Modern Beach Lofts, 952 Kingston Rd: A 1930s Cinema Turned 23 Lofts

Modern Beach Lofts is the building I mention when someone tells me every Toronto loft looks the same. It sits on Kingston Road in the Upper Beaches, on the site of a 700-seat neighbourhood movie house from the 1930s, and it holds only 23 suites. That combination of a real backstory and a tiny owner group is the whole appeal, and it is also where the homework starts. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

The Scarboro Theatre, then a pool hall, then lofts

Before it was condos, this was the Scarboro Theatre, a single-screen house with roughly 700 seats and no balcony. Toronto historian Doug Taylor credits the design to Herbert Duerr, the architect behind the Hollywood Theatre on Yonge Street, and says the licence was held by the B&F chain before 20th Century Theatres took over in 1948.

The sources differ slightly on the opening date. Taylor gives 1936, while Cinema Treasures records an opening night on 27 February 1937 with a double bill. Both list the theatre at 960 Kingston Road, a few numbers off the condo address, so do not be thrown if older records use that number.

After the projectors went dark, the building had a second life as a pool hall, according to condos.ca. Streetcar Developments, the east-end developer later known for larger Leslieville loft projects such as The Carlaw, turned it into residences, with the corporation registered in early 2008.

Five storeys on a theatre footprint: what that means for suites

Condos.ca lists five storeys and suites from about 610 to 1,800 square feet. A single-screen cinema is essentially one tall box, so a five-storey building on that footprint almost certainly combines the old structure with new floors. I would ask the listing agent, or the corporation, how much of the original shell survives and where.

That matters because suites in a building like this are rarely uniform. Some will sit inside the old auditorium volume and some in the newer upper levels, and the penthouse level is where the largest plans tend to be. Ceiling heights, window sizes and exposures will vary from suite to suite, so compare plans side by side rather than assuming one layout tells you about the rest.

With 23 suites, you are also buying into a very small community. Your neighbours are your board pool, and decisions about repairs and budgets are made by a handful of owners. That can work beautifully when owners are engaged, and it is worth asking how often the board turns over.

Kingston Road living in the Upper Beaches

Kingston Road here is a working main street rather than a boutique strip. You get a mix of older storefronts, small restaurants and services, with the busier Queen Street East shopping and the beach itself to the south. People who buy on Kingston Road usually want Beach-area access at a price that is gentler than a Queen Street East address.

The trade-off is traffic. Kingston Road carries steady car and bus traffic, so suites facing the street will hear it. Visit at rush hour, and if you are sensitive to noise, ask specifically about rear-facing plans.

Transit, schools and Walk Score for this address are in the data panel on this page. Day to day, the pattern I see from buyers here is simple: they walk south for the lake and the shops, and use Kingston Road for getting in and out of the city.

How it compares with the other small Beach-area conversions

The closest like-for-like building is Upper Beaches Lofts at 214 Main Street, another small conversion, this time of a former fish market and banquet hall. It is two storeys and 16 suites against five storeys and 23 here, and it trades at a lower price per square foot. Modern Beach Lofts gives you more height and the larger top-floor plans; Main Street gives you a quieter, lower building.

Green House Lofts on Queen Street East is a 2005 soft-loft low-rise facing Kew Gardens, and Waterworks Lofts near the east end of Queen dates from 2002. Both put you closer to the lake and the Queen Street shops, but neither comes with a backstory like a 1930s cinema.

If you are weighing all of them, the deciding factors are usually the fee inclusions and the state of each reserve fund, not the finishes. Here, the inclusion of heat and air conditioning is a real advantage over most of that group.

What Modern Beach Lofts costs to buy and own

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $969 per square foot. That is the highest of the east-end boutique lofts I have reviewed in this batch, above Upper Beaches Lofts on Main Street at about $852 and Green House Lofts on Queen Street East at about $831, and slightly above Waterworks Lofts at about $943.

Part of the premium is the story, and part is the fee structure. Heat, air conditioning, water and parking are all included, which is uncommon. In a building where your heating and cooling are bundled, the true monthly cost is more predictable than it looks next to a newer building with a lower fee and separate utility bills.

With only 23 suites, very few units trade in a typical year, so one sale can move that average noticeably. There were no active listings when I checked, so I cannot give you a current asking range. For recorded sale figures, see the data panel on this page or ask me for a building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at Modern Beach Lofts

There is no gym, pool or concierge here, and that is by design in a 23-suite building. What you get is a parking garage, a security system and permission for barbecues, which is about all a building this size can carry without fees climbing.

Jatin’s honest take on Modern Beach Lofts

Modern Beach Lofts — 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.