The Liberties, 711 & 717 Bay St: Pool, Running Track and All-In Fees

The Liberties at 711 and 717 Bay Street is one of those older Bay Street complexes that gets overlooked next to the glass towers around it, and I think it deserves a closer look. It is a 1990 H&R Developments building with an indoor pool, a running track and a car wash, and a fee that includes your hydro. You pay for that convenience every month, so the numbers need to work for you. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Two addresses, one corporation, three buildings

The naming confuses people, so let me untangle it. Liberties I and II share one condominium corporation, MTCC-901, with entrances at 711 and 717 Bay Street. Liberties III, at 44 Gerrard Street West, is the third building in the complex but is listed as a separate building, so check which corporation a suite belongs to before you compare fees or read a status certificate.

H&R Developments, which also built The Wellington on Wellington Street East, completed the Bay Street towers in 1990. At 20 storeys, they are mid-rise by today’s Bay Street standards, and the complex reads as a solid, brick-and-glass block rather than a landmark.

That modest profile has an upside: it is a big complex with a full amenity package, but it does not carry the price premium of the newer towers on Bay. You are paying for location and space, not for a name.

Solariums and practical layouts

Suites range from about 500 sq ft to about 1,352 sq ft, with studios, one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms with a den. A number of suites have an enclosed solarium, a glassed-in area common in buildings of this era. Agents marketing suites here have pointed to the solariums and to good storage as selling points.

A solarium is a flexible space. It can be a home office, a reading corner or an extension of the living room, but it is usually not a legal bedroom, and it can run warmer in summer and cooler in winter than the rest of the suite. Look at how a particular suite has used it.

I could not verify ceiling heights from a reliable source. Expect standard heights for a 1990 building rather than the higher ceilings of a newer luxury tower, and measure during your visit if that matters to you.

The amenity list is the reason to look

Condos.ca lists an indoor pool, a gym, a sauna, concierge and security, and listings for suites here add a running track, a party room, a billiards room, a media room, a rooftop deck and garden, a car wash and bike storage. That is a longer list than many newer towers on Bay Street can offer.

Those amenities carry a real cost. Pools, saunas and running tracks are expensive to run and eventually to rebuild, and in a 1990 building some of that equipment is likely to be original or nearing replacement. The reserve fund study will tell you whether the corporation has planned for it.

Ask the manager how bookings work for the busier facilities and whether the amenities are shared with Liberties III. Across a complex of three buildings, two corporations and more than 500 households, shared-facility agreements and their costs are worth understanding before you buy.

Life at Bay and Gerrard

The location is central without being in the thick of the Financial District. The College Park shops and grocery store are a short walk to the north-east, Yonge Street and the Eaton Centre are a short walk east and south, and the hospitals on University Avenue are a few minutes west. Many owners and tenants here are students, hospital staff and people who work downtown.

Bay Street is busy, and Gerrard is a through street, so suites facing either one hear traffic. Higher floors and suites facing away from the street are generally quieter, and Liberties III on Gerrard is the calmer of the three buildings.

The skyline around the complex has changed a lot since 1990. UrbanToronto has documented the growth along Gerrard: Aura at Yonge and Gerrard, the 43-storey Livmore rental tower finished in 2018, and the expansion of 700 Bay, which added six levels and a 32-storey addition. At 20 storeys, The Liberties is now one of the shorter buildings in the cluster, so views from many suites look onto neighbouring towers, and that is unlikely to change. Check the City of Toronto’s development applications map before you pay for a view.

What The Liberties costs

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $729 per square foot. That sits below most newer towers on the Bay corridor, and the gap reflects the building’s age and its all-inclusive fees rather than its location, which is excellent. Fees per square foot here are higher than in a new tower, and that is the price of the all-inclusive model.

When I checked, two two-bedroom suites were listed for sale, asking from about $730,000 to $760,000, with fees of roughly $1,160 to $1,235 a month. Those fees look high until you remember they include hydro, heat, air conditioning, water and cable, so compare total monthly costs with a newer building, not fee against fee.

Parking is not on the condos.ca list of fee inclusions, so confirm whether a suite comes with a space and what it costs. To see what similar layouts have actually sold for, use my building sold report before you make an offer.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Liberties I & II

For daily life, this means you can swim, run and work out without leaving the building or paying for a gym, which is rare in this price range on Bay Street. The car wash and bike storage are small things that owners notice every week.

Jatin’s honest take on The Liberties I & II

The Liberties I & II — 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.