Empire Plaza, 33 University Ave: Big 1990 Suites, Hydro in the Fee

Empire Plaza is what downtown condos looked like before the micro-suite: a 1990 tower in red granite and blue glass at the foot of University Avenue, with suites that start around 600 square feet and go past 3,000. The fee looks high until you notice it includes hydro. For buyers who want space in the Financial District, it is one of the few places to find it. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A 1990 tower with a rounded granite face

Young + Wright Architects designed Empire Plaza for Centara Corporation, and it went up between 1988 and 1990. The rounded facade of red granite and blue-tinted glass is an Art Deco-inspired design that stands out from the flat office towers around it. It is one of the older condominiums in the Financial District, from a time when few people lived in the core.

SkyscraperPage records 28 floors above ground and six basement levels, with retail as well as residential use. For a buyer, the age is the key fact: this is a 36-year-old building, and its value depends on how well the corporation has kept up the systems that a building of this age needs.

The design has held up better than much of what was built downtown in that period. Granite weathers well, and the rounded form still gives the building a clear identity at the foot of University Avenue. Inside, though, the building reflects its era: hallways, lobbies and suite finishes are a generation older than the towers around it, unless they have been updated.

Big suites, and an all-inclusive fee

Condos.ca lists suites from about 624 to 3,171 square feet. There are no studios or tiny one-bedrooms here. Current listings are two-bedrooms, two-plus-dens and a three-plus-den, the kind of space that is very hard to find in newer Financial District towers.

Layouts from this era tend to be more traditional, with separate dining areas, real foyers, more closet space and bedrooms that fit a full set of furniture. For downsizers coming from a house, that matters more than nine-foot ceilings or integrated appliances. Measure the rooms against what you plan to bring.

The fee includes common elements, heat, hydro, air conditioning, water and building insurance, according to condos.ca. Hydro is the unusual one. In most downtown buildings you pay your own electricity bill, and in a large suite with air conditioning that bill is meaningful. Here it is part of the fee, which makes your monthly cost easier to predict.

The flip side is that a bundled hydro bill is shared, so owners who use little electricity help pay for those who use a lot. And the corporation carries the risk of rising energy prices, which flows through to fees over time. Ask how fees have moved over the last several years.

What a 36-year-old building means

Buildings of this age are into their second round of major work: elevators, windows, the garage, heating and cooling equipment and the roof. None of that is a reason to avoid Empire Plaza, but it is the reason to read the reserve fund study and board minutes before anything else.

Older suites also vary a lot in condition. Some have been fully renovated, others still have original kitchens and bathrooms. Two suites of the same size can be worth very different amounts, so price the renovation into your offer if the suite needs one.

Because there are relatively few suites and they are large, each owner carries a bigger share of any major repair than in an 800-suite tower. A special assessment or a fee increase lands harder per suite, so a strong reserve fund is worth more here than in a big new building.

Living at University and Wellington

You are at the south end of University Avenue, among the Financial District’s office towers, with Union Station and the PATH network nearby. The transit panel on this page has the exact walking times. For someone who commutes by GO or walks to Bay Street, the location is hard to beat.

Like the rest of the Financial District, the area is quieter in the evenings and on weekends. King West’s restaurants and the theatre district are a walk away when you want them, but the immediate blocks are mostly offices.

What Empire Plaza costs

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $703 per square foot, well below the $850 to $900 range of the newer towers in the area covered on these pages. Some of that is age and condition, and some is that large suites always trade at a lower price per square foot than small ones.

Four suites were for sale when I checked, asking from about $730,000 to about $1.2 million. Fees on those listings ran from about $920 to $1,732 a month.

With only a handful of listings at a time in a 224-suite building, and suites of very different sizes and conditions, the asking range is wide. Price per square foot is a better guide than headline price, and condition can move it a long way.

Those fees look steep, but they include hydro, heat and cooling, which you would pay separately almost anywhere else. Compare total monthly cost before you decide. For a large suite with an all-in fee, the math often works out closer than it first looks. For past trades, see my building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at Empire Plaza

The amenities are modest by today’s standards: concierge, a rooftop deck, a sauna, party and meeting rooms, and visitor parking. You buy here for the suite and the location, not for a resort-style amenity floor.

Jatin’s honest take on Empire Plaza

Empire Plaza — 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.