Waterclub I, 8 York St: Lake-Facing Tower With an Indoor-Outdoor Pool

Waterclub I was designed so that almost everyone in it would look at the lake, and that decision still drives its value 20 years later. Add an indoor-outdoor pool and a fee that covers heat and parking, and you have a strong waterfront building. The questions are about shared facilities and age. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

One tower in a three-tower plan

Waterclub is a single complex of three glass towers between York Street, Queens Quay and the Gardiner. Kirkor Architects designed it in phases: 8 York Street came first, then the 37-storey south tower at 208 Queens Quay West and a shorter 27-storey west tower at 218 Queens Quay West. Together they hold more than a thousand suites.

The towers sit on a shared podium with retail and garden suites. The site was not easy. An existing eight-storey parking garage sat on the block, and the architects had to work access around it. When the Globe and Mail reviewed the project during construction, its critic credited the big podium with giving that stretch of Queens Quay a more human scale.

For an owner, the practical point is that you are buying into one corporation, TSCC-1598, that lives next to two others. Amenities, the garage and some services are likely shared, and that means shared costs. Ask for any shared-facilities or reciprocal agreement in the status certificate and see what this corporation pays toward it.

Built to face the lake

The design decision that matters most is orientation. According to an architecture history of the project, the architects pointed more than 90 per cent of the suites toward the lake, so that most owners share some combination of water and skyline views.

That does not mean every suite has an open lake view. The towers are close to each other and to the Riviera and other buildings along Queens Quay, so some views look past or between neighbours. Stand in the suite, look at what is directly in front of the window, and price it accordingly.

Inside, the original package included floor-to-ceiling windows, granite counters and marble and hardwood floors. After 20 years many suites have been renovated, so condition varies widely. Suites range from studios around 450 sq ft to large units near 1,870 sq ft, and most resale activity sits in the one-bedrooms in the 600s.

The club in Waterclub

The amenity list for the complex is one of the larger ones on the waterfront. The property manager’s page describes an indoor-outdoor swimming pool, a health spa area with a co-ed steam room and saunas, an exercise room, a juice bar and lounge, a billiards room, a multi-purpose room with a bar, a formal entertainment room with a terrace, a landscaped terrace and two guest suites.

An indoor-outdoor pool is the standout, and it is rare in Toronto. It is also expensive to keep running. Ask how the amenity costs are split between the three corporations and whether the pool and spa have been refreshed or are scheduled in the reserve fund study.

The building also has Beanfield and FibreStream internet available, according to listing data. If you work from home, having more than one fibre provider is a real plus.

Living at York and Queens Quay

This is the busy, central end of Queens Quay. Queens Quay Terminal is across the street, the Financial District is just to the north, and the ferry docks and waterfront trail are on your doorstep. Transit, walkability and nearby restaurants are covered in the data panel on this page.

The trade-off is noise and activity. The Gardiner runs along the north side of the complex, and the waterfront draws crowds in summer and on event days. North-facing and lower suites feel that more. If quiet matters to you, visit on a summer weekend evening before you commit.

The Waterclub podium also changed the street. The Globe and Mail’s critic, writing while the third tower was still being built, saw the podium narrowing the roadway between it and Queens Quay Terminal and giving pedestrians a more human scale. That is still the character of this block: busy, built-up and close to everything.

What Waterclub I costs

The building average is about $823 per square foot. That is noticeably less than the Riviera next door at about $952, for a tower of the same era with a bigger amenity package. Part of the gap is fee structure, since the Riviera includes hydro and Waterclub I does not, according to the listing data.

Active listings are concentrated in one-bedrooms in the 600 to 699 sq ft range asking from $539,900 to $573,000 across three suites. That cluster makes it easy to compare like with like, and it tells you where the building’s liquidity is.

Fees on those listings run from about $578 to $627 a month, around $0.89 per square foot. That includes heat, air conditioning, water, insurance and parking. One property manager’s page for the complex says hydro is included too, which conflicts with the listing data for this tower, so confirm with the status certificate whether you will get a separate hydro bill.

Larger suites are where comparables thin out. Two-bedrooms and the biggest units near 1,870 sq ft come up far less often than the one-bedrooms, so expect to compare across all three Waterclub towers and the Riviera when you price one.

Building specifications

Amenities at Waterclub I

This is a full club, not a gym and a party room, and the indoor-outdoor pool is the piece almost nothing else downtown matches. The cost is that a facility this size has to be maintained and shared fairly among three corporations, so read the agreements before you fall for the pool.

Jatin’s honest take on Waterclub I

Waterclub I — frequently asked questions

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