Hyde Park, 120 Aerodrome Cres: 45 Suites on Leaside’s Old Airfield

Hyde Park on Aerodrome Crescent is a small, three-storey condominium that most people find by accident, often while looking for a different building with the same name. It has 45 suites, a garage, and a quiet crescent address on what used to be the Leaside Aerodrome. It is worth knowing exactly which Hyde Park you are looking at before you go any further. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Three different things called Hyde Park

Search for Hyde Park in Leaside and you will find at least three things. This one is the 2007 low-rise condominium on Aerodrome and Brian Peck Crescents, corporation TSCC-1904. There is also a separate townhouse complex listed as Hyde Park Townhouses on Vanderhoof Avenue, and a newer high-rise project marketed as Hyde Park Leaside, designed by Graziani + Corazza.

They are different corporations, different buildings and different products. If you are reading reviews, sale histories or board information, check the corporation number and the street address before you rely on anything. With the same name on three products within a short distance, it is an easy mistake to make.

Condos.ca also places this building in two neighbourhoods. Its data lists Thorncliffe Park, while its overview describes it as Leaside. In practice, it sits on the old Leaside industrial and airfield lands east of the original residential town, and the label matters less than the specific streets around it.

Built on the Leaside Aerodrome

The street names are not decoration. The Leaside Aerodrome opened in 1917 to train pilots and crews for the Royal Flying Corps, on land between Wicksteed and Eglinton, and it operated until 1931. It was used again briefly during the Second World War as a radar training school.

On 24 June 1918, Captain Brian Peck flew a Curtiss JN-4 from Montreal to Leaside with 120 letters, refuelling at Kingston and Deseronto. It is remembered as the first airmail delivery in Canada, and the East York Historical Society suggested the Brian Peck Crescent name in 2001.

After the war, the airfield lands became heavy and light industry for decades. Around 2000, many of those firms moved out, and the area has since filled with smaller businesses, big-box stores and, more recently, housing. Hyde Park is part of that latest wave of change.

Layouts, parking and the low-rise trade-off

Condos.ca lists only one suite size, about 1,299 square feet, which tells you its data is incomplete rather than that every suite is identical. At that size, the suite is family-sized rather than an investor one-bedroom, but do not assume every suite matches it. Ask for the floor plan and the registered size of any suite you are considering.

There is a parking garage and visitor parking, and parking is listed as a fee inclusion. As with any condo, check the status certificate for the parking and locker units attached to the suite you are buying.

A three-storey building has no elevator listed on condos.ca, so stairs are part of daily life unless you buy at grade. That suits many families and does not suit everyone. Barbecues are permitted and there is a security system, which matters with ground-level suites.

Daily life between Leaside and the Laird corridor

The original town of Leaside was planned in 1913 by the landscape architect Frederick Todd, with the land east of Laird Drive set aside for industry. That plan still shapes the area. To one side you have the tree-lined house streets of Leaside, among the most expensive in the city; to the other, the business park and big-box retail that replaced factories like the Canada Wire and Cable plant, which closed in 1996.

Living here means having both on your doorstep. Errands are easy by car, and crescents like these tend to be quieter than the main roads because they are not through routes, though you should still check for truck traffic to the businesses nearby. The trade-off is traffic: the Laird corridor has seen rapid development, and congestion has grown with it. Drive the area at rush hour before you commit.

Transit is changing too. Line 5 Eglinton now serves Leaside with three stations after years of construction along Eglinton. The panel on this page shows the actual options and distances from the building, so check them against your own commute rather than relying on the map.

Expect more change around you over the next decade. Large sites on the former industrial lands and along Eglinton tend to attract new housing proposals once transit arrives, and the Hyde Park Leaside tower project is one example in the area. That can mean construction near you, along with more shops and services.

Pricing, fees and what you pay separately

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $723 per square foot. For a family-sized suite in a low-rise building near Leaside, that is a reasonable number, especially against detached and semi-detached houses in Leaside, which are some of the most expensive in Toronto.

The fee inclusions are narrow. Condos.ca lists common elements, building insurance and parking. Heat, hydro and water are not on the list, so budget for all three on top of the fee when you compare with buildings that bundle them.

There were no active listings when I checked. With 45 suites, resales are infrequent, so you may need patience for the right layout, and the data panel on this page is the best place to see what has actually traded.

Building specifications

Amenities at Hyde Park

There is no gym, concierge or party room, and that is reflected in the narrow fee. What you get is a garage, visitor parking, barbecues and a security system: the practical basics for a low-rise building where most of daily life happens in your own suite.

Jatin’s honest take on Hyde Park

Hyde Park — frequently asked questions

Looking at Leslieville, Riverdale, the Beaches, Danforth and Leaside more broadly? Start with my Toronto community guide — the neighbourhoods, what each pocket is like, and how they compare.