Minto 30 Roe, 30 Roehampton Ave: A LEED Gold Tower With Sub-Metered Suites

Minto 30 Roe at 30 Roehampton Avenue is the building I bring up when a buyer asks whether green certification actually matters. It earned LEED Gold in 2018, every suite has its own meters, and the green features are documented on a City of Toronto profile rather than just in a brochure. What it does not have is large suites, so this is a one- and two-bedroom building through and through. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

What LEED Gold means when you live here

Most green claims on condo brochures are vague. Here the details are on public record. The City of Toronto’s Green Standard profile for 30 Roehampton records energy savings of about 41 percent against the national model energy code baseline, a green roof of more than 1,000 square metres and a 60,000-litre tank that collects rainwater for irrigation.

Inside the suites, each unit has its own heat recovery ventilator bringing in filtered outdoor air, ENERGY STAR appliances including a front-loading washer, and an all-off switch at the door that cuts the lights and designated outlets when you leave. Low-VOC paints and adhesives were used in the finishes.

The practical result is lower common energy costs, which feed into the fee, and suites that tend to feel less stuffy than older towers. None of that will show up in a listing photo, but it does show up in the budget over time.

Individual meters: read the fee with that in mind

The city profile notes that electricity, hot water and cold water are metered to each suite. That means you pay for what you use, and the building’s water bill is not spread evenly across owners. Condos.ca’s fee inclusions are consistent with this: water and hydro are not listed, while heat, air conditioning and parking are.

For a careful user, sub-metering is good news. For an investor, it is a line you need to explain to tenants and build into the rent. Before you buy, ask for a recent year of utility bills for a similar suite, and ask who the sub-metering provider is and what they charge in service fees, because those charges vary.

The building also has storage for about 400 bicycles and infrastructure for 20 electric vehicle chargers. If you drive an EV, ask how charging is assigned and billed today, rather than assuming your space has a charger.

Compact suites from Wallman Architects

Condos.ca records suite sizes from about 503 to 920 square feet, and the active listings bear that out: one-bedrooms in the 500s and 600s, one-plus-dens and two-bedrooms in the 600s and 700s. There are no large family suites here; with a top size of about 920 square feet, there is little room for a true three-bedroom.

That makes the building easy to understand. You are choosing between a well-planned one-bedroom, a one-plus-den that can work as a small office, and a compact two-bedroom. In a two-bedroom under 700 square feet, check that the second bedroom has a window and a closet and is not just a large den.

Higher floors are where the views and the value differ. A south- or west-facing suite on an upper floor looks back over Yonge and Eglinton, while lower suites can face neighbouring towers at close range on a street that has densified quickly.

Roehampton Avenue, one block north of the corner

Roehampton is one short block north of Eglinton, just east of Yonge. You are steps from the Yonge-Eglinton shops and restaurants, but on a side street rather than the main road, which helps with noise.

The street itself has changed enormously in the last decade, with several towers completed around 30 Roe since it opened, including the rental tower of the E Condos complex. Expect continued construction in the area, and choose your exposure with that in mind.

For daily errands, the Yonge-Eglinton Centre and the grocery stores around the intersection are close enough to do on foot, which is the main reason people pay midtown prices for a compact suite. If you own a car, check how the garage entrance handles rush hour, because Roehampton now serves several large buildings.

What Minto 30 Roe costs

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $863 per square foot. That sits slightly below the newest towers at the intersection, which is what you would expect for a ten-year-old building with compact suites.

At the time of writing there were five active listings asking from $525,000 of about 500 to 599 square feet to $699,000 of about 700 to 799 square feet. Monthly fees across those listings ranged from about $479 to $699, which works out to roughly $0.86 per square foot on average.

That fee includes heat, air conditioning and parking according to condos.ca, but not water or hydro, which are on your own meters. When you compare with a building that includes water, or one that charges parking separately, adjust for those costs before deciding which is cheaper.

With 397 suites and a narrow range of plans, there is usually a steady supply of comparable listings. That works in a buyer’s favour: you can wait for the right floor and exposure rather than paying a premium for the first suite you see. As a seller, it means pricing and presentation matter, because buyers can always walk down the hall to a near-identical unit.

For recent resale figures rather than asking prices, see the automatic data panel on this page or ask me for a building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at Minto 30 Roe

The package is practical rather than lavish: a well-equipped gym, a party room, a workspace, a theatre room, guest suites and a landscaped outdoor terrace with barbecues. There is no pool, which keeps operating costs and long-term replacement bills lower than at towers that have one.

Jatin’s honest take on Minto 30 Roe

Minto 30 Roe — 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.