The Hampton Condos, 260 Merton St: Heat, Cooling and Parking Included

The Hampton is a small 1999 building on Merton Street that most buyers only find because a suite came up and they went to see it. It has 65 suites, a rooftop deck and one of the more complete fee packages on the street, with heat, cooling and parking all included. What it does not have is choice: suites rarely come up. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A small building at the quiet end of Merton

Merton Street runs east from Yonge just north of Mount Pleasant Cemetery, and The Hampton sits near its eastern end, close to Mount Pleasant Road. With eight storeys and 65 suites, it is closer in scale to the low-rise streets around it than to the towers that have gone up near Yonge and Davisville.

Small buildings like this have a particular feel. You get to know your neighbours, the board is made up of people you see in the elevator, and decisions get made quickly. The trade-off is that there are fewer owners to share any large expense, which is why the reserve fund matters so much here.

Do not confuse it with Hampton Mews at 151 Merton Street, a separate condominium further west on the same street. The names are close enough that listings and search results sometimes get mixed up, so check the address and the corporation number, MTCC-1238, on anything you read.

Condos.ca lists the builder as Merton Development Corporation, which reads like a company set up for this one project. I could not find the architect or any other buildings by the same developer. After more than 25 years, that matters less than how the corporation has been run since, and the board minutes and reserve fund study will tell you far more than the builder’s name.

Suites: mostly one-bedroom-plus-den and two-bedroom

Condos.ca records suite sizes of about 718 to 901 sq ft. That is a narrow band built around one-bedroom-plus-den and two-bedroom suites, and it reflects what has traded rather than every plan in the building, so there may be a few larger or smaller suites that have not come up recently.

A 700 to 900 sq ft suite from 1999 is usually a more conventional layout than a new one: a proper kitchen rather than a wall of cabinets, defined rooms and often a separate den big enough for a desk or a guest bed. The finishes depend entirely on how much the owner has updated, so expect a wide range in condition from one suite to the next.

When you view, look at the windows, the heating and cooling equipment in the suite and the age of the kitchen and bathrooms. Those are the things that most often need replacing in a building of this age, and in a fully inclusive building the in-suite units may be the owner’s responsibility to maintain.

A fee that covers almost everything but hydro

The fee here includes common elements, heat, air conditioning, building insurance, parking and water. That is a much fuller package than most newer buildings in midtown, where heat, cooling and parking are often extra. Hydro for your lights and appliances is not listed, so budget for that separately.

Because so much is included, the fee per square foot will look high next to a new tower. Do not compare those numbers directly. Add a parking charge and a year of heating and cooling bills to the newer building before you decide which is cheaper.

Condos.ca lists a pet restriction for the building. I could not find the details, so read the declaration and rules in the status certificate before you buy if you have a pet or plan to get one.

Merton Street is changing

Merton has been one of the fastest-changing side streets in midtown. In 2022, KingSett Capital applied to build a 35-storey, 346-suite condominium at 214 to 224 Merton, a short way west of The Hampton, replacing three two-storey commercial buildings and adding a small public park. A separate application at 185 Balliol Street, one block north, includes parkland that would join that new park.

For an owner here, that brings more shops and services, but also years of construction and the chance that a new tower changes the view or the light. Ask which way the suite faces and check the City of Toronto development applications map for the nearest sites.

Day to day, you have the Mount Pleasant shops a short walk away and the cemetery’s green space just to the south. The data panel on this page has the transit, school and park details.

Pricing: about $753 a square foot, with a lot included

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $753 per square foot. That is well below the newer midtown towers, which average roughly $875 to $925, and below Le Corbu Lofts at 194 Merton, a converted loft building nearby, at about $896. Age explains part of the gap, and the narrow range of suite sizes explains some of the rest.

When I checked, there was only one suite for sale and none for rent, so there is no meaningful range of asking prices to quote. That is normal for a 65-suite building, and it means the fair value of any given suite has to be worked out from past sales here and in similar buildings nearby rather than from other active listings.

With heat, cooling and parking all included, the true monthly cost of a suite here compares better than the fee alone suggests. For a sense of what has actually traded, see my building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Hampton Condos

The amenity list is short: a rooftop deck, a party room, visitor parking and bike storage. There is no gym or pool to fund, which is part of why a building this small can include heat, cooling and parking and still keep fees manageable.

Jatin’s honest take on The Hampton Condos

The Hampton Condos — 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.