Lockboxes there for a reason
Dozens of boxes attached to downtown pole have been left there by realtors, owners
Don’t confuse a downtown street lamp pole covered in locks for the love locks you find in the Distillery District or some bridges in Europe.
Dozens of lockboxes can be found outside a downtown condo on Grand Trunk Cres., near Bremner Blvd., and York St., giving the lamppost an unusual decoration for the last few months.
“I have a client in the U.S. and he was also so stunned when he saw that,” said realtor Poonam Gupta, who owns one of the many lockboxes.
There’s actually a very simple explanation, Gupta said. She explained that when agents like herself are looking to sell or rent a unit in the building, the current occupant will leave a set of keys in the box for her to access using a code when she arrives for a showing.
One man accessing a lock on Friday afternoon said he was there to pick up the keys for an Airbnb rental.
Gupta said she’s trying to sell a unit in the building. Normally, she said, building managers will instruct agents to place their lockboxes in the stairwell of the floor where they are showing a unit, or simply leave it with the concierge.
“When I went inside and I spoke to security as to where they would want it . . . they told me ‘no, everybody now has to put it outside because we’re getting work done (inside). It’s a newer building. We don’t permit anybody to come in,’ ” she said.
The city of Toronto said the locks aren’t a hazard so they won’t be cut off unless there’s a complaint.
The city would not proactively cut these off as it is not considered a hazard or an encumbrance; however, “it is not permitted,” city spokesperson Bruce Hawkins wrote in an email. “It is not unlike a form of vandalism of city property. If it’s a nuisance to the public, and we received a complaint, we could cut them off.”
However, it’s not the oddest system Gupta can recall.
“In fact, I did one in Mississauga where it was a full fence with lockboxes,” she said. “It’s very difficult to find, it’s tough to know which lockbox is yours so you don’t know.”