The Brule, 2511 Bloor St W: 49 Big Suites and a Garden Near Bloor West

The Brule is the kind of building downsizers from Swansea and the Kingsway ask me about by name. It is five storeys, 49 suites, stone and brick, with suites that start around 700 square feet and run past 1,600, and a garden that people actually use. It almost never has more than one suite for sale, and the people who buy here tend to stay. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A small building made for people leaving houses

Most boutique buildings in the west end are boutique in the sense of small suites. The Brule is the opposite. Its smallest suites are around 667 to 700 square feet, and the larger plans run to roughly 1,680 square feet, which is the size of a lot of semi-detached main floors. One listing described the plans as named by size and layout, King George, Queen Mary and Prince Edward, which gives you a sense of who the building was pitched to in 2002.

The exterior is stone and brickwork, low and solid, and it sits comfortably among the older houses and low-rise apartments at the west end of Bloor West Village. At five storeys, it does not dominate the street. That scale, combined with suites big enough for a dining table and a guest room, is exactly why it appeals to people coming out of three-bedroom houses nearby.

The name very likely nods to Étienne Brûlé, the explorer associated with the Humber River trail a short distance west, and you will see it written both with and without the accents.

The garden is the main amenity

There is no pool, no rooftop and no concierge desk to staff. What the building has instead is landscaped grounds that one listing describes as award-winning, an enclosed garden with a pergola, loungers, a barbecue and an outdoor dining table, and a party and games room that opens onto it. Add an exercise room near the entrance and you have the whole list.

In practice, that suits the people who live here. A garden you can host family in matters more to a downsizer than a gym they would not use, and a short amenity list keeps the money in the fee going to the building rather than to staffing.

Condos.ca lists a security guard and a security system, and the underground garage has visitor parking on its first level. One listing put the visitor spaces at 12, which is generous for a 49-suite building and handy if your family visits on weekends.

Fees: read the inclusions carefully

This is where the sources disagree, and it matters. Condos.ca lists the fee as covering common elements, building insurance, parking, water and cable. A recent listing went further and included internet. Strata.ca, on the other hand, lists hydro, heat, air conditioning and water as excluded. Water cannot be both included and excluded, so one of them is out of date.

My reading is that heat and hydro are on the owner and that water, parking, insurance and cable are in the fee, but I would not let a client rely on that. Get the current budget and the status certificate and read the fee line by line. Strata.ca puts fees at about $1.00 per square foot, which looks high, but on a 1,200 square foot suite in a 49-unit building, that is spread across very few owners, and every big repair is shared the same way.

Pet rules are also unclear. Condos.ca flags a pet restriction, while a listing described the building as pet-friendly. Both can be true if pets are allowed with limits, so check the declaration and rules before you plan around a dog.

Bloor West Village at your door

The building sits at the quieter west end of Bloor West Village, past the busiest blocks of shops and cafés, with South Kingsway and the Humber valley just beyond. That puts the village’s grocers, bakeries and restaurants within a walk, and the Humber trails and marshes close for anyone who walks every morning.

Directly across Bloor is Kingsgate Motors, a much older and smaller condominium, and the two are worth comparing if you are shopping this block. The panel on this page has the transit, school and park details.

Pricing: rare listings, slow turnover

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $959 per square foot. Strata.ca shows smaller suites averaging around $939 per square foot, with too few larger-suite trades to give a reliable figure. Strata.ca also reports an average ownership period of more than nine years before resale, which fits what I see: owners here are mostly end users who bought to stay.

That low turnover is both the appeal and the challenge. With one suite listed at the time of writing, there was no asking range to report, and in some years there are only a handful of sales in total. One unusual suite, such as a penthouse or one of the largest plans, can move the average a lot, so do not price a suite off the building average alone.

Strata.ca also shows building values softening over the past year, in line with the wider Toronto condo market. For a buyer, that can mean a rare chance to negotiate in a building that seldom comes up. For the recent recorded trades, see my building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Brule

The amenity list is short and built around the garden: an enclosed outdoor space with seating, a barbecue and a dining table, with the party and games room opening onto it and an exercise room by the entrance. It is a building for hosting family, not for a resort-style lifestyle.

Jatin’s honest take on The Brule

The Brule — frequently asked questions

Looking at High Park-Swansea more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.