Old Yorke Place II, 25 George St: 40 Big Suites by St. Lawrence Market

Old Yorke Place II is for buyers who want a house-sized suite without leaving St. Lawrence. It has only 40 suites over nine storeys, many of them well over 2,000 square feet, and an amenity list that includes an indoor pool and a squash court. It is also a 1989 building with fees to match its size, and that needs a clear-eyed look. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A boutique building with a full club

Forty suites is small for downtown. You will know your neighbours, elevator waits are short, and the board is a handful of owners rather than a remote committee. The flip side is that every major repair is split 40 ways, so the reserve fund matters more here than in a 400-suite tower.

Despite its size, the building carries an amenity list closer to a much larger building’s: 24-hour concierge, an indoor pool, whirlpool, sauna, fitness room, squash court, library, party room and a landscaped courtyard with a barbecue area. Visitor parking is available. Few buildings this small kept a pool and a squash court.

It is the second phase of a pair. Olde York Place I sits nearby at 160 Frederick Street, and the two names are often spelled differently on listings, so search both spellings when you look for comparables.

Suites sized like houses

This is where Old Yorke Place II stands apart. Recent listings have described two-bedroom-plus-two-den layouts of about 2,300 square feet, with separate living and dining rooms, wood-burning fireplaces, walk-in closets and large laundry rooms with storage. That is detached-house space on a condo floor.

Wood-burning fireplaces are rare in Toronto condos and almost never built today. If one matters to you, confirm with the building whether it may still be used and what the chimney inspection rules are.

Some suites heat with in-suite heat pumps, which owners usually maintain and replace at their own cost. Ask the age of the unit and whether any replacement is due, because that is a real line in your first-year budget.

A 1989 building, so read the paperwork

Thirty-plus years in, most original building systems are either recently replaced or coming due: roofing, windows, the garage membrane, elevators, and the pool’s mechanical equipment. None of that is a reason to walk away; it is a reason to read the reserve fund study and the last few years of board minutes before you firm up.

Many suites here have been renovated, and finishes vary widely from one suite to the next. Price the renovation you would need before you compare suites by price alone.

Who this building is really competing with

A buyer looking at Old Yorke Place II is usually choosing between three things: a large suite in an older St. Lawrence building, a smaller suite in a new tower, or a house. Each has a different trade-off, and the right answer depends on how long you plan to stay.

Against a new tower, Old Yorke Place II gives you roughly double the space for similar money, plus a pool and squash court, but with older systems and a higher fee. Against a house, it gives you a concierge, a garage space and no snow to shovel, with the fee standing in for the maintenance you would otherwise do yourself.

Against Olde York Place I nearby and other older St. Lawrence buildings, compare carefully: the amenities, fee inclusions and suite sizes differ, and so does how well each corporation has kept up with repairs. The reserve fund study is the best way to see that.

St. Lawrence day to day

George Street is a short block from St. Lawrence Market and the Front Street restaurant strip, and the Financial District, Distillery District and waterfront are all within walking distance. For buyers downsizing from a house, being able to shop at the market on foot is often the deciding factor.

The St. Lawrence neighbourhood is mostly mid-rise and established, so the area feels settled compared with the tower growth to the north and east. The panel on this page carries the transit and walkability figures.

Pricing and fees at Old Yorke Place II

With only 40 suites, few units trade in any year, so building-wide averages are thin and I would not rely on a price per square foot figure from a handful of sales. Use the sold report on this page and look at comparable large suites in St. Lawrence as well.

There are currently two large two-bedroom-plus-two-den suites on the market, asking between about $1,129,000 and $1,169,000. At roughly 2,300 square feet, that works out to around $490 to $510 per square foot, well below what newer downtown towers ask. The difference reflects the building’s age, the fee and the renovation work some buyers will want to do.

Fees on those listings are about $2,770 a month, or roughly $1.20 per square foot. That is high, but it includes parking and water as well as common elements and insurance, and it funds a pool, squash court and concierge for only 40 suites. Heat and hydro are separate. Weigh the fee against the space you get: the monthly cost per bedroom compares much better than the per-square-foot number suggests.

One more cost to model is property tax. Large suites carry large assessments, and on a 2,300 square foot unit the annual tax bill can rival the fees of a smaller condo. Ask for the current tax figure before you compare monthly carrying costs with a newer building.

If you need to finance, tell your lender early that the fee is high. Lenders count part of the condo fee in their debt ratios, and on a suite like this that can change how much you qualify for. Getting that settled before you make an offer avoids a difficult condition period.

Building specifications

Amenities at Old Yorke Place II

For 40 suites, this is a remarkable package. You get a pool and a squash court that are rarely crowded, but the cost of running and replacing them is shared among very few owners.

Jatin’s honest take on Old Yorke Place II

Old Yorke Place II — frequently asked questions

Looking at Church–Wellesley, Corktown, Moss Park and Cabbagetown more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.