150 Balmoral Ave: A 1929 Heritage Apartment House, a Condo Since 1969

150 Balmoral Avenue is one of the oldest condominium corporations in Toronto, inside a building that was already 40 years old when it became one. It is a 1929 Tudor-style apartment house near Avenue Road and St. Clair, protected by a heritage designation, with 30 suites. Buy here for character and location, and go in with your eyes open about what a nearly century-old building needs. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A 1929 luxury apartment house

The Balmoral Apartments were completed in 1929, designed by the Toronto firm S. B. Coon & Son as a luxury apartment building for the growing neighbourhood around Avenue Road and St. Clair. The city describes it as an excellent example of the Period Revival style, with exterior walls and a roof that draw on English Tudor design.

The city’s designation by-law also links it to the nearby Claridge and Clarendon Apartments at 1 and 2 Clarendon Avenue. Together, these buildings show that this part of midtown was home to gracious apartment living long before the condo towers arrived.

If you like pre-war architecture, the appeal is obvious. You get masonry walls, period detailing and proportions that no modern building reproduces, in a building of six storeys rather than forty. Ask to see the common hallways and lobby as well as the suite, since they tell you how much care the corporation puts into the building’s original character.

One of the city’s first condominiums

Ontario passed its first condominium legislation in the late 1960s, and 150 Balmoral was registered as York Condominium Corporation No. 9 in December 1969. That number tells you it was among the very first condominiums registered in what is now Toronto.

In practice, this means the corporation has more than 50 years of history as a condominium, through several rounds of roof, window and mechanical work. That can be an advantage: a long-running corporation often has well-established reserve planning and owners who stay for decades. It can also mean an aging building with expensive work queued up.

Ask for the full reserve fund study, the last few years of financial statements and the minutes of board meetings. In a building of this age, I want to see the plan for the roof, masonry, windows, plumbing risers, electrical and elevator, and how it is being funded.

Living with a heritage designation

The building was added to the city’s heritage inventory in 1976 and designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act in 2005. The designation focuses on the exterior walls and roof, which are the building’s main heritage attributes.

For an owner, the effect is mostly on the outside. Changes to the exterior, including replacement windows, masonry repairs and roof work, may need heritage approval and must respect the original design. That can make some repairs more expensive and slower, and it is one reason the reserve fund matters so much here.

Inside your suite, you generally have more freedom, but the corporation’s own rules still apply, and in a building this old, any renovation that touches plumbing or electrical should be reviewed carefully. ACO Toronto’s records also note an expansion next to the building in the mid-2000s, so ask how that work relates to the corporation.

Balmoral Avenue and the St. Clair neighbourhood

Balmoral Avenue is a quiet residential street close to the corner of Avenue Road and St. Clair Avenue West. You are a walk from St. Clair’s shops, cafes and restaurants, and from the Yonge-St. Clair area to the east, yet the street itself feels residential rather than commercial. The data panel on this page covers transit, schools and parks.

The building’s listed parking garage is a meaningful plus in a pre-war apartment house, many of which have little or no parking. Confirm whether a space comes with the suite you are considering, and whether it is owned or assigned.

Day to day, the trade is simple. You give up the gym, pool and concierge of a newer tower, and you gain a quieter building, thicker walls and neighbours who chose the place for the same reasons you did. For many buyers in this part of the city, that is exactly the point.

Pricing: character over price per foot

There were no suites listed for sale or rent when I checked, and I do not have a reliable building average price per square foot to quote. With 30 suites, sales come up only occasionally.

Pre-war condominiums like this one rarely trade on price per square foot alone. Buyers pay for large rooms, solid construction and architecture, and they discount for older kitchens and bathrooms, limited closets, and the higher maintenance costs of an old masonry building. Suite condition varies enormously, so two suites of the same size can sell for very different prices.

When you compare fees, remember what you are paying for. An older building with fewer suites and a heavy masonry envelope can carry higher costs per square foot than a newer tower, and a low fee in a building like this is not always good news. It can mean the reserve fund is being under-funded. Ask what the fee includes and read it alongside the reserve fund study.

I would compare any suite here with recent sales in other older St. Clair and Avenue Road buildings, and with newer boutique buildings nearby, then adjust for the fee and the condition of the corporation. My building sold report can show what has actually traded here.

Building specifications

Amenities at 150 Balmoral Apartments

The only listed amenity is the parking garage. You are buying a pre-war apartment house for its architecture and location, not for a gym or a party room.

Jatin’s honest take on 150 Balmoral Apartments

150 Balmoral Apartments — frequently asked questions

Looking at Yorkville, the Annex and Midtown more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.