Quirky cube homes in the sky may be iced for development
The curious three-cube structure has been up for sale for months, but so far no takers
The end could be nigh for Toronto’s cube cluster landmark nestled just north of the Distillery District.
The curious three-cube structure standing on a pie shaped slice of real estate between Adelaide St. E. and Eastern Ave. has been up for sale for months, but so far no one has snapped it up.
That’s unusual in a red-hot market, where homes have been sold above asking price in days, but sales representative Arthur Crapopoulos is unconcerned.
“This is very new on the market and it’s not really on the market. It’s exclusive, so not a lot of people know about it,” he said of the residential-zoned property. “It’s being marketed to a select few investors. Not everybody can afford to develop a piece of land downtown.”
Crapopoulos said the listing price for the 9,000square-foot property is under wraps, but a property like this, located close to downtown and with great potential, could be worth about $4 million and possibly more.
“Properties like this don’t get purchased as quickly as a condo or a single home for a single family,” he said. “That is a whole different type of real estate.”
The cube cluster is actually three multi-storey apartments, each contained in its own cube and each suspended above the ground by a large metal pole.
Built in 1996 and based on architect Piet Blom’s cube homes in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Toronto’s tricube structure has had a colourful past.
They were built by a Canadian architect who didn’t own the land and, when the property was sold, he argued they were chattel to try and keep them. The argument was rejected by a judge and so the landowner got to keep them.
In 2002 the property was purchased in a power of sale for $265,000 by the founder of the Coffee Time franchise, Tom Michalopoulos.
And depending on who purchases the property next and their vision of what the land could contain, the cubes could be knocked down.
Rotterdam’s cube houses, which were designed in 1984, are billed as a must see in the city. The colourful cubes contain 38 homes, one of which is a museum tourists can pay to visit. It’s even possible to rent one of the homes overnight. Their interiors are chic, with modern built-in furniture and more windows.
Martin Trainor, a CBC producer who has called two of the three Toronto cubes home for the past 15 years, would like to see that happen here.
At the very least, he hopes the clus- ter will be spared, or at least dismantled and moved to a new home where the public can appreciate it.
“I actually have another property that I could live in. It’s a regular house. But I choose to live here because it’s unique,” he said. “It’s a great architectural masterpiece, if you ask me.”
The interior of one of his units is bright and airy and surprisingly spacious and serene.
With its soaring pointed ceiling, the home seems to sail above the din of traffic, despite being so close to the roads.
“If the whole place was one family unit, it would be excellent. Children would love this,” Trainor said.