Waterscapes, 80 Marine Parade Dr: The Oval Tower Facing Humber Bay Park

Waterscapes is the oval glass tower you see from the Martin Goodman Trail, sitting directly across Marine Parade Drive from Humber Bay Park. It was the last phase of a five-building community, so it shares the street with older siblings while being one of the newer and more architectural towers on the strip. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Why the oval shape matters

Graziani + Corazza designed Waterscapes as an elliptical tower of glass rather than the usual rectangle. An oval floor plate means fewer suites stare straight into a neighbour and more of them get an angled view of the lake, the park or the downtown skyline. It also means some rooms have a gently curved exterior wall, which is beautiful but worth testing with your own furniture.

The tower sits on a podium with townhomes and retail at grade. The shops face Marine Parade Drive and Humber Bay Park, and the east side opens onto a public square, so the street level feels more finished than many of the earlier buildings along this stretch.

Interior design was by esQape design and structural engineering by RJC Engineers. Construction ran ahead of Ocean Club next door, with completion in 2014.

Being the final phase of a five-building community also shapes the street. Waterscapes was built to finish the Waterview plan rather than stand alone, which is why the podium, the square and the retail line up with the buildings around them instead of turning their backs on the sidewalk. That kind of planned street wall is a big part of why this stretch of Marine Parade feels settled.

Who developed it: the sources differ

Here is a point where the records do not agree, and I would rather tell you than pick one. Construction coverage from 2013 describes Waterscapes as Monarch’s fifth and final phase of its Waterview community, and the listing data I use also names Monarch. UrbanToronto’s project database lists Biddington Group and Mattamy Homes as the developers.

For a resale buyer this matters less than it would on a new build, since the warranty period has passed and the corporation now runs the building. What matters is how the board and General Property Management have handled the first decade, and that is in the status certificate and minutes, not the developer’s name.

You will also see 68 and 70 Marine Parade Drive in older construction coverage. The registered address buyers search today is 80 Marine Parade Drive.

Layouts, from compact one-bedrooms to very large penthouses

Suite sizes run from about 465 sq ft to roughly 3,528 sq ft, which is an unusually wide range for a 344-suite building. Most of the resale supply is one-bedroom and one-plus-den plans in the 600 to 800 sq ft range, while the top of the tower carries a small number of much larger suites.

The podium townhomes are a different product again: ground-level entry with the building’s services behind you. If you are looking at one, ask about noise from the retail and the square, and how the corporation handles snow and landscaping at the townhome frontages.

Because of the oval plate, two one-plus-dens with the same square footage can feel very different. Look at where the den sits relative to the window line and whether the curve cuts into usable wall space.

Living on Marine Parade Drive

Marine Parade Drive is the lakeside spine of Humber Bay Shores, and Waterscapes has one of the best positions on it: Humber Bay Park is across the road, with the trail and the water just beyond. Coffee, groceries and everyday errands are along the strip and up at Lake Shore Boulevard.

The neighbourhood’s weak spot is road capacity. The City’s Park Lawn Lake Shore Transportation Master Plan exists because growth outpaced the street network, and the redevelopment of the former Christie’s lands at Park Lawn and Lake Shore is planned around a new GO station and streetcar loop. That is good news over the long term and a construction story in the medium term. The data panel covers transit and walkability in detail.

What Waterscapes costs per foot and per month

The building average sits around $800 per square foot in the data I am working from, which is below several of its newer Humber Bay Shores neighbours. The wide size range pulls the average around, so compare against suites of a similar size rather than the headline figure.

Fees are the trade-off. Active listings average about $0.98 per square foot, which is high for a 2014 building. They do include heat, air conditioning, water, insurance and parking, so subtract what you would pay separately for parking and heat elsewhere before you decide the fee is a deal-breaker.

There are six suites for sale and two for rent as I write this. One-bedroom and one-plus-den listings ask roughly $530,000 to $590,000 with fees of about $610 to $740 a month, and the two larger listings ask about $1.07 million to $1.6 million with fees above $1,000 a month.

Two things to keep in mind when you read those numbers. First, six active listings is a thin sample for a 344-suite building, so a single unusual suite can skew the picture. Second, the very large suites trade so rarely that their asking prices tell you more about the seller’s hopes than about the building. For a reliable read, look at closed sales in the data panel above alongside the asks.

Building specifications

Amenities at Waterscapes Condos

The amenity list is practical rather than resort-style: concierge, a rooftop deck, a party room, guest suites and a car wash bay. With Humber Bay Park across the street, most owners treat the waterfront as the real amenity.

Jatin’s honest take on Waterscapes Condos

Waterscapes Condos — frequently asked questions

Looking at Humber Bay Shores, Mimico, the Queensway and central Etobicoke more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.