The Uptown Residences, 35 Balmuto St: Art Deco Tower, All-In Fee

The Uptown Residences is the tower on Balmuto Street that looks like it belongs in 1930s Manhattan: a tapered, Art Deco-inspired shaft over a black granite podium, a block from Yonge and Bloor. What makes it worth a closer look is less the styling than the fee, which covers heat, cooling, water and parking. The trade-off is that it sits close to its neighbours, and some views are short. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

An Art Deco tower on a narrow street

The Uptown was designed by Burka Architects for The Pemberton Group, and the brief was clearly a throwback. The tower tapers as it rises to 48 storeys, the exterior mixes glass with pre-cast panels, and a six-storey podium in polished black granite holds the street. Inside, the lobby is a two-level atrium with columns and a deco chandelier, which sets the tone before you reach the elevator.

It also reads differently from most towers of its era. Around 2011, most new downtown buildings were plain glass slabs; The Uptown went the other way, with a tapered profile and stone-like detailing that give it a recognisable silhouette on the Yorkville skyline. Whether you like the look is personal, but it has aged better than many of its glassier contemporaries.

The catch is the setting. Balmuto is a short side street, and The Uptown went up at the same time as Crystal Blu next door, with only a two-lane service lane between the two podiums. The Manulife Centre towers stand across the street to the west. A construction blogger who followed the tower for years said plainly that he would not want to live that close to other buildings, and that is a fair concern for lower and inward-facing suites.

Higher up, the picture changes. Upper suites clear many of the neighbours and look over Yorkville, the city and the lake. On this street, the floor and the direction a suite faces matter more to its value than almost anything else, so I always compare them view-for-view rather than by square footage alone.

What the fee actually covers

Condos.ca lists the fee here as covering common elements, heat, air conditioning, water, building insurance and parking. That is a much fuller list than most newer towers around Yonge and Bloor, where heating and cooling run through your own meter and parking is a separate charge, if it is available at all.

Across current listings the fee works out to roughly $0.78 per square foot. Put that next to a newer building quoting a lower figure, then add back a parking fee and a heating and cooling bill, and the gap narrows or disappears. Confirm whether parking is included for the specific suite you are looking at, because not every suite in a tower comes with a spot.

Suite sizes, and a data gap I’d flag

Condos.ca reports a suite range of about 1,270 to 2,110 square feet, but the suites currently listed for sale are in the 700 to 899 square foot bands, from one-bedrooms to two-bedrooms. The published range clearly does not capture the smaller suites, so treat it as an incomplete figure and measure the actual floor plan.

In practice, the building offers one-bedrooms, one-plus-dens and two-bedrooms in the 700s and 800s, plus larger suites on upper floors. A one-plus-den at this size works for a professional couple; a two-bedroom at under 900 square feet is tight for a family but reasonable for a downsizer who wants Bloor Street shopping on foot.

Layouts in a tower of this age tend to be more generous than in the micro-suites that followed a few years later. Even so, look closely at den sizes and at whether the second bedroom has a proper window, because that detail drives resale more than the finishes do.

Living a block from Yonge and Bloor

Daily life here revolves around Yonge and Bloor and Yorkville. Bloor Street shopping, the Manulife Centre and the restaurants of Yorkville are on your doorstep, and the transit panel on this page has the subway walking times. You do not need a car for most errands, which makes the included parking a bonus rather than a necessity for many owners.

Balmuto itself is quieter than Yonge or Bay, which is a real advantage at night. The busy streets are a block away rather than under your window.

The neighbourhood keeps changing, with more towers planned and rising around Yonge and Bloor. That brings more shops and services, but it can also mean construction nearby and new buildings in front of today’s views, so ask what has been approved around the suite you are considering.

What The Uptown Residences costs

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $930 per square foot. For a 2011 tower a block from Yonge and Bloor, with heat, cooling and parking in the fee, that is a reasonable number, though the floor and view of each suite can move it a lot.

Five suites were for sale when I checked. One-bedrooms and one-plus-dens in the 700s were asking about $619,000 to $668,000, and two-bedrooms in the 800s about $820,000 to $840,000. Fees on those listings, leaving out one obvious data error, ran from about $551 to $761 a month.

There is a real choice of one-bedroom stock here, which is helpful for comparing like with like. Two-bedrooms are the thinner part of the market, and the gap between them shows how much floor height and exposure are worth in this building. A two-bedroom priced near the top of that range should come with a view that justifies it.

Because the fee includes so much, compare total monthly cost, not fee alone. If you want to see what similar suites have actually traded for, I can pull them through my building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Uptown Residences

Beyond the gym and concierge, the building lists a yoga and Pilates area, steam rooms, a virtual golf room, a theatre lounge, an entertaining lounge with a bar and kitchen, and a terraced garden patio. It is a full package without a pool, which helps keep the fee in check.

Jatin’s honest take on The Uptown Residences

The Uptown Residences — 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.