8 Cumberland Condos: A 51-Storey Yorkville Tower on a Heritage Yonge Base

8 Cumberland is the newest way into Yorkville for a buyer who does not have Yorkville money. It is a 51-storey Great Gulf tower at Yonge and Cumberland, finished in 2024, sitting on top of five restored Victorian storefronts on Yonge, and its one-plus-dens trade well below what the low-rise Yorkville buildings ask. The question is whether a small suite in a 400-unit tower is the Yorkville you actually want. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Fins on the west, Victorian storefronts at the base

The original proposal for this site was 64 storeys. It came down to 51 when architectsAlliance redesigned it, and the result has two quite different faces. The west side carries a run of triangular extruded fins that rise from a cantilever over the podium to the top of the tower; the south side is flatter, with a column of projecting balconies and perforated metal bands between the windows.

At street level, the tower sits behind five three-storey heritage buildings on Yonge Street, which were restored in place during construction. Those storefronts carry the retail, so from the sidewalk the block still reads as the old Yonge strip rather than a glass podium.

The cantilever also lets the tower hover over a new mid-block lane. The wider plan for this part of Yorkville connects Yorkville Avenue to Cumberland Street with pedestrian mews, which is the kind of public-realm detail that changes how a block feels to walk through once it is finished.

A suite mix built for one-bedrooms

The building launched with suites from about 460 to 2,000 sq ft. Condos.ca now records a range of roughly 399 to 1,319 sq ft, which tells you where the bulk of the inventory is: one-bedrooms, one-plus-dens and compact two-bedrooms.

That is not a criticism. It is what makes Yorkville reachable for a first-time buyer, and it is why the building leases well. But compact one-plus-dens in a 400-suite tower are a commodity, and on resale you compete with every other unit of the same plan in the building and with the towers going up next door.

If you are buying to live here, I would look at the two-bedroom plans in the 700 to 800 sq ft range and higher floors with an open view. Those have fewer direct substitutes, and the height of the tower matters: 51 storeys at Yonge and Cumberland put the upper floors well above most of the low-rise Yorkville skyline.

Yorkville is filling in around you

When the tower topped out, UrbanToronto noted that three more projects immediately to the west, 11 YV, The Pemberton and 1255 Bay, were set to add roughly 2,000 units over the following years. That is a lot of new supply, much of it in the same suite sizes as this building.

For an owner-occupier that mostly means construction noise and cranes for a while, plus more neighbours on the sidewalk. For an investor it means competition for tenants and for resale buyers. Know which suites face those sites before you buy, because views to the west can change.

The upside is that the block is becoming a proper part of Yorkville rather than the Yonge Street edge of it. Holt Renfrew, the Bloor Street shops, the Yorkville restaurants and the Rosedale streets to the east are all within a short walk. Transit and nearby food and parks are in the data panel on this page.

Daily reality at Yonge and Cumberland

This corner is where quiet Yorkville meets busy Yonge Street. The entrance is on Cumberland, the calmer side, behind a three-storey glazed lobby, while the Yonge frontage is all shops and foot traffic. Lower suites facing Yonge will hear it late on weekends; the side streets to the west and north are far quieter.

The practical upside of the location is that you rarely need a car. Groceries, pharmacies, gyms and the Bloor Street stores are all close, so for many buyers parking is optional rather than essential. If you do need a space, confirm early whether the suite you like comes with one. That matters, because in a tower of compact suites, a suite without parking is cheaper to buy and easier to rent.

It is also a building where the lobby and elevators are your daily experience of the place. Spend ten minutes in the lobby at 8 a.m. and again at 6 p.m. before you commit. How concierge handles deliveries and move-ins in a 400-suite building tells you a lot about how the corporation is run.

Pricing and fees at 8 Cumberland

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $1,170 per square foot. That is high in absolute terms but, for compact suites in a brand-new Yorkville tower, it is roughly where the market sits. Small suites always carry a higher per-square-foot number than large ones, so compare like with like.

On current listings, three one-plus-dens in the 500 to 599 sq ft band are asking between about $645,000 and $660,000, and four two-bedrooms in the 700 to 799 sq ft band range from about $864,000 to $999,000. The spread on the two-bedrooms is mostly floor and exposure.

Fees on active listings average about $0.89 per square foot, roughly $490 to $520 a month for the one-plus-dens and $620 to $780 for the two-bedrooms. That fee covers common elements, building insurance and water; hydro, heat and cooling are not listed as included, and parking, if a suite has it, should be confirmed separately. For individual building sales, see my building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at 8 Cumberland Condos

Condos.ca lists concierge, a gym, a party room and a rooftop deck; the 2016 launch material also promised a lounge and two plunge pools, so confirm what was actually delivered on a visit. For a building aimed at young professionals, the concierge and gym are the parts that get used daily.

Jatin’s honest take on 8 Cumberland Condos

8 Cumberland Condos — 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.