Converting to Lofts

[Howie NA]

Has anyone tried converting buildings to Lofts? In my area, it all the big builders/companies that are doing the conversions, but I want to try it with a commercial/industrial space. I would like to do the conversion to live in and eventually sell it. But should I put my dreams to sleep?

[Shana Gray]

anywhere in Toronto but there are more in artistic districts, I used to watch the Now magazine listings but this was years back - "lofts" can have different meanings in Toronto - anything with one room might be listed as such (from a bachelor apt, to a real artist loft, to a condo style “loftâ€, or condo or apt “with (upper level) loftâ€, to a super expensive Donald Trump one room hotel style “loft†condo with room service)… some lofts may be simply listed as apts, and some are zoned for work/live use and geared toward artists but not many are listed with that much detail. there is a wide variance in quality and types of lofts, some are unfinished, others are finished with exposed brick etc.

if you dig through Now magazine and other papers and can't find them, hit me up with a PM and I'll try to get you some more details. probably the fastest way to find some is to drive through artistic areas and see what's above and between the storefronts. otherwise some are in converted buildings mainly downtownish but at least one as far as Mississauga so just about anywhere goes. you can see if you're driving downtown some buildings that look like old factories on the outside but have different coloured curtains hanging in all the windows.

a few but not all are offered at discounted rates to artists because most probably don't make much money - so if you're looking into it make sure it is profitable for you if you wanted to buy and hold for renting. it is probably entirely possible to create loft spaces in just about any building but if you have a particular vision in mind it might require certain types of buildings. many artists looking for work spaces are not terribly picky about their surroundings as long as they have the required space they need for their work and basic needs like kitchen/washroom etc. any more Qs let me know! PM if you need to. I love Toronto's artistic areas. lived in Toronto as a working artist for years.