The Indigo, 50 Lombard St: 104 Big Suites, Few Neighbours Per Floor

The Indigo is what downtown condos used to look like before the 400-square-foot one-bedroom took over. Mollenhauer finished this glass-and-steel tower on Lombard Street in 1993, spread just 104 suites over 26 floors, and gave most of them solariums and real room to live. The trade-off is a monthly fee that has always looked high next to the newer towers around it, and the question is whether that fee buys you enough. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

About four suites a floor, and why that matters

Divide 104 suites by 26 storeys and you get four suites a floor on average. Building profiles put it at no more than five. In a downtown market where a typical tower puts 10 to 15 doors on every corridor, that is a different way of living.

Fewer suites per floor means shorter hallways, fewer neighbours sharing your wall and your elevator lobby, and more corner and two-exposure suites. It also means the building has a small owner base for its size, so every board decision and every special project is shared among fewer people. That cuts both ways, and it is part of why the fee looks the way it does.

The other practical point is that you tend to know who lives on your floor. Owners I speak with in small-floorplate buildings like this one value that more than any amenity.

Solariums and layouts built before the shoebox

Suites range from studios to two bedrooms plus den, at roughly 540 to 1,399 square feet. Most layouts include a solarium, a glassed-in room off the living area that adds light and usable space. Buyers use them as offices, dining areas or a reading corner, and in a two-bedroom-plus-den plan it can push the suite well past what a new two-bedroom offers.

A 2017 Globe and Mail report on a corner two-bedroom-plus-den here described windows running almost the full width of the main room, den and primary bedroom, with the kitchen and baths set toward the core. The listing agent’s comment was that buyers came for the size and the corner layout, which they rarely see in new construction any more. That still matches what I hear from buyers today.

Because the building is more than 30 years old, finishes vary widely. Some suites have been taken back to the studs and redone; others still have original kitchens and closed-in plans. Price the renovation into any suite you look at rather than comparing a gutted unit against an original one as if they were the same product.

Built with backup power and fast elevators

Two details stand out for a 1993 building. Profiles note that the elevators are fast and are served by a backup generator, so you are not walking 26 floors during a power failure. For a tall building with few suites per floor, that is a meaningful comfort, especially for older owners.

The building has also been described as an early hydro-saving, greener design for its time. I would not take that as a reason to buy on its own, but it is worth asking the property manager what energy work has been done since, because it shows up in the operating budget.

Common areas have reportedly been updated and renovated over recent years. Ask for the dates and costs of that work in the status certificate package, and whether it was paid for from the reserve fund or by special assessment.

Lombard Street day to day

Lombard is a short, quiet street that runs east from Church toward Jarvis, a block south of Richmond and a block north of King. Being off the arterials keeps traffic noise down, and it puts you between the financial district to the west and St. Lawrence Market and St. James Park to the south.

The street has changed a lot since the Indigo went up. The 2017 Globe piece quoted the listing agent saying the area had become much more desirable over the previous five to ten years, and it now includes the 45-storey Spire at 33 Lombard, the soft lofts at Absolute at 77 Lombard and the French Quarter at 120 Lombard. Transit, schools and walkability are covered by the automatic panel on this page.

What the Indigo costs per square foot

The Indigo averages about $622 per square foot on condos.ca. That is low for a downtown building this central, and it reflects two things: the building’s age and the size of the suites. Large suites almost always trade at a lower price per square foot than small ones, so a 1,200-square-foot two-bedroom-plus-den here will look cheap per foot against a 550-square-foot one-bedroom in a new tower.

The fee is the other half of the picture. The 2017 Globe report noted that fees here ran higher than at neighbouring towers around Richmond Street, and that suites could take three to four weeks to sell as a result. Before you compare, remember what is included: heat, air conditioning, water and parking are all in the fee, so the only major utility on your own bill is hydro.

There were no active listings when this review was written, which is common in a 104-suite building. Ask me for the recent sold report before you set a budget, and look at the fee per square foot on the specific suite, because it varies with size and floor.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Indigo

The amenity list is modest by modern standards: concierge, a rooftop deck, a party room, a meeting room, guest suites and a gym. There is no pool, which helps keep long-term costs in check, and the rooftop deck is the feature owners mention most.

Jatin’s honest take on The Indigo

The Indigo — frequently asked questions

Looking at St. Lawrence, the Financial District and Downtown Yonge more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.