SQ2 at Alexandra Park, 80 Vanauley St: Tridel Inside a Revitalization

SQ2 is the building I bring up when a buyer wants a newer Tridel condo near Queen and Spadina and is surprised by how far their budget goes. It is a 14-storey building finished around 2020 as the second condo phase of the Alexandra Park revitalization, a mixed-income neighbourhood rebuild that will run into the late 2030s. The discount and the opportunity come from the same place. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Part of an 18-acre neighbourhood rebuild

You cannot understand SQ2 without understanding Alexandra Park. Toronto Community Housing and the Atkinson Housing Co-operative are rebuilding the 18-acre community between Queen, Spadina, Dundas and Bathurst, with Tridel as development partner. The plan replaces 410 rent-geared-to-income homes, refurbishes another 396, and adds about 1,540 market condominium units.

The market condos help pay for the new social housing, new streets, a new park and basketball courts and a new community centre. Toronto Community Housing currently expects the whole project to finish around 2038, with up to 5,700 square metres of new retail added along the way.

SQ2 was the second market building, after SQ at 38 Cameron Street. Toronto Community Housing’s own timeline lists SQ2 construction as complete in 2019, while the corporation registered in April 2020. The revitalization won Urban Land Institute Global and Americas Awards for Excellence in 2021.

Teeple’s design: smaller scale, darker skin

Teeple Architects designed both SQ buildings. Where SQ is clad in white aluminum panels with yellow accents, SQ2 was given a darker palette and a smaller scale, with cubic volumes that step down toward the surrounding houses and a green roof over much of the building. The envelope is more solid than the glass-heavy towers typical of the period.

Teeple describes the suites as aimed at people who do not need a large house but want a comfortable space they plan to live in for a long time. The building also includes townhouses that Teeple says were developed through community consultation and treated as stand-alone units, with daylight brought in through the stairs.

Condos.ca records suites from about 574 to 1,268 square feet. That is a more generous floor than many downtown towers of the same vintage, and the larger plans are where the long-term-owner design shows most clearly.

Tridel’s amenity package

At launch, UrbanToronto reported a yoga and pilates studio, steam rooms and a sauna, a fireside lounge and a party room with a kitchen. Condos.ca now lists a concierge, gym, party room, rooftop deck and sauna, and permits barbecues.

That is a strong set for a 14-storey building of under 200 suites. The rooftop deck matters more than you might think, because private outdoor space is limited in many suites and the roof is the one place everyone can use.

Owning inside a master plan

Buying in a master-planned revitalization is different from buying a stand-alone tower. Your building is one piece of a larger plan that includes new public streets, a park, a community centre and future buildings, and some of what you see around you today will look quite different in ten years.

That is mostly good news for an owner. Each finished phase replaces older buildings and adds new retail and public space, and the street grid is being reconnected so the area feels less like an enclave. It also means the final shape of the neighbourhood is still being decided, so read the City and Toronto Community Housing updates on what is planned for the blocks next to Vanauley.

The other practical point is shared infrastructure. In projects like this, parking garages, driveways and landscaped areas are sometimes shared between buildings under separate agreements. Ask the property manager whether any such agreements apply to SQ2 and how costs are split.

Vanauley Street, day to day

SQ2 is on the west side of Vanauley Street, next to an existing mid-rise Toronto Community Housing building that was being refurbished as part of the plan. This is a mixed-income block in the full sense: owners, co-op members and social housing tenants live side by side, and the new street grid is designed to connect the community to the neighbourhoods around it.

Queen West, Kensington Market and the Spadina corridor are all a short walk, and the Bowery Project, an urban farm group that turns vacant lots into gardens, was part of the original partnership. Construction will continue around you for years as later phases go up, including the two-tower rental and condo phase at Dundas and Denison.

That is the trade. You live with cranes and changing streets for a while, and in return you buy into an area that is being steadily rebuilt. Transit, schools and parks are in the data panel.

Why SQ2 prices below its neighbours

Condos.ca puts SQ2’s average at about $878 per square foot. Newer buildings nearby, such as Theory Condos on College, The Plant on Dovercourt and 1181 Queen West, average roughly $1,090 to $1,170 on the same site. That gap is the main reason buyers look here.

Part of the gap is location within the neighbourhood: SQ2 sits inside a residential community rather than on Queen or Spadina, and some buyers price in the ongoing construction and the mixed-income setting. Part of it is suite size, since larger suites tend to trade at a lower rate per foot.

Three suites were for sale when I checked, two one-bedroom-plus-den suites and a three-bedroom, asking from roughly $570,000 to $1.5 million. Fees across those listings ran from about $745 to $1,635 a month, or about $1.09 per square foot. Fees cover common elements, building insurance and water, so budget separately for heat and hydro. My building sold report can show you recent aggregate sales.

Building specifications

Amenities at SQ2 at Alexandra Park

A sauna, rooftop deck, concierge and gym give SQ2 more than you would expect at this price point. Ask what happened to the yoga studio, steam rooms and fireside lounge announced at launch, since the current listing shows a shorter set.

Jatin’s honest take on SQ2 at Alexandra Park

SQ2 at Alexandra Park — frequently asked questions

Looking at Queen West, Trinity-Bellwoods, Kensington and Little Italy more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.