100 Yorkville at Bellair: Hariri Pontarini Towers on the Mount Sinai Site

100 Yorkville at Bellair is the building I show buyers who want Yorkville without a glass tower. It is two stone-and-copper buildings set around a private courtyard on the site of the original Mount Sinai Hospital, with only 93 suites and a full hotel-style staff. It is priced like what it is, so the question is not whether it is expensive but whether it is right for you. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A courtyard block on the Mount Sinai site

This is not one tower but a small city block. Hariri Pontarini organised the project around a landscaped courtyard, with an 8-storey building to the west and a taller tower to the east, a two-storey retail building along Yorkville Avenue, and a row of traditionally styled townhouses on Scollard Street to the north.

The history is part of the address. The site was the original home of Mount Sinai Hospital, and the architects restored the hospital’s 1923 facade and worked it into the Yorkville Avenue frontage. The pedestrian entrance for 100 Yorkville sits back from the street in the courtyard, which is why the building feels calmer than its address suggests.

The materials are precast stone, limestone, copper and glass. In a neighbourhood full of glass towers, a stone building tends to age better and hold its look for decades, and I think that shows here more than a decade after completion.

Ten-foot ceilings and five-level townhomes

Suites run from about 723 sq ft to about 5,705 sq ft, which means the building covers everything from a compact pied-à-terre to a full-floor-scale home. Project descriptions mention 10-foot ceilings, double French pocket doors between living room and kitchen, and principal ensuites with domed ceilings and freestanding tubs. Interiors and kitchens were by Gluckstein.

The six Scollard Street townhomes are the unusual part. They are described as five-level Georgian-style homes with 10-foot ceilings and a private elevator, so you get a house with the services of a condo. They come up rarely, and when they do, they compete with Yorkville freeholds rather than with condo suites.

One caution on the numbers. Condos.ca lists 17 floors, the architect describes towers of 8 and 17 storeys, and the long-running project forum lists the tower at 16 storeys and about 61.6 metres. That is a difference in how floors are counted, but ask which floor a suite is really on when you compare views.

The choice between the two buildings is a real one. The lower western building gives you a more intimate, mansion-block feel with fewer neighbours per floor, while the taller eastern tower is where the longer views are. Some buyers care more about the courtyard outlook than the skyline, and both buildings share the same staff and amenities, so walk suites in each before you settle on one.

A fee that covers more than most

Fees here are large in dollars, because suites are large. On the two suites for sale when I checked, the monthly fee ran from about $2,903 to $6,456. What matters more is the list of inclusions: condos.ca shows common elements, heat, air conditioning, building insurance, parking and water.

Heat and air conditioning together in the fee are uncommon in newer Toronto buildings, and parking in the fee matters in Yorkville, where a space can be one of the most expensive parts of owning. Hydro is not listed, so you pay that yourself.

The fee also pays for staffing. Project materials describe 24-hour concierge and valet, which is a real operating cost spread over just 93 suites. That is the main reason this building costs more per square foot to run than a large tower nearby, and it is also why it feels like a hotel when you walk in.

Living at Yorkville and Bellair

You are in the middle of Yorkville’s shopping and dining streets, with Bellair, Cumberland and Bloor’s designer stretch at the door. The courtyard entrance helps, because the residential side is set back from the busiest part of Yorkville Avenue.

The neighbourhood keeps changing, and several tall towers have been built or proposed around Bloor and Yonge in recent years. A low-rise courtyard building will not be replaced, but views from upper floors can change, so check the City of Toronto development applications map for sites around you before you pay for a view.

What 100 Yorkville costs

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $1,962 per square foot. That places it among the most expensive resale buildings in Toronto, in the same group as the newer Yorkville towers, and above most Annex and Rosedale condos.

When I checked, two suites were for sale and two for lease. Asking prices ran from $3,499,000 to $9,500,000. At this level, every suite is close to a one-off, and the right comparison is often a recent sale in the same stack or a Yorkville freehold, not a building average.

At this price point, the fee per square foot is less important than total cost of ownership and what the fee replaces. If you are comparing this building with a newer tower nearby, add separate parking, heat and air conditioning back onto that building’s fee. If you want a quiet read on recent trades, I can pull them through my building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at 100 Yorkville at Bellair

For a building of 93 suites, the amenity package is full: concierge and valet, guest suites, a lounge with a prep kitchen, a boardroom, and a fitness centre with a yoga area, lap pool, whirlpool and steam sauna. A pool in a building this small is expensive to run, which is part of what you pay for in the fee.

Jatin’s honest take on 100 Yorkville at Bellair

100 Yorkville at Bellair — 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.