The Carlaw, 345 Carlaw Ave: Leslieville Brick, Small Suites, Low Fees

The Carlaw is the building that brought mid-rise condo living to the corner of Dundas and Carlaw, and ten years on it is one of the more liquid buildings in Leslieville. It is not a converted factory, despite the loft branding, but it was designed to look at home among them. Most suites are small, the fees are reasonable, and the Ontario Line is coming. I’m Jatin Dua, RE/MAX Quantum Realty.

Brick at the ends, glass on the corner

The Carlaw replaced an older building on the site, which was demolished in 2013. UrbanToronto’s coverage during construction described an L-shaped building that wraps the Dundas and Carlaw corner, with staggered volumes and alternating facade treatments rather than one flat slab.

TACT Architecture used glass, steel and precast on the southwest corner and brick on the northwest and southeast ends, a deliberate nod to the warehouses and plants that once lined Carlaw Avenue. Principal architect Prishram Jain has called the style warm modernism, and it is a fair description: the building reads as new without fighting its older neighbours.

The sources differ on interiors. UrbanToronto’s project database credits Seven Haus Design, while its 2013 article credits Tact Design. I would not make a buying decision on that, but it is a reminder that marketing-era credits are not always consistent.

Mostly compact suites, and that shapes everything

Condos.ca lists suites from about 347 to 1,201 square feet across 311 units. The current listings tell the story: three of the four for sale are one-bedrooms under 600 square feet, and the fourth is a two-bedroom in the 600 to 699 band. This is a building of starter suites and investor units, with a smaller number of larger plans.

Streetcar also released townhouse-style urban towns at The Carlaw during sales, which gives the base of the building a different feel from the tower floors above. If you want your own front door and more space, ask specifically about those units.

Small suites mean a deep pool of comparable sales and plenty of renters, which is good for liquidity. It also means a lot of turnover in the elevators and hallways. Buyers who want a quiet owner-occupied building should know that going in.

Layout matters more than finishes in small suites. A 500 square foot one-bedroom with a proper bedroom door and a window in that bedroom will always sell better than a slightly larger plan with a sliding panel or an interior den. When you look at a resale here, judge the plan first, then the view, then the finishes.

Dundas and Carlaw today, and what is coming

This corner sits at the western edge of Leslieville, with the Carlaw corridor’s converted factories and studios to the south and Riverdale to the north and west. Streetcar built its sister project, The Taylor, right beside it, so the corner now has two buildings from the same developer.

The bigger change is transit. Metrolinx is building the Ontario Line through this area, with Gerrard Station planned near Gerrard and Carlaw and Leslieville Station to the south near Queen Street. Local transit writer Steve Munro was still tracking construction effects around both station sites in July 2026, so expect disruption on and around Carlaw for a while yet.

Once the line opens, the corner gains a rapid transit connection it has never had. The automatic panel on this page covers current transit and Walk Score; the point for buyers is that the location is likely to get more convenient, and the construction phase is the price of that.

Day to day, the Dundas streetcar runs past the door and Carlaw has become a street of cafés, studios and small offices in old industrial buildings. Suites facing Dundas or the corner will hear the street; suites facing into the L are calmer. Ask which side a suite faces before you book a second showing.

Price per square foot and the fee question

The building average sits around $884 per square foot. Small suites always carry a higher price per square foot than large ones, so do not compare a 450 square foot one-bedroom here with a 1,000 square foot loft on the same basis.

There are four active listings as I write this, asking roughly $400,000 to $650,000. Monthly fees across those listings run from about $415 to $635, or roughly $0.94 per square foot.

The fee includes heat and water only. Parking, where a suite has it, and hydro are not listed as included, and many of the smaller suites will not have parking at all. When you compare The Carlaw with an older Leslieville building whose fee looks higher, add those costs back before deciding which is cheaper.

The TRREB data panel on this page shows sold and leased medians over the last twelve months. With 311 suites there are usually enough trades for those medians to mean something, which is more than I can say for the boutique conversions nearby.

Building specifications

Amenities at The Carlaw

A concierge, gym, party room, guest suites and a rooftop deck with BBQs is a complete package for a building of this size. The rooftop matters most in a building full of small suites, because it is effectively your outdoor space, and the guest suites save you from hosting visitors on a pull-out in 450 square feet.

Jatin’s honest take on The Carlaw

The Carlaw — 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.