment. “People are afraid ofchange, especially in matureneighbourhoods.”

But he says neighbourhoodresistance often gives way topraise once a project is built,adding to his credibility.

For example, he says meet-ings were intense over Ap-plewood Hills, an 85-unit,low-rise condo developmentnear Bloor St. and CawthraRd. in Mississauga. Heworked with a steering com-mittee of council to try tofind common ground andeventually appealed to theOntario Municipal Board forrezoning and an Official Planamendment. He won.

After the building was fin-ished, he says he got nothingbut rave reviews. “It’s defi-nitely gratifying but it’s a lit-tle late.”

The high-density condocomplex, which sits on thesite of a former apple or-chard, looks more like a re-tirement home or hotel. It’sreminiscent of Europe, withFrench balconies and cos-mopolitan flair and it mim-ics nearby architecture, fit-ting comfortably into theneighbourhood.

The Royalton, 14 gardentownhouse units at DwightAve. and Lake Shore Blvd. W.was another source of con-troversy. Again, Bozzofought the planning depart-ment over density (he origi-nally wanted to build 28units).

“The city shot themselvesin the foot,” he says, since itlimited the density but thesize of the buildings didn’tchange. As a result, someunits have super-sized ga-rages which can fit four cars.

One unit is 2,340 squarefeet and is selling for$434,900. A smaller unit, at1,250 square feet, has a sin-gle-car garage and costs$284,900. Eleven units arenow occupied, 3 remain.

Gary Wright, Toronto’s di-rector of community plan-ning for the west district,says he didn’t want to set aprecedent by allowing ahigh-density townhouse de-velopment in a low-densityneighbourhood. But he saysBozzo takes the long-termview and is prepared to workwith the city and the com-munity.

“He’s done some very nicework in Etobicoke,” Wrightsays.

Doing business with bothMississauga and Torontoplanners is like day andnight, Bozzo admits. Missis-sauga, though very political-ly driven, is a well-oiled ma-chine, with departmentsand processes that are effi-cient and organized.

Toronto is less politicallymotivated, but “depart-ments are a shambles.”Echoing other developers,

he says it’s tough to get deci-sions in a timely manner.

Bozzo, who is now into hissixth major project, is sure ofwhere he is going and admitshe’s “as bull-headed as theycome.” He says his biggestchallenge is being young inan aggressive business.

He recalls walking into a“big, cold boardroom full” ofmen in blue suits at the Bankof Montreal, looking for hisfirst commercial loan: $5million. He was 22 years old.

They looked at him, leanedback in their chairs andlooked behind him. Heturned around to see whatthey were looking at, think-ing, “It’s just me, guys.” Hegot the picture — but not theloan.

Fortunately, he persuadeda vice-president from Sco-tiabank to approve the loan.

Bozzo remembers hatch-ing a plan for a bunch ofrental buildings when hewas a teen working threepart-time jobs. His parentsowned a bakery and hismom was a teacher, but itwas his grandfather whospurred him to fulfill his truecalling. His parents weresupportive, he says, but con-cerned.

Since the age of 15, he hasworked on construction, be-ginning with a high schoolco-op program and prog-ressing through SheridanCollege, graduating as a civiltechnologist, while workingas an assistant superinten-dent and an assistant site en-gineer on a high-rise project.At the same time, he invest-ed in small commercial rent-al projects, renovating andleasing space to generaterevenue. He admits it wasscary when he stepped outon his own.

“You go from collecting apaycheque every two weeksto talking about millions ofdollars of real estate. . .”

Today, 30 per cent of Boz-zo’s buyers are repeat cus-tomers.

Kevin Capelo, 30, firstbought an investment condoat Waterford Terrace, atLake Shore Blvd. and 33rdSt. in Long Branch. Builtabout five years ago, theGeorgian-influenced low-rise has retail space belowand 46 condos above.

Impressed by Queen-scorp’s workmanship, Cape-lo sold it to buy a two-bed-room unit at ApplewoodHills.

As an electrical contractor,Capelo knows what goes in-to a building. He says Queen-scorp goes “200 per centabove what’s required.”

He has now bought a housein Mississauga, where hegrew up. His ApplewoodHills condo sold in one day.

Doug Kelley’s parents alsobought at Applewood Hillsabout two years ago andwere pleased by the hands-on customer service and thequality of finishes. Kelley, 35,attended a gala for The Da-lesford, Queencorp’s latestproject, near Park Lawn Rd.and the Queensway.

He wound up buying a 740-square-foot penthouse withone bedroom plus a den for$186,000. Next summer, he’ll

move to the five-storey build-ing now under constructionon a ravine site close to theGardiner Expressway. Sinceit’s built into the side of a hill,there will be two terrace lev-els on the ravine side and apenthouse portion in the“knuckle” of the L-shapedbuilding, designed by Grazia-ni + Corazza Architects Inc.of Mississauga.

Kelley was impressed byhow his parents were treat-ed, the lack of problems andthat the project was on time.

“They’re very thorough inwhat they do,” Kelley says.Ninety-two of the 134 unitshave been sold.

Although Rob Lowe hasmoved on to a new televisionrole, Bozzo’s staying put. Hedoesn’t even like to take aholiday, much to his wife’schagrin.

“I don’t need to relax,” hesays. “I don’t feel tired.”

Developer’s determination wins over critics

COLIN MCCONNELL/TORONTO STAR

Queenscorp Group owner Mark Bozzo and interior designer Joyce Csubak with a model of The Dalesford,near Park Lawn Rd. and the Queensway. They constantly refine floor plans, based on customer feedback.

‰ Bozzo From P1