 UNSOLD HOUSES: Almost half the houses in the new Governor’s Bridge development remain unsold two years after they went on sale.
Two years after the first of the 60 estate homes was sold, nearly half remain at the drywall stage, pre-built and awaiting buyers willing to pay upwards of $1.2 million to live in what the developer calls "one of Rosedale’s most exclusive residential enclaves."
Indeed, it’s been a tough sell.
Conservatory Group, the developer, has gone through a series of different realtors in its bid to populate the subdivision.
"I just can’t believe that we still have (the vacant lots) there, in Rosedale, after this market that we’ve had," said Kathleen Monahan, the fifth and current realtor to work on the file.
"But a lot of people don’t have an imagination when they see the house at the drywall stage — I’d say 75 percent of those who look at a home just can’t imagine it completed."
The result is a fully constructed neighbourhood perched above Cudmore Creek and the Bayview Extension — the very site where the "exorcised" seven-storey "Bayview Ghost" apartment building stood for decades — that is largely quiet and desolate in the evenings.
It’s a result that leaves Krista Saleh, a one-year resident of True Davidson Dr., without neighbours on one side and in many lots adjacent to her backyard. "I would have thought only about 10 homes would remain by this time," she said, adding sales should pick up now that the sod has been laid and driveways paved.
Conservatory Group didn’t respond to telephone calls and emails from the Town Crier.
In 1981, the so-called Bayview Ghost apartment building that stood unfinished for 22 years was finally demolished.
But the site remained virtually inaccessible and unserviceable until the late 1990s, when Conservatory Group bought it and built the stone-trimmed bridge that connects it to Nesbitt Dr. Since then, sewage and water services have visited the berm for the first time, allowing construction of the brick, stone and stucco houses to finally begin.
Now complete, those backing on the ravine have been snatched up much more readily than the ones closer to busy Bayview. "I’m a deck person," said Tracy Habijanac, a homeowner on the ravine side, "so I couldn’t live over there."
She and other residents expect mail and garbage pick up to begin in the New Year, along with front-yard trees that were included in the initial purchase. There is also talk of making Governor’s Bridge a gated community — once it’s filled.
But for now, neighbours in the Governor’s Road area to the west aren’t noticing a lot of action in Governor’s Bridge — even now that the trees that separate them have shed leaves.
"There’s hardly any traffic and not a lot of lights over there," said a resident of nearby Douglas Cres. "I’d be surprised if they’re selling — they’re too close together and too close to the highways."
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