The Rosedale on Bloor, 395 Bloor St E: Hotel Tower, Compact Suites

The Rosedale on Bloor is a new tower that sits on top of a hotel, and that one fact shapes almost everything about owning here. It is a 2023 building at Bloor and Sherbourne with a Canopy by Hilton in its base, compact suites upstairs, and asking prices that start lower than most new towers on Bloor. The name sells Rosedale; the address is the north edge of St. James Town, and I want you to buy it for what it is. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A condo stacked on a hotel

The base of this building is the Canopy by Hilton Toronto Yorkville, which opened in early 2023. The Daily Commercial News reported 184 rooms, an indoor pool, a fitness centre, meeting space and two restaurants, with interiors by Studio Munge. Easton’s Group of Hotels operates it, in partnership with Hilton and the Gupta Group.

For residents, that brings real benefits: a restaurant and bar in your own building, and a lobby that is staffed and active at all hours. It also brings things to understand before you buy. Hotel guests come and go, deliveries and taxis use the same frontage, and the hotel and the condominium share a structure, mechanical systems and probably some costs.

In a building like this there is normally a shared facilities or reciprocal agreement that sets out who pays for what between the hotel and the condo corporation. Ask for it with the status certificate and read the cost-sharing sections. That document will tell you more about your long-term fees than any listing will.

What came down to make room

According to UrbanToronto, the site previously held two single-storey retail buildings from the 1920s and a listed heritage property, a converted Victorian house with a retail addition, all replaced by this project. The tower was redesigned before approval: the roof cornice was dropped, the podium was reworked with more stone and less glass, and the tower lost its strict east-west symmetry.

The finished building is about 576 feet tall, with a mid-rise podium stepping down toward Selby Street. UrbanToronto’s forum thread lists it as 55 storeys while condos.ca and the 2015 report say 52, a difference that likely comes down to how mechanical and amenity floors are counted. Confirm the floor of any suite on the registered plan.

Small suites, and what they are good for

condos.ca lists suites from about 307 to 871 square feet. That is a building of studios, one-bedrooms, one-plus-dens and compact two-bedrooms. There is nothing here for a family that needs 1,000 square feet or more.

The current listings bear that out: almost everything on the market is a one-plus-den in the 500 to 699 square foot range or a two-bedroom under 700 square feet. These suites suit a single professional, a couple without children, a student’s parents buying a place near the downtown campuses, or an investor who wants a new-build rental near the subway.

Parking is limited. UrbanToronto reported 180 spaces in a five-level underground garage reached from Selby Street, against roughly 476 to 487 suites. Most suites will not come with a space, so confirm on the status certificate whether the one you are looking at does.

Bloor and Sherbourne, day to day

The building sits at Bloor and Sherbourne, a few blocks east of Bloor-Yonge, with Sherbourne station very close by. The Rosedale ravines and the Rosedale neighbourhood are just north across Bloor, and Yorkville is a short subway ride or a long walk west.

To the south is St. James Town, one of the densest residential neighbourhoods in Canada. The streetscape around this corner is a mix of hotel, office, older apartment towers and new condos, and it is busier and less polished than the name suggests. Walk the block at night and on a weekday morning before you decide. Do not confuse this building with The Rosedale, an older condominium a few doors east at 409 Bloor Street East; it is a separate building with its own corporation.

Low entry prices, higher fees

condos.ca puts the building average at about $813 per square foot. That is below the newest towers around Yonge and Wellesley, such as Teahouse at about $945, and in line with Via Bloor further east at about $829. Among other recent completions nearby, 81 Wellesley sits around $750 and 159SW around $765.

At the time of writing there were 11 suites for sale and five for rent. Across eight listings I reviewed, asking prices ran from about $389,000 to $599,000. One-plus-dens in the 500 to 699 square foot range asked roughly $389,000 to $535,000, and two-bedrooms under 700 square feet asked about $500,000 to $599,000. For a new building on Bloor, those are some of the lowest entry prices you will find.

The fees are the part to look at carefully. Active listings showed monthly fees of roughly $409 to $637, which works out to about $0.97 per square foot. For a 2023 tower that is on the high side; several newer buildings nearby run closer to $0.70 to $0.90. condos.ca does not list what the fee covers, so get the inclusions and the hotel cost-sharing terms before you compare.

When there are many similar small suites for sale at once, as there are here, buyers have negotiating room and sellers compete on price. That is good for an owner-occupier buying now. It also means resale can be slow if you need to sell in a soft market, so check the closed numbers in my building sold report before you offer.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Rosedale on Bloor

condos.ca lists an indoor pool, gym, yoga studio, outdoor patio, dining room, catering kitchen and meeting room. Ask which of these are condo amenities and which belong to the hotel, and whether residents share any of them with hotel guests, because that affects both crowding and how costs are split.

Jatin’s honest take on The Rosedale on Bloor

The Rosedale on Bloor — 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.