The Boardwalk, 35 Boardwalk Dr: Hydro and Parking in the Fee

The Boardwalk at 35 Boardwalk Drive is the older of the two Boardwalk buildings, and on the numbers it is often the better buy. It has the same park setting, concierge and large suites as its newer neighbour, a lower average price per square foot, and a fee that covers hydro and parking. The trade-off is age, and at 25 years that is the part to examine. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

The first building on the old racetrack’s park edge

The Greenwood Raceway closed at the end of 1993. Its grandstand came down, new streets went in, and the southern half of the property became Woodbine Park. The Boardwalk, finished in 2001, was one of the early condominiums on that land; its corporation, MTCC-1413, was registered on 31 October 2001.

Its neighbour, The Boardwalk II at 9 Boardwalk Drive, followed in 2004. The two share a street, a manager and a format, and buyers often view both on the same day. Condos.ca does not name a developer for either, and I could not confirm one.

The setting is the draw: south of Queen Street, next to Woodbine Park and its pond, and a short walk to the lake and the boardwalk itself. Listings describe it as one of the most sought-after condo addresses in the Beach, and sales here are infrequent.

Large suites and a courtyard

Condos.ca records suites from about 680 to 2,215 square feet. Even the smallest suites are a reasonable one-bedroom size, and the top of the range is the kind of space that lets someone sell a house and keep their furniture.

Listings describe an expansive interior courtyard with gardens, which gives inward-facing suites a green outlook instead of a street. Ask whether a suite faces the park, the courtyard or the street, because the views and the light differ a lot. Some suites come with an owned locker, according to listings; confirm what comes with yours.

At five storeys and 95 suites, the building has the scale for full-time staff without the anonymity of a tower. Condos.ca lists both a concierge and a security guard, which tells you the building has chosen to spend on staffing.

Because the building is the older of the pair, some suites will have been renovated and others will still have original 2001 kitchens and bathrooms. That spread is useful for buyers. An original suite priced accordingly can be the best way into the building, as long as you budget for the work.

One of the most complete fee inclusions in the Beach

Condos.ca lists common elements, heat, air conditioning, hydro, water, building insurance and parking as included. Hydro being in the fee is uncommon. Most buildings, including The Boardwalk II next door, leave electricity on your own bill.

That changes the comparison. A fee here will look higher than a building where you pay hydro and parking separately, but your other monthly bills will be lower. Add up the total monthly cost of owning the suite before you compare it with anything else.

The flip side is that the corporation carries the whole utility bill, and owners share any increase in energy costs through the budget. Ask how the fee has moved over the past few years and whether the board has looked at sub-metering or efficiency upgrades.

What 25 years means for this building

A 2001 building is past its first major replacement cycle. By now, a well-run corporation should have replaced or planned to replace roofing, parts of the heating and cooling plant, the garage membrane and possibly windows and balcony or terrace waterproofing.

None of that is a red flag on its own. It is simply the age when the reserve fund study matters most. The questions I would ask are what has already been done, what is scheduled in the next five years, and whether the reserve fund is on track to pay for it without a special assessment.

I would also look at how the corporation communicates. Read the most recent newsletters or notices to owners and the last annual general meeting minutes. A board that explains its projects and its fee changes clearly is usually a board that plans ahead, and that matters more in an older building than any finish inside a suite.

Where The Boardwalk sits on price

Condos.ca puts the average here at about $832 per square foot. Applied across the recorded suite sizes, that points to roughly the high $500,000s for the smallest suites and up to about $1.8 million for the largest, before adjusting for view, floor and condition.

That is a noticeably lower average than The Boardwalk II next door, at about $1,076 per square foot, and lower than The Beach Condominiums V on Queen Street, at about $908. Part of the gap is age. Part may be that an all-inclusive fee is higher in dollars, which some buyers price into what they offer. For a buyer who reads past the fee, that can be an opportunity.

There were no active listings in the data I reviewed. Sales here are infrequent, so use the sale data on this page and my building sold report, and compare the same suite size across both Boardwalk buildings before deciding which one is better value.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Boardwalk

The package is about service and space rather than flash: a concierge and security, guest suites for visiting family, a fitness room, meeting and recreation rooms, and a courtyard garden. For owners who travel or live alone, the staffing is the amenity that matters most. Guest suites are worth asking about in detail: how they are booked, what they cost per night and how far ahead owners reserve them, because in a downsizer building they are popular around the holidays.

Jatin’s honest take on The Boardwalk

The Boardwalk — 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.