December 2014
A recent Yonge Corridor Condominium Association (YCCA) Media Release states that “the area encompasses more than 100 condo corporations between Highway 401 and Steeles Avenue, comprising some 35,000 residents.”
Candidates for office in recent elections have cited a local population somewhere between 35,000 and 50,000.
Such low estimates defy logic. The area is dominated by 20 to 30 floor high-rise condominium buildings.
The YCCA’s own estimates are that each building contains on average 350 residents. All of this suggests that at least 50% of suites in each building, on average, are vacant.
Building developers, which have about 15 buildings currently under construction in the area, are unlikely to undertake such massive investments if anything close to 50% of current inventory were to be vacant.
A more realistic population estimate can be derived based on number of buildings, suites per building and average family size.
There are about 125 high-rise residential condo buildings from Highway 401 to just north of Finch Ave. excluding those currently under construction. Assuming that each building contains 250 suites – a low estimate when some buildings have 400+ suites – and using the Statistics Canada average of 2.6 residents per household for Ontario, the area has an estimated population of 81,250. This excludes residents of the many high-rise apartment buildings, townhouses and retirement homes in the area.
Accounting for suite vacancies and a higher than average proportion of singles in the area, the current residential population of the area identified in the recent YCCA Media Release is closer to and may exceed 100,000 residents.
