Former Toronto mayor Mel Lastman has never lacked for critics, but in one area at least, he deserves credit: His vision for the future of his much-loved North York was bang on.

When Mr. Lastman was mayor of North York, before taking over the reins of an amalgamated Toronto, he saw the stretch of Yonge Street from Highway 401 north to Finch Avenue as one of the Greater Toronto Area's prime locations for residential, commercial and retail development.

It was almost the geographical epicentre of the GTA, he pointed out.

With Yonge and its subway line running south and the 401, Sheppard, Finch and Steeles avenues streaming east and west, people could go anywhere in the GTA in a reasonable amount of time.

It could become the perfect bridge community, linking the suburbs and Toronto's downtown core. Men and women looking for a slightly more relaxed version of city living — complete with a subway line at their doorstep — were certain to flock to condominiums built along that North Yonge corridor rather than face the hurly-burly of life in the city to the south.

On the plus side as well, there were large blocks of land available for developers, who could not only create megaprojects but ones in which both retail and office space played a key role. For residents, work, recreation, dining, shopping and entertainment would all be linked together either in the same project or within a few minutes walk.

For developers, there was the lure of a one-two punch. They could make a handsome buck selling those condos, then benefit for decades from the rents on the retail and office space.

If you need proof that mayor Mel hit this nail on the head, look at the October statistics for GTA condo sales. The North Yonge corridor led all submarkets in October sales and is No. 2, right after downtown west, on a year-to-date basis, according to RealNet Canada Inc., which tracks condo markets.

But perhaps even more impressive, most of the 382 sales in that area in October came from a single project — Tridel Corp.'s new Hullmark Centre on the southeast corner of Yonge and Sheppard Avenue, which was launched Oct. 25.

"We figure that Hullmark accounted for one out of every five sales in the entire GTA in October," says George Carras, president of RealNet.

"Sales like that show just how popular the North Yonge corridor is," he adds.

Hullmark is a prime example of those north Yonge megaprojects. It has two towers containing 684 condo suites, 200,000 square feet of office space, 60,000 square feet of retail, a small adjacent office condo building and internal connections to both the Yonge and Sheppard subway lines.

To date, Tridel has sold 306 of the condo suites and found a major retail tenant, says Jim Ritchie, the developer's senior vice-president of sales and marketing. While figures like those would have most sales and marketing guys doing a joyful Tarantella on their desk tops, Mr. Ritchie is less sanguine.

"Actually, I thought we would have sold more," he says. "The pent-up demand for the project was so great we were absolutely certain we would have a winner despite uncertainties in the overall market."

The success of Hullmark also stands in contrast to the asking price for suites. Mr. Ritchie pegs that at about $545 a square foot. That is almost $60 a square foot higher than the average of $487 for the overall North Yonge corridor market, Mr. Carras says.

Price does not seem a serious impediment to megaprojects in that area.

At nearby Emerald Park by Bazis International Inc., the price is now at $497 a square foot and that project is about 80 per cent sold, according to Veronika Belovich, director of sales and marketing.

"Buyers look at what they are getting for their money and see that the price is justified," says Mr. Ritchie.

"The area around Yonge and Sheppard has the same appeal as Yorkville does to the luxury buyer.

"Everything they want is right outside the door of their suite. You even have those two subway lines right inside the project."

A few more statistics. Right now, there are 16 projects where suites are for sale in the corridor; there were 15 in October, and Menkes launched Gibson Square in November. Of those, five are complete and have a standing inventory of unsold units, four are under construction with completion dates set for anywhere from 2010 to 2013, and seven are in the preconstruction sales stage.

"I don't think the area is done yet," Mr. Carras says. "There are still sites suitable for development a bit further north, and I think the proven popularity of the area will see a continuation of development."

_________________________

TERRENCE BELFORD

From Friday's Globe and Mail