River City II, 38 Trolley Cres: The White Phase With 40-Plus Floor Plans

River City II is the white half of the pair. Where Phase 1 went matte black and angular, Urban Capital and its architects made Phase 2 a white slab broken into three mini-towers, with boxes popping out at the corners in what looks like a random pattern. The look is distinctive, the plans are varied, and the pool is one of the better reasons to live in the West Don Lands. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Three mini-towers in one white slab

Phase 2 reads from the street as one long white building, but inside it is split into three mini-towers joined by short glazed corridors. That keeps the number of suites per hallway down, so each corridor feels closer to a small building than a 249-suite one.

The cladding is white aluminum, and rectangular boxes extend out at the corners in an irregular pattern. Canadian Architect noted that the variation is deliberate, partly so residents can pick out their own home from outside. It is also why two suites on the same floor can have quite different window and balcony arrangements.

Like Phase 1, the first two levels are fronted by townhouse-style units. Those ground-related suites have their own appeal for buyers with pets or bikes, but they face the street more directly, so think about privacy and noise before you choose one.

White cladding is also a maintenance question. Light-coloured aluminum shows dirt and streaking more than black, and a building that depends on a crisp white look will eventually need cleaning or panel work to keep it. That is not a reason to avoid it, but it is a line I would look for in the reserve fund plan.

More than 40 floor plans

Saucier + Perrotte and ZAS designed more than 40 different floor plans for this phase, even more than Phase 1. Sizes on condos.ca run from about 452 square feet to roughly 1,865. That range covers compact one-bedrooms, family-sized two-plus-dens and the townhouse units at the base.

Plan variety is good for resale, because your suite is not one of thirty identical units competing for the same buyer. The flip side is that a building-wide average tells you little. A corner suite with one of those projecting boxes may trade very differently from an interior suite of the same size.

When you tour, bring the floor plan and check how the projecting boxes and corner glass affect usable wall space. Distinctive rooms can be hard to furnish, and listed square footage does not always translate into the same livable area.

The courtyard, the pool and the above-ground garage

The soil on this former industrial land ruled out a deep underground garage, so the developer built parking above ground in a structure between Phase 1 and Phase 2. Its roof became the courtyard, about 20 metres across, with a shared patio, an outdoor pool and a planted green roof.

Residents of the three buildings that face the courtyard share it, and party rooms in two of the buildings open onto it. The complex amenities described by UrbanToronto also include a two-storey lightbox lounge, two exercise rooms and a guest suite.

Shared facilities mean shared costs. Read the shared-facilities agreement between the River City corporations in the status certificate, and ask how pool and garage costs are split and how decisions are made when one corporation wants to spend and another does not.

The garage arrangement has a practical upside too. An above-ground structure avoids some of the waterproofing problems that older underground garages run into, though it brings its own concrete and membrane maintenance. If a suite comes with parking, ask which level it is on and how residents get between the garage and the tower.

The West Don Lands today

When this phase was finished in 2015, the West Don Lands still felt half-built. Since then the later River City phases, the former Pan Am athletes’ village buildings and new rental and condo towers have filled much of the area in, and it now works as a neighbourhood.

Corktown’s older streets, the Distillery District and the Don River trails are all within walking distance. Waterfront Toronto required LEED Gold for buildings here; if energy performance matters to you, ask the corporation what certification was achieved. The panel on this page covers transit, schools and nearby parks.

Price per square foot and what is listed now

The building average on condos.ca is about $832 per square foot, a little above Phase 1 next door. That fits with Phase 2 being two years newer and having a size range that starts and ends a little larger than Phase 1’s.

At the time of writing four suites were for sale, asking from $360,000 to $1,049,000, with monthly fees from $340 to $1,125. That runs from a compact one-bedroom to a two-bedroom-plus-den, a useful spread for comparison. Five more were listed for lease.

Fees across active listings work out to about $0.85 per square foot. Condos.ca lists common elements, building insurance and parking in the fee, so heat, cooling, water and hydro appear to be on your own account. Add those back before comparing with an older building that includes them.

With more than 40 plans, I would price any suite here against previous sales of the same plan and exposure first, then against the building average. Ask the listing agent for the plan name, or check my building sold report for recent trades in the building.

Building specifications

Amenities at River City II

The courtyard pool is the headline, and it is rare for a building of this size in the east end. Everything else is practical: a gym, party rooms facing the courtyard and a guest suite, shared across the River City phases.

Jatin’s honest take on River City II

River City 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.