ROBERT NARDI - Key Persons

Don Mills is one of Toronto's best known and most popular neighbourhoods. Neighbourhood landmarks include the picturesque Donalda Golf and Country Club, and scenic Edwards Gardens. The commercial/industrial sector of Don Mills serves as the head office for IBM Canada Ltd., Global Television Station, the Toronto Real Estate Board and many other prominent companies. Everything old is new once again. When the former Don Mills Shopping Centre opened in the 1960s it began as an outdoor shopping plaza and eventually as times and tastes changed it was retrofitted into an indoor shopping centre. Now the old shopping centre has now been transformed once again into the new Shops at Don Mills where shoppers can enjoy an outdoor retail experience. While outdoor shopping plazas may not be new to Toronto the Shops at Don Mills is like no other outdoor shopping experience in Toronto. The new urbanism look and feel of this shopping destination is anchored by the Town Square located in the middle of the development. The Town Square is flanked on one side by a magnificent water feature that twice every hour, erupts into a four minute choreographed show. At the other end of the Town Square is an eye popping clock tower that is actually a sculpture designed by famed Canadian artist and author Douglas Coupland. The symbols on this unique clock tower are models of houses that resemble those found in the Don Mills neighbourhood. In addition to great shops and restaurants a plethora of special community events and festivals are held at the Shops at Don Mills throughout the year. Don Mills is a popular family oriented neighbourhood that has a city-suburb feel with big lots, tree-lined streets and open air shopping malls. Convenient transit and access to the highway make this neighbourhood a popular choice for commuters. With so much to offer it is not surprising that Don Mills has a very active real estate market. To date in 2012 the average sale price of a house in Don Mills is $965,000. The average list to sale price ratio is 102% and the average days on the market is just 14 days which reflects the demand for houses in this neighbourhood. What should prospective home buyers know before starting to search for a home in Don Mills? Don Mills is a fairly large Neighbourhood and each street and pocket has it's own characteristics. The first feature that comes to mind is the unique way that Don Mills is planned. You will notice that most of the streets in this neighbourhood are designed in a way that there is very little or no through traffic and the residents are the only people who are driving on each street, which makes it a quiet and child friendly neighborhood." You will be able to find a small number of semi-detached starter homes in this neighbourhood priced from $500,000-$600,000. The detached bungalows on a typical 50-60 foot frontage are selling for between $700,00-$900,000 with the wider ranch-style bungalows on the expansive 70 and 80 ft lots are selling from $900,000 to over $1 million dollars. Thus far in 2012, 17 Don Mills sales have surpassed the $1 million dollar mark and 2 sales have topped the $2 million dollar mark. These high-end sales are newly constructed custom designed homes.

Lawrence Manor's original housing stock was built largely between 1951 and 1955. These houses include detached brick two-storey houses as well as split-level homes and bungalows. There are also some newer custom built houses in this neighbourhood. The lots in Lawrence Manor are at least thirty feet wide and all the houses have a private drive.

Lionel Conacher Park, situated off Birch Avenue, is a memorial to Lionel Conacher who was CanadaÍs athlete of the first half of the twentieth century. Conacher, who grew up in the Summerhill neighbourhood, played on two Toronto Maple Leaf Stanley Cup teams. He also competed at the highest level in a dozen other sports and served in the Ontario Legislature, as well as the House of Commons.

Lawrence Park is one of Toronto's most exclusive residential neighborhoods. It is located in a very peacful and tranquil setting that includes gently rolling hills, winding road and a lush topography. It's shops, schools and recreational facilities are located on its periphery, which keeps traffic on the residential streets to a minimum. Most Lawrence Park residents are within walking distance of bus routes that run along Yonge Street, Mount Pleasant Road, Bayview Avenue and Lawrence Avenue. The Lawrence subway station, located at the intersection of Yonge and Lawrence, is part of the Yonge-Uuniversity-Spadian subway line. The Yonge Street on-ramp to Highway 401 is a 5 to 10-minute drive from Lawrence Park.

Oriole Park located at the northern tip of Deer Park has a playground, a wading pool, two tennis courts and access to the Belt Line', a seven kilometre path that follows the route of Toronto's old Belt Line Railway. Oriole Park is also home to the newly created Neshama Playground. The Neshama Playground features a water play area, sensory musical features, Braille panels, an enclosed climbing merry-go-round and bounce pad, accessible swings and play structures, and colourful, springy surfacing.