Conservatory Tower, 736 Bay St: A 1995 Pool Building at Bay and College

Conservatory Tower is one of the older buildings on the Bay Street strip south of College, and it is a building I suggest to people who work at the hospitals or downtown and want a pool. It is a 1995 tower with a fee that covers hydro, which changes how you should compare it with the glass towers around it. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

An older tower in a row of newer ones

Bay Street between Gerrard and College is now a wall of condominium towers, many built in the 2000s and 2010s. Conservatory Tower predates most of them. It went up in the mid-1990s, when this stretch was still mostly offices and hospital buildings, and it has the solid, less glassy look of that period.

That age shows in two ways. The suites tend to be laid out more generously than the newest small one-bedrooms, and the building has had three decades to build up a reserve fund and a track record you can actually read. On the other hand, the lobby, corridors and suites will feel dated unless they have been renovated, and the mechanical systems are older.

I could not find a reliable source naming the developer or the architect, and Condos.ca leaves the developer blank. If that matters to you, the corporation’s declaration and records are the place to confirm it.

The pool and what else is on the amenity floor

The main reason buyers choose this building over its neighbours is the amenity package. The property manager’s building page lists an indoor pool, a whirlpool, a sauna, a gym with change rooms, guest suites, a video room, a meeting room, a billiards and party room, 24-hour concierge and visitor parking.

That is a full 1990s package, and few newer buildings at this price have a pool. The cost is that pools, whirlpools and saunas are expensive to run and eventually rebuild, and an older building pays for that out of the fee and the reserve fund.

Before you buy, find out when the pool and its equipment were last refurbished and what the reserve fund study plans for them. A pool that has just been redone is a good sign; one that is overdue is a cost you will share.

Suites, sizes and what the fee covers

Suites run from about 458 sq ft to about 1,197 sq ft, mostly one- and two-bedroom plans. At the top of that range, a two-bedroom here is noticeably bigger than many newer two-bedrooms on Bay, which often come in under 800 sq ft.

Across current listings the fee works out to about $1.39 per square foot, which is high for downtown. Condos.ca lists hydro, heat, air conditioning, water, building insurance, parking and common elements as included. In most newer towers nearby, hydro and often heating and cooling are billed to you separately, so compare total monthly costs, not the fee alone.

Ask how the suites are heated and cooled and how old the system is. In a building of this age, that equipment is often the next big project, and it shows up in the reserve fund study.

Daily life at Bay and College

This is one of the most practical locations downtown for anyone who works at the hospitals on University Avenue, at the University of Toronto or at Toronto Metropolitan University. Most residents I meet here walk to work. The panel on this page shows transit and nearby services in detail.

College Park and its towers are across the street, and the Eaton Centre and Yonge Street are a short walk south and east. Bay Street is busy, so suites facing it will hear traffic, while higher suites and those facing away from Bay are calmer.

Because the strip is built out, your view depends a lot on the exposure. Lower floors face neighbouring towers closely. Look at the suite in daylight before you decide.

How it compares on the Bay Street strip

Within a few minutes’ walk you have the two College Park towers, Lumiere at 770 Bay, The Penrose at 750 Bay and several newer towers along Bay and Yonge. Most are newer, with more glass and higher prices per square foot. Few of them include hydro in the fee, and not all have a pool.

That makes Conservatory a building for people who look at total cost and space rather than finishes. If you are comparing a suite here with a similar-sized suite in a newer tower, add the newer building’s hydro, heating and parking costs to its fee, then compare the monthly total and the price per square foot together.

Where Conservatory loses is on age. The newer buildings have more recent windows, mechanical systems and elevators, and fewer big repair projects ahead. The reserve fund study is how you weigh that.

What Conservatory Tower costs

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $774 per square foot. That sits below most of the newer towers on this stretch of Bay, which reflects the building’s age and the high fee, and it is the reason this building can give you more space for the money.

When I checked, there were two suites for sale, asking from about $450,000 to about $699,000. Fees on those two listings ran from roughly $890 to $1,100 a month, with hydro included. Five suites were listed for lease.

With so few listings, recent sold prices for the same layout matter more than asking prices. I can put those together for you through my building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at Conservatory Tower

For a building of this price, the amenities are unusually complete, and the indoor pool is the standout. Use them as part of the value case, but check the reserve fund study for when the pool and fitness areas are due for work.

Jatin’s honest take on Conservatory Tower

Conservatory Tower — frequently asked questions

Looking at St. Lawrence, the Financial District and Downtown Yonge more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.