Strathcona Mews, 123 Strathcona Ave: 30 Low-Rise Suites in Blake-Jones

Strathcona Mews is the kind of building most buyers only find by accident: 30 suites on a residential side street in Blake-Jones, with a rooftop deck and a parking garage, and almost nothing written about it online. Small, quiet and rarely listed, it trades more like a set of townhouses than a condo tower, and that is how I approach it. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A small building with little on the public record

I want to be upfront: there is very little published about Strathcona Mews. I could not find a developer’s page, an UrbanToronto entry, a news story or an architect credit. Condos.ca lists the builder as “Starathcon Mews”, which looks like a misspelling of the building’s own name and suggests a single-purpose company formed for the project, as is common for small infill builds.

Condos.ca also records the registration date as 1 January 2003 and the building as a single storey. A New Year’s Day registration looks like a placeholder, and one storey does not fit a building with a rooftop deck and a garage. Treat both as unconfirmed. Your lawyer can pull the registration date from the declaration, and a visit will show you the real form.

None of that is a red flag on its own. Many good small east-end buildings have a thin online footprint. It simply means you have to rely on the corporation’s own documents rather than on what is written about it.

What 30 suites means for an owner

In a 30-suite corporation, every owner matters. The board is drawn from a small group of neighbours, the budget is modest, and a single large repair, such as a roof or the garage membrane, is shared among very few people. That can make fees and special assessments swing more than they would in a 300-suite tower.

The upside is that small buildings are often well looked after by owners who know each other and stay for years. Decisions can be quick, and the people who use the rooftop deck are the same people who vote on its upkeep.

Before you buy, find out who sits on the board, how often owners attend meetings, and whether the corporation has had trouble finding volunteers. In a building this size, an engaged board is worth as much as a healthy reserve fund.

Insurance is the other small-building issue. The corporation’s policy covers the building, but deductibles have risen across the industry, and in many declarations an owner can be charged the deductible when damage starts in their suite. Ask what the current deductibles are, read how the declaration assigns them, and make sure your own condo insurance covers that amount. In a 30-suite building, one water leak can be a big share of the annual budget.

Fees that leave the utilities to you

Condos.ca lists the fee as covering common elements, building insurance, parking and water. Heat and hydro are not included, so expect to pay them yourself. That is typical of small low-rise and townhouse-style buildings, where suites often have their own heating equipment and meters.

This matters when you compare. A lower fee here is not directly comparable to a tower fee that includes heat. Ask the seller for a year of utility bills, and find out what heating and cooling equipment the suite has and how old it is, because in many buildings like this the owner, not the corporation, replaces it.

Parking is included in the fee, and condos.ca lists a parking garage. Confirm that the suite you are buying comes with a space and whether it is owned or exclusive-use, which your lawyer can read from the declaration.

Blake-Jones daily life

Condos.ca places the building in Blake-Jones, a pocket of older houses on residential streets in the east end, south of the Danforth. Living here means a house-lined street rather than a main road, with the Danforth’s shops and restaurants close by and Gerrard Street East to the south. The data panel on this page covers transit, schools, parks and food nearby.

The rooftop deck is the building’s outdoor space, and with barbecues permitted it is where owners will spend summer evenings. Bike storage is listed too, which suits a neighbourhood where many people cycle to the Danforth and downtown.

Pricing a building with few comparables

Condos.ca does not publish suite sizes or an average price per square foot for Strathcona Mews, and nothing was listed for sale or lease when I prepared this page. With 30 suites, sales are infrequent, so a building average would not mean much even if it existed. Without published sizes, ask for the builder’s floor plan or a measured plan of the suite, because price per square foot only works if you trust the square footage.

In practice I price suites here against two groups: other small low-rise condos and stacked townhouses in the Danforth and Leslieville area, and the freehold houses on nearby streets. The suite has to offer a clear saving against a house, because it comes with a monthly fee and shared decisions, but it also spares you a roof and a driveway of your own.

Remember to add heat and hydro to the fee when you compare total monthly costs with a building that includes them. For recent trades in the building and nearby, ask me for the building sold report.

Building specifications

Amenities at Strathcona Mews

The amenity list is short and practical: a rooftop deck with barbecues, garage parking, bike storage and a security system. In a 30-suite building that is the right scale, because every extra facility would be paid for by very few owners.

Jatin’s honest take on Strathcona Mews

Strathcona Mews — 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.