The Bayview, 1801 Bayview Ave: An 81-Suite Leaside Mid-Rise With Hydro In

The Bayview is the kind of building Leaside buyers often overlook because it is not new and not a tower. It has 81 suites over eight storeys, a concierge, and one of the most complete fee inclusions you will find, with hydro included. For a downsizer who wants to stay in Leaside, that combination is worth a close look. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

A small mid-rise in a neighbourhood of houses

Leaside was planned as a town in 1913, laid out by the landscape architect Frederick Todd for the Canadian Northern Railway’s land company, and it is still mostly single-family houses. Condos are the exception here rather than the rule, and buildings with a concierge are rarer still.

The Bayview sits on the east side of Bayview Avenue, a short distance north of Eglinton. At eight storeys, it is tall enough for upper suites to see over the houses and trees, but low enough that it does not dominate the street. With only 81 suites, the lobby and elevators are not crowded, and the concierge is likely to know who lives there.

It is also a building with a long record. More than 20 years of budgets, board minutes and reserve fund studies exist, so you can see how the corporation has actually been run rather than relying on a developer’s projection. In a newer building, that history simply is not there yet.

Suites from one-bedrooms to large family-sized plans

Condos.ca puts the suite range at about 549 to 2,266 square feet. That is a wide spread for an 81-suite building. The bottom end is a compact one-bedroom, while the top end is closer to a house in size, the kind of suite downsizers from Leaside look for when they sell a detached home.

The larger plans are where this building competes. Few condos in Leaside offer two bedrooms plus a den with a concierge downstairs, and that is a format the neighbourhood’s own downsizers ask for.

I could not find the architect, ceiling heights or original finish specifications in any source I checked. Expect early-2000s finishes in suites that have not been renovated, and budget for updating kitchens and bathrooms if you are buying an original suite.

Hydro in the fee, and why it changes the comparison

Most condos in Toronto now meter hydro by suite, and many newer buildings meter heat and cooling too. At The Bayview, condos.ca lists air conditioning, heat, hydro, building insurance, water and common elements as included in the fee. In practice, that means you have very few utility bills of your own.

The catch is that the fee will look high next to a newer building, and it will move with the corporation’s energy costs. That is not a flaw. It just means you need to compare the full monthly cost, fee plus utilities plus parking, rather than the fee alone.

Parking is not on the condos.ca list of fee inclusions, although a parking garage is listed among the amenities. Confirm whether the suite you are buying comes with a parking space, and whether there is a separate charge for it, on the status certificate.

Daily life on this stretch of Bayview

Bayview Avenue is the western edge of the original town of Leaside, which ran east from here to Leslie Street. That puts the building at the boundary between Leaside and the neighbourhoods to the west, with the main local shopping along Bayview itself. Sunnybrook Plaza, at the northeast corner of Bayview and Eglinton, opened in 1952 and was one of the first shopping centres in Toronto, which tells you how long this corner has been a local hub.

The bigger change is on Eglinton. Line 5 Eglinton, the Crosstown, now runs through Leaside, after more than a decade of construction that disrupted this intersection. Over time, that is likely to bring more density to the Eglinton corridor, which is worth knowing if you are buying for the long term. The panel on this page shows the actual transit options from the building.

East of Laird Drive, the old industrial lands have been redeveloped with large-format retail, and the Laird corridor has grown quickly, with more traffic to match. For daily errands that means plenty of choice by car; for a quiet walk, the residential streets of Leaside are right behind the building.

Pricing against the rest of Leaside

Condos.ca puts the building average at about $632 per square foot. In my experience that is on the low side for a Leaside address. Part of the reason is age, and part of it is the fee, which buyers price in as soon as they see the monthly number.

The two active listings when I checked were asking between $459,000 and $899,000, with monthly fees ranging from about $834 to $1,816. Fees scale with suite size, and the larger suites carry a significant monthly number, but remember it covers hydro, heat and air conditioning.

For a buyer, that combination can be an opportunity. A lower price per square foot, in a neighbourhood with very little condo supply, is unusual. The question is whether the reserve fund and the building’s condition justify it, which is where I would focus your due diligence.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Bayview

The amenity list is modest but useful: a concierge, a party room, a meeting room and guest suites. Guest suites matter more than people expect for downsizers, because they mean visiting family does not need a spare bedroom in your suite.

Jatin’s honest take on The Bayview

The Bayview — 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.