Optima at CityPlace, 81 Navy Wharf Crt: The Tower Behind the Dome

Optima is the CityPlace tower people forget is there, which is the whole point of it. It stands alone on its own block on Navy Wharf Court, directly behind the Rogers Centre, so it feels more private than the clusters of towers around it, and its fee still covers hydro, heat, air conditioning and parking. It is also a 2003 building, so I would want its window walls and building envelope understood before you buy. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

One tower, one block

CityPlace was planned in blocks on the former CN Spadina rail yards, which Concord Adex bought from Canada Lands Company in 1997. Most blocks hold two or more towers. Optima is the only building on its block, Block 2, and sits directly behind the Rogers Centre, which gives it more privacy than the paired and clustered towers on the other blocks.

It went up between 2001 and 2003 alongside the first Matrix and Apex towers on Front Street, which makes it one of the oldest buildings in the neighbourhood. condos.ca does not list a developer for Optima. It was built within the CityPlace master plan, but if the developer’s identity matters to you, for warranty history, confirm it from the corporation’s records rather than assuming.

The building is recorded as 34 storeys and about 109 metres tall, but suite numbers here run into the 3700s and a blogTO feature described a suite on the 38th floor. Floor numbering that skips numbers is common, so treat the suite number as a label, not a height, and ask which actual level a suite is on.

Suites that start bigger

condos.ca lists suites from about 532 to 1,962 square feet. There are no tiny studios at the bottom of the range, and the top end is close to 2,000 square feet, which is rare in a CityPlace tower. All three suites for sale at the time of writing were two-bedroom-plus-dens.

The large upper suites are the ones people remember. A blogTO feature on a roughly 1,900-square-foot suite described floor-to-ceiling glass, a south-facing terrace looking over the Rogers Centre, a view of the CN Tower’s EdgeWalk, and a den converted into a full bedroom. If you need three real bedrooms downtown without paying for a new-build penthouse, Optima is worth watching for exactly that kind of plan.

I could not find published ceiling heights, so measure in the suite if it matters to you.

The window walls, and what to ask

Optima is more than 20 years old, and in a glass tower of this age the window-wall system, sealants and balcony connections are where the large repair bills tend to come from. That makes the building envelope the first thing I would ask about here.

What I would do is simple. Ask the corporation and property manager about any past window-wall or building-envelope repairs, what was done and when, and whether any further work is planned. Then read the reserve fund study for window-wall, balcony and sealant line items, and the status certificate for any special assessments. A building that has already fixed its envelope can be a better buy than one that hasn’t started.

Living behind the Rogers Centre

You are a few minutes on foot from the Rogers Centre, the CN Tower, the King West strip and the office core, with Canoe Landing Park, the eight-acre park designed with artist Douglas Coupland, a short walk west. Game and concert nights bring crowds through the streets around the stadium, so think about how you feel about that before you buy a suite facing the Dome.

Being one of the first towers here also means you watched the rest of CityPlace go up around you. The neighbourhood that was a construction site in 2003 now has its park, a school and community centre complex, and the reserved median on Fort York Boulevard for a future streetcar. For an early building, that build-out has largely worked in owners’ favour.

The building has an indoor pool and the usual early-2000s amenity list. The automatic panel on this page covers transit, schools and walkability, so I won’t repeat it here.

What it costs, and what the fee covers

condos.ca puts Optima at about $875 per square foot on average, the highest of the early CityPlace and Harbourfront towers I looked at, ahead of Apex at about $859 and the WaterClub towers at about $839 to $865. The larger suites and the privacy of a single-tower block help explain that small premium.

condos.ca lists the fee as covering common elements, heat, air conditioning, hydro, building insurance, parking and water. That is about as complete a fee as you will find downtown. When you compare Optima’s fee with a newer building’s, add hydro and a parking charge back onto the newer building first.

At the time of writing there were three suites for sale, all two-bedroom-plus-dens, asking from about $959,000 to $1.1 million, with monthly fees from about $1,043 to $1,268. Listings did not give square footage, so I can’t give you a fee per square foot from them; ask for the exact size and do the maths yourself before you compare.

With only three suites for sale, all of a similar type, the asking range tells you more about the two-bedroom-plus-den market here than about the building as a whole. For one-bedrooms or the large upper suites, use the 12-month sale figures on this page instead.

Building specifications

Amenities at Optima at CityPlace

Optima has the early CityPlace package: an indoor pool, concierge, guest suites and party and meeting rooms. A pool in a building this age is worth checking in the reserve fund study, both for recent renovation and for future replacement.

Jatin’s honest take on Optima at CityPlace

Optima at CityPlace — 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.