5 Rosehill Ave: A 1997 Boutique Mid-Rise Where Even Hydro Is in the Fee

5 Rosehill is the building I show buyers who want Yonge and St. Clair without a tower. It is seven storeys and 93 suites, built in 1997 by Minuk Developments, with corner suites that look over a landscaped courtyard and a maintenance fee that covers almost every utility, hydro included. That fee is the first thing people object to and, once you do the arithmetic, often the reason they buy. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A low building on a street of taller ones

Rosehill Avenue is one of midtown’s better-kept secrets: a short street running east from Yonge toward the Rosehill Reservoir and the ravine parkland beyond it. It carries a mix of apartment buildings of different eras, and 5 Rosehill sits at the low end of the height range at about 20 metres.

That height is the point. Seven storeys and 93 suites means a lobby where the concierge knows the residents, fewer elevator waits and a board that is small enough to follow. Buyers who come from houses in Moore Park or Summerhill usually tell me that scale feels closer to what they are leaving than a 30-storey tower would.

The trade-off is views. You are not buying a skyline here. You are buying trees, the courtyard and a quiet street, and you should walk the suite at different times of day to make sure that is what you want.

The courtyard and the corner suites

The feature people remember is the courtyard: a landscaped garden with a fountain that the building wraps around. The corner suites that overlook it are the ones that come up first when owners describe the building, and in my experience they are the ones to wait for.

Interior suites that face the street or the side lot are perfectly serviceable, but they do not get the same outlook. In a building this size, the difference between stacks is bigger than the difference between finishes, so compare plans and orientation before you compare kitchens.

No architect is credited in the sources I could find, and I could not confirm ceiling heights. Measure them yourself; late-1990s mid-rises vary more than people expect.

Layouts: studios to near-house sizes

The suite range is wide, roughly 425 to 2,503 sq ft. At the small end you have compact one-bedrooms that suit a first-time midtown buyer or an investor. At the large end you have full-size suites aimed squarely at downsizers.

The current listings illustrate the middle of the building well: one-bedrooms in the 500s of square feet and two-bedrooms from the 700s into the 800s. The largest plans trade rarely, so if you need 1,500 square feet or more, tell me early and be prepared to wait.

Parking is a point to confirm suite by suite. The building has an underground garage and visitor parking, and some listings include a space, but parking is not among the listed fee inclusions. Ask whether the space is owned, leased or assigned, and whether a locker comes with it.

How it compares on Rosehill Avenue

Rosehill Avenue gives you an unusually clean set of comparables within a few hundred metres. 40 Rosehill is a 1988 tower of 15 storeys and only 42 suites, all of them from about 1,130 sq ft up, at a condos.ca average near $950 per square foot. The Rosehill at 70 Rosehill is a 1984 Costain building of ten storeys and 61 very large suites, from about 2,040 sq ft, averaging around $1,341 per square foot.

Against those two, 5 Rosehill is the newest, the lowest and the most flexible on size. It is the only one of the three where you can buy a one-bedroom, and it trades at the lowest average per square foot. If you are a downsizer who needs 2,000 square feet, the other two are probably the better fit. If you need 600 to 1,200 square feet, this is the building on the street to watch.

That range also shapes who your neighbours are. A mix of compact and large suites means a mix of younger professionals, retirees and some tenants, which keeps resale demand broad. When you sell, you are not waiting for one narrow type of buyer.

Pricing and the fee that looks high until it doesn’t

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $842 per square foot. For a low-rise building this close to Yonge and St. Clair, that is moderate; newer towers on and around Yonge routinely ask well above $1,000 per square foot.

The fee is the headline objection. On the current listings it works out to about $1.31 per square foot, and the monthly fees across those listings range from about $691 to $1,123. That is high next to a newer building quoting $0.70 or $0.80.

But look at what it covers: heat, air conditioning, hydro, water, building insurance and common elements. Hydro inclusion is rare in Toronto, and once you add an electricity bill and a heating and cooling bill back onto the cheaper building, much of the gap closes. You also get a monthly cost that does not swing with the seasons.

Three suites were listed when I checked, asking from about $509,900 to about $779,000. For the recorded resale history, ask me for the building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at 5 Rosehill

This is a staffed, quiet building rather than an amenity showpiece: concierge and security, a party room and meeting room, a modest exercise room and the courtyard garden. There is no pool, so if that matters, look at the larger towers nearby. For most owners here, the courtyard is the amenity they use every day.

Jatin’s honest take on 5 Rosehill

5 Rosehill — 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.