Marquis at Northtown, 8 McKee Ave: Large Tridel Suites, Eight per Floor

Marquis at Northtown at 8 McKee Avenue is the building I show downsizers who want to stay near Yonge and Finch but will not accept a small suite. Every suite here is more than 1,000 square feet, there are only about eight per floor, and it has the pool and sauna Tridel built into its towers of that era. When I checked, it had one suite for sale and one for rent, which tells you how seldom these homes come up. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

No small suites at all

The defining fact about the Marquis is its suite mix. Condos.ca lists suites from about 1,006 to 1,550 square feet, which means there are no studios and no compact one-bedrooms. You are choosing between large two-bedrooms, two-bedroom-plus-dens and three-bedrooms.

Listings describe nine-foot ceilings and dens large enough to work as an office or media room. One recent listing was a three-bedroom with a large den, which is the kind of suite that is very hard to find in the newer towers on Yonge.

That mix shapes who lives here. Large suites draw families and people leaving a house rather than short-term investors, which is why the building had so few suites listed for sale or rent when I checked.

Large suites also age differently. A 1,300 square foot suite from 2004 may still have its original kitchen, bathrooms and flooring, and updating them costs more than in a small suite. Look at what has been renovated, ask for receipts and permits for any major work, and price the rest into your offer.

Eight suites per floor, 16 floors

With 120 suites over 16 storeys, the Marquis has roughly eight homes per floor, and one listing described this as one of its main selling points. Fewer neighbours on each floor means quieter hallways, shorter waits for the elevator and a building where people tend to know each other.

It is also a mid-rise by the standards of this stretch of Yonge, where towers of 30 storeys or more are the norm. You give up the high-floor skyline views of the bigger towers, but you also avoid the busy lobbies.

Listings describe a brick exterior and suites with forced-air heating and central air. That is a sign the heating and cooling equipment is inside each suite, so ask how old the equipment is and who is responsible for replacing it.

A small building also has a small budget. Every major repair, from the roof to the garage, is shared among 120 owners rather than 300 or 400, so a large project shows up more sharply in each owner’s fee or in a special levy if the reserve fund is short. That is not a reason to avoid the building, but it is a reason to read the reserve fund study with more care than usual.

Parking and what the fee really covers

Parking is underground, and some suites come with two spaces. One listing highlighted spaces positioned right across from the elevators, which is worth asking about because position in the garage matters when you are carrying groceries every week.

Sources do not agree on what the fee includes. Condos.ca lists air conditioning, common elements, heat, building insurance and water. One listing on Wahi showed hydro, water, parking, cable and heat as inclusions, but it is not clear whether that refers to the fee or to the suite. Confirm the exact inclusions in the status certificate, because the answer changes your monthly budget.

Ask too whether parking is owned with the suite or assigned, since condos.ca does not list parking among the fee inclusions here.

Part of the Northtown group off Yonge

McKee Avenue sits just east of Yonge Street, a little south of Finch, in a group of early-2000s towers that also includes Grande Triomphe and the other Triomphe buildings on Northtown Way. Listings point to the subway, GO and Viva buses, schools, parks, shops, restaurants and quick access to the 401.

The data panel on this page has the transit, school and walkability details. Day to day, the appeal is that you can live in a house-sized suite and still walk to Yonge for groceries, restaurants and the subway.

Because McKee is a side street, the building is quieter than the towers that face Yonge directly, while the shops and transit are only a short walk away. That balance is a big part of why the suites here hold their appeal with owners leaving a house.

What Marquis at Northtown costs

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $675 per square foot, below the roughly $737 at Grande Triomphe around the corner. That is partly a size effect: large suites almost always sell for less per square foot than small ones, so do not compare this building’s average directly with a tower full of one-bedrooms.

When I checked there was only one suite for sale and one for rent, so I will not quote an asking price here. With so few listings, recent closed sales of similar-sized suites in this building are the only reliable guide, and you may need to wait for the right suite.

Because every suite is large, fees are high in total but should be judged per square foot and against what they include. Compare the cost of a suite here with a small freehold house nearby, including utilities, snow clearing and upkeep. For the latest closed results, use the sold data on this page or ask me for a building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at Marquis at Northtown

For a building of only 120 suites, this is a generous package: an indoor pool, hot tub, sauna, gym, party and games rooms and a guest suite. The trade-off is that fewer owners share the cost of running and eventually rebuilding the pool, so check how the reserve fund handles it.

Jatin’s honest take on Marquis at Northtown

Marquis at Northtown — frequently asked questions

Looking at Yonge & Eglinton, Davisville and North Toronto more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.