The Atrium on Queens Quay, 650 Queens Quay W: Hydro in the Fee

The Atrium on Queens Quay is the building at the foot of Bathurst Street that most people know from the outside, and the inside is the reason to look. The suites open onto corridors overlooking a glass-roofed atrium, and the fee includes hydro, which almost no building in this part of the city still does. It is compact, it is older, and it is right beside the island airport. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

The atrium is not just a name

Plenty of buildings take a name that has nothing to do with the building. This one does not. The Atrium is organized around a tall central space under a glass ceiling, and suites open onto open, daylit corridors that look down into it rather than onto a closed, carpeted hallway.

A Toronto Life feature on a suite here described the design as deliberately communal: you see your neighbours coming and going across the atrium, and the hallways get natural light most towers never have. Some people love that. Others find it less private than a conventional corridor, and an open atrium can carry sound between floors. Walk the corridors at a busy time of day and decide which camp you are in.

From the outside it is a 16-storey glass building finished in 2000, part of the first generation of condos on this stretch of the western waterfront.

The atrium also has a practical side that buyers rarely ask about. A large glass roof is an expensive building component to maintain, clean and eventually replace, and its condition belongs on your list of questions alongside the windows and elevators. A building that has kept its atrium in good shape for 26 years is telling you something good about its management.

Hydro in the fee, and what that means now

The detail that sets this building apart on paper is the fee. Listing data shows it covering hydro as well as heat, air conditioning, water, building insurance and common elements. Most Toronto buildings built since the mid-2000s have individual suite meters, and many older ones have since converted to sub-metering.

For an owner, an all-in fee means no separate electricity bill and very predictable monthly costs. It also explains why the fee rate, about $1.32 per square foot on current listings, looks high next to buildings where you pay hydro yourself. Subtract a typical hydro, heating and cooling bill for a one-bedroom, and the gap narrows.

Two things to ask. First, whether the board has considered or approved a sub-metering conversion, since that would change the fee and your costs. Second, how the fee is split, because in a bulk-metered building heavy users and light users pay the same rate. Parking is not listed in the fee inclusions, so confirm whether the suite comes with a space and what it costs.

Small suites, and who they work for

Suites run from about 321 sq ft up to roughly 1,033 sq ft. The bottom of that range is a true studio, among the smallest in the area, and the building has a good share of studios, one-bedrooms and one-bedroom-plus-dens. At least one suite has a solarium that works as a small office or sitting room, so ask whether the plan you are looking at has one.

That size profile, plus the location, has shaped the ownership. Toronto Life noted the building has long been popular with airline staff, who like being next to the island airport. Compact suites with all utilities in the fee also suit students, people who split their time between cities and investors who want simple, all-inclusive rentals.

If you need two real bedrooms, the selection here is thin. The largest suites are the ones to watch, and they come up rarely.

Bathurst Quay: the airport, the park and the silos

The building sits at Queens Quay and Bathurst, across from Little Norway Park. Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and its ferry are a short walk south, and the views from upper suites take in the harbour, Toronto Island, the old Canada Malting silos and the downtown skyline.

The airport is both the convenience and the question. Being able to walk to a flight is rare anywhere. But turboprop traffic and airport operations are part of daily life here, so visit at a busy time with a window open, and favour suites facing away from the runway if you are sensitive to noise.

Day to day, the building has a grocery store on the main floor, which is worth more than most amenity rooms. Transit, schools and walkability details are in the data panel on this page.

What The Atrium costs

The building averages around $807 per square foot. That number is pushed up by how small many of the suites are, since studios and compact one-bedrooms always sell for more per square foot than larger suites.

Two suites were for sale when I prepared this, asking $420,000 and $569,000. Two more were listed for lease. That puts the Atrium among the lower entry points to a concierge building on the waterfront, especially once you count hydro in the fee.

When you compare it with a newer waterfront building, compare total monthly cost, not the fee alone: mortgage, fee, hydro, heat and parking together. For what suites here have actually sold for, request my building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Atrium on Queens Quay

The amenity rooms are standard for a 2000 building. What changes daily life is the grocery store downstairs, the rooftop deck over the harbour and the atrium itself, which makes coming home feel less like walking down a hotel corridor.

Jatin’s honest take on The Atrium on Queens Quay

The Atrium on Queens Quay — frequently asked questions

Looking at King West, Liberty Village and CityPlace more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.